Burnout and Teacher-Child Interactions: The Moderating Influence of SEL Interventions in Head Start Classrooms

• Published in: Early education and development Vol. 31; no. 7; pp. 1169 - 1185
• Main Authors: Sandilos, Lia, Goble, Priscilla, Schwartz, Samantha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 02.10.2020; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Aggression; Burnout; Child Behavior; Classroom Environment; Cognitive Development; Control Groups; Correlation; Early Intervention; Emotional Development; Faculty Development; Head Start project; Preschool Teachers; Program Effectiveness; Social & emotional learning; Social Development; Student teacher relationship; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Burnout; Teacher Student Relationship; Teachers
• ISSN: 1040-9289; 1556-6935
• DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2020.1788331

Research Findings: The present study explored the extent to which teachers' participation in professional development focused on children's social-emotional learning moderated the relation between self-reported burnout and teacher-child interactions. The sample included 307 Head Start preschool teachers who participated in a large randomized controlled trial, the Head Start CARES (Classroom-based Approaches and Resources for Emotion and Social skill promotion) Project. Teachers were assigned to one of the three SEL interventions (PATHS, Incredible Years, or Tools of the Mind-Play) or a control group. Results revealed a moderating effect of treatment condition. Specifically, in control classrooms, higher self-reported burnout was related to a decline in Instructional Support scores over the course of the year. In contrast, the negative association between burnout and teacher-child interactions was not present in the intervention condition. Follow-up analyses indicated that this moderating effect was only present for teachers who were trained in the PATHS and Incredible Years interventions. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest that training and participation in interventions focused on social-emotional learning may serve as a buffer against the detrimental influence of burnout on teachers' classroom practices.