Exploring Early Childhood Teachers’ Occupational Well-Being
Experiences within Professional Learning Communities: A
Mixed-Methods Study in Mainland China

Abstract

Background and Aim

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) hold significant potential in promoting the occupational well-being (OWB) of early childhood educators. OWB experiences encompass not only individual professional skills but also the relationships and organisational support available within PLCs. Despite this holistic approach, the literature revealed a significant lack of interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and mixed-methodological research to investigate teachers’ experiences of OWB within PLCs in mainland China, particularly within early childhood settings.

Specifically, this study aimed to first examine the correlation between PLCs and OWB. It also focused on how different PLC practices shaped early childhood teachers’ experiences of OWB, with the goal of informing the conceptualisation and implementation of diverse PLCs that enhance their OWB.

Design and Methods

Grounded in pragmatist ontology, this thesis employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach: a survey followed by in-depth interviews (Quan→QUAL). The literature review advocated for a holistic approach to OWB, viewing it as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, including philosophical, physiological, psychosocial, and social-cultural aspects. Spaces of Well-being Theory (SoWT) was utilised to theorise the multi-dimensional relationship between PLCs and OWB, implicating that PLCs can serve as integrated spaces to enhance teachers’ holistic OWB. The survey employed a sample of 772 early childhood educators in urban Chengdu to examine the prevalence, variability, and correlations between PLCs and OWB. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical regression analysis. The interview method conducted four focus groups with sixteen teachers and nine one-on-one interviews featuring two principals and seven teachers, reflecting diverse demographic characteristics. The thematic analysis of the interview data was used to examine teachers’ and principals’ perceived factors of PLCs that impact teachers’ OWB. Meanwhile, ideal-type analysis was employed to compare the similarities and differences among the previously identified factors within PLCs, thereby guiding the conceptualisation and operationalisation of different PLC types that can enhance teachers’ OWB.

Findings

This thesis has sought a practically applicable holistic conceptualisation of early childhood educators’ OWB in Chinese context, to elucidate the implications for preschools in the conceptualisation and operationalisation of a PLC culture approach.

The survey results revealed a significant positive multi-dimensional relationship between PLCs and preschool teachers’ OWB to address research question one. The subsequent interview results redefined OWB from a multi-dimensional conceptulisation to a more entangled and dynamic manner to answer research question two. The interview methods further identified seven key themes (perceived factors) that shape their OWB: collegial support, unity of purpose, collaborative leadership, relationships, holistic professional development, recognition of teachers as agents, and supportive services.

The thesis then synthesised and integrated these seven themes into three ideal-type PLCs: the Autonomous PLC, the Structured PLC, and the Sustainable PLC. Specifically, three ideal-type PLCs, viewed as assemblages of individual, relational and community practices, were identified as having the potential to enhance teachers’ holistic OWB in response to research question three.

Ultimately, by integrating these mixed-methodological results, this thesis proposed that the research agenda on OWB should be redefined to adopt a comprehensive and holistic PLC framework synergistically that shapes teachers’ OWB in a holistic and dynamic way.