Browsing by Author "Parviainen, Katri"

Early childhood educators' experiences about their working conditions are often characterized by hurry, ongoing changes, diversity of work assignments and insufficiency of workforce resources. In order to understand the work of early childhood educators one has to take into account both sides of the work: it is both very demanding and highly rewarding. Job demands and job resources are in touch with job involvement. The aim of this study was to explore how early childhood educators experience different job demands and job resources and which of them are emphasized. The aim of this study was also to examine which forms of job commitment early childhood educators experience most and which factors predict job commitment. Also the change of early childhood education work was discussed in this study. Sample consisted of early childhood educators who worked in Helsinki metropolitan area. The data was collected by an online questionnaire in the April of 2016. Total of 250 educators answered to the questionnaire. Data was analyzed by using statistical methods. Primary findings were received by using variance analysis, cluster analysis, Pearson correlation and regression analysis. The results of this study showed that the most important job resources for early childhood educators were children and meaningfulness of the work. Biggest of the job demands were low salary and rush. Early childhood educators are very involved to their current job, committed to their work community and experience work engagement. Best predictors for different forms of commitment were work community, possibilities to influence at work, children, valuation of early childhood education work and the experiences of vocation. In open answers early childhood educators said that possibilities to do own work properly and ethically right no longer exists due to intensified welfare work. Wider investigating of this matter and its relationship with job commitment would be important in the future. Results of this study forward mainly positive picture of early childhood educators' job commitment. However, results show that those of whom have more job resources are also more job involved and experience more work engagement. It was the younger workers who had experienced more job demands and whose vocation to the job was not as strong. Because of that it would be a good time in the field of early childhood education to do something so that there would be motivated and competent workers in the future as well. The results of this study can be utilized in future researches of job commitment and can also act as a benefit in development projects that are meant to improve the working conditions of early childhood educators.