Associations Between Preschool Teachers' Opportunities for Professional Development, Motivation, and Commitment

Introduction: Turnover rates among early childhood teachers are higher than the turnover rates of primary and secondary school teachers and employees in other fields (30% in early childhood teachers; 17% in primary and secondary school teachers; 11% in other fields, Bureau of National Affairs, 1998; Ingersoll, 2002; NAEYC, 2004). This lack of stability among early childhood educators is detrimental to children as it creates confusion and chaos within the classroom (Cassidy, et al., 2011). Although teacher commitment is often studied and is recognized as a predictor of attrition, turnover, and absenteeism in the field of early childhood education (Day, 2008; Day, Elliot, & Kington, 2005), factors associated with teachers’ commitment and their motivation for are less studied. In the current study, we examined program-provided contextual variables (e.g., usefulness of professional development opportunities, availability of professional development opportunities, salary) in relation to teachers’ motivation to improve practice and teachers’ commitment to the field of early childhood education.

Methods: Data were collected via questionnaires completed by 1,129 teachers of preschool-aged children in day care and public pre-K programs across the US. Teachers responded on contextual factors of the program, professional opportunities and their perceived usefulness, teacher’s motivation for professional development, and their commitment to the current program and to the profession.

Results: We first created two latent outcome variables: teachers’ motivation for PD (6 items) and professional commitment (4 items). In the following structural equation modeling, we found that perceived usefulness of PD activities and the availability of PD opportunities were associated with both motivation (β = .27 - .54, p < .001) and commitment (β = .08 - .12, p < .05). When programs provided benefits, paid days to attend professional meetings, and more salary, teachers were more committed to their job (β = .08 - .12, p < .05). Otherwise, when teachers were regularly given feedback from internal or external observers, they were more motivated for PD (β = .12, p < .001). The model fit was adequate, χ²(164) = 490.15, p < .01, RMSEA = .04, CFI = .93). We included several covariates, such as teachers’ educational attainment, experience in early childhood education, PD participation in the previous year, program types and emotional exhaustion in their job.

Conclusion: The current study demonstrates the value of providing teachers with opportunities for professional development beyond the acquisition of a targeted set of skills, as providing professional development may contribute to teachers’ motivation to learn and their likelihood to remain in the early childhood education field.