The role of emotional labour and emotional intelligence in teacher burnout and career adaptability among kindergarten teachers

Abstract

Becoming a kindergarten teacher In Hong Kong is no longer always considered a long-term career option. There have been many recent unsettling changes to curriculum, organization and funding of early childhood education. Traditionally, kindergartens had been free create programme content and implement their teaching approaches independently. They also varied greatly in the fees they charged to parents. However, in 2017 the Education Bureau launched the Free Quality Kindergarten Education Scheme, under which parents who enrol their children in an eligible kindergarten receive a fee subsidy. For kindergartens to be eligible they are required to align their curricula to a curriculum guide issued by the Bureau and to conform to similar standards. Currently, kindergartens now compete to attract and maintain students through implementing high quality teaching and other services. These changes have increased the workload and burden on kindergarten teachers who play dual roles as caregivers and educators. The emotional labour now demanded of kindergarten teachers is increasing stress levels and contributing to burnout. This situation signals a need to investigate factors leading to their work-related stress and burnout, and the extent to which these teachers possess career adaptability as a coping mechanism. To date, there has been no research in Hong Kong on these issues; so, this study assesses how the emotional labour demanded of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong today affects their career adaptability, and whether emotional intelligence affects their resilience. A theoretical framework is first developed to suggest a possible mediating role of emotional labour in explaining any relationship between emotional intelligence and teacher burnout. The study had two stages. In the first stage, 90 kindergarten teachers completed an online questionnaire comprising two scales adapted from Western literature—the Teacher Emotional Labor Strategy Scale and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. In the second stage, a focus group session involved discussions with 6 kindergarten teachers to explore more deeply the findings from the first stage. Data analysis revealed three significant findings: (i) the two questionnaires were appropriate for use with Hong Kong kindergarten teachers; (ii) a mediating role for emotional labour was confirmed in the association between emotional intelligence and teacher burnout; and (iii) the emotional labour strategy of “surface acting” (which involves faking one's felt emotions) was related to career adaptability. Path modelling further revealed that surface acting affected career adaptability indirectly through its influence on emotional intelligence. Path modelling also suggests a new component, authentic emotions, that can resolve this issue by connecting the two- and three-dimensional models of emotional labour strategy. These findings have implications for equipping kindergarten teachers with greater resilience by providing them with more effective ways of dealing with heavy work demands. The message to administrators is that the working conditions of kindergarten teachers need to be improved to reduce stress.