Fostering Beginning Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Occupational Well-Being: A Tripartite Model Integrating Preexisting Self-Control, Job Demands, and Job Resources

Research Findings: Beginning early childhood education (ECE) teachers’ occupational well-being (OWB) is essential for a high-quality and stable ECE workforce. However, factors and mechanisms that foster beginning ECE teachers’ OWB still remain underexplored, especially considering teachers’ preexisting dispositions and working conditions simultaneously. Using a school-to-work longitudinal design, this study examines the role of preexisting self-control, job demands, and job resources in shaping beginning ECE teachers’ OWB (job satisfaction and work engagement). In the spring semester (T1), 783 final-year students studying in an ECE program reported self-control and demographics. In the fall semester (T2), 318 participants who graduated and worked as in-service ECE teachers reported job demands, job resources, OWB, and work-related demographics. The results showed that job demands and resources were negatively and positively related to OWB, respectively. T1 self-control was indirectly related to T2 OWB through lower levels of job demands, but not through higher levels of job resources. The moderation of job resources in the link between job demands and OWB was not significant. Practice or Policy: These results provide suggestions for teacher training institutions and ECE hiring sectors about how to foster beginning ECE teachers’ OWB.