Demographic Variables, Work-Stimulated Stressors and Coping Strategies of Pre-school Educators: A Concept Paper

Abstract

This paper reflects on the initial literature reviewed in the course of an on-going research. The motivation resonates from the researchers’ initial findings on the paucity of stress research within the context of early childhood education (ECE) in South Africa. Reviewed literature suggests that information about the events of stress associated with the teachers’ race, age, marital status, gender, qualifications and location of school remains very scanty. No empirical study was found to have jointly taken-up these demographic variables in a single study. Although plethora of literature exists on stress coping strategies among teachers in general, no literature was found on coping strategies among preschool educators. In the absence of data from a single study on the association of stress and teachers’ demographic variables, it would be difficult to reflect on how these variables put together impact on how particular teachers may be coping with stressful events at work.