Stability, social support and burnout in early childhood education during and after Covid-19 (Hebrew)

The first thousand days are a critical period in a child's development. Family, environment, the relationship with the primary caregiver, and exposure to the wider world influence and shape the child's identity. The significance of the primary caregiver and the impact of their relationship with the infant have been widely. This study focuses on early childhood education staff, examining their burnout, stability within these settings, and the social support available within these frameworks.

In early childhood educational settings, infants encounter a non-familial caregiver for the first time. The quality of the relationship between the caregiver and the child, as well as the components of their daily interactions, are highly significant. For optimal interaction and meaningful connection to occur, the educational staff must be both available and capable of managing everyday situations with empathy and attentiveness.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread rapidly worldwide, leading most countries to close educational institutions to in-person learning to prevent disease transmission. Consequently, many institutions switched to remote learning, while a few remained open for essential workers. Closing these institutions immediately affected staff, with some facing termination, furlough, or salary reductions. Crises like these undermine the stability of educational institutions, explicitly impacting educators. Any policy or measure that disrupts stability and alters established routines has direct implications for both the educational system and the children and families it serves.

This study examined the impact of ongoing instability indicators (staff departures, protocol changes, uncertainty about group sizes), COVID-19-related instability indicators (count of lockdown and isolation periods during which the educational institutions were non-operational, staff furloughs), and the level of social support within early childhood education institutions on staff attrition. These factors were analyzed across three timeframes: before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The research findings revealed that the educational staff experienced continuous burnout, with higher turnover rates and a stronger desire to leave observed among those in positions of greater responsibility. In addition, ongoing instability persisted even after the COVID-19 crisis, with no improvement in attrition rates. Among the indicators of instability, closures and isolations were perceived positively by staff. In early childcare settings for infants under three years old, unemployment among educational staff reached 50% during the pandemic and increased afterward. In accordance with previous research findings, the findings of the current study show that social support significantly reduces burnout. The study also highlights an increase in social support across all early childhood education institutions, likely attributable to additional instructional hours (including in infant/toddler settings) introduced by the Supervision Law. However, a larger support network did not necessarily translate to higher staff satisfaction. This suggests a need for enhanced training for early childhood education guidance staff to provide professional and tailored support to both staff and the institution. Increased resources, such as allocating more time for individual staff guidance, are also essential.

In conclusion, providing high-quality professional support to educational staff is essential for fostering their professional growth and enhancing the quality of educational services. Moreover, it is necessary to strive to increase staff compensation, strengthen protections for their rights, provide opportunities for professional development, lower the educator-to-child ratio, limit class sizes, and add training hours to support educational services. These measures can help reduce burnout, decrease turnover and quitting rates, promote professionalism, and enhance the quality of early childhood education.