The Effects of Early Childhood Teachers' Psychological Burnout and Grit on Their Teacher-Child Interaction

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of early childhood teachers' psychological burnout and grit on teacher-child interaction. The subjects were 364 early childhood teachers working for young children aged 3 to 5 at kindergartens and daycare centers in South Korea. To measure the major variables, teacher-child interaction scale (Lee, 2003), psychological burnout scale (Park, 2020), and Grit scale (Lee, 2015) were used. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 24.0 Statistical Program. Pearson's correlation analysis and analysis of multiple regression were conducted to test research questions along with the descriptive statistics and Cronbach's coefficient. As the results, early childhood teachers' psychological burnout was found to have the significantly negative correlation with their teacher-child interaction, and grit was found to have the significantly positive correlation with their teacher-child interaction. In addition, early childhood teachers' psychological burnout and grit had significant effects on their level of teacher-child interaction.