How do Pre-school Teachers experience Professional Self-care in institutional life?

An explorative investigation of how professional self-care manifests in pre-school teachers’ everyday work in daycare

Abstract

Interest in self-compassion is increasing within the pedagogical field. However, research investigating how pre-school teachers experience caring for themselves and its significance for institutional life is sparse. This paper explores how 24 pre-school teachers who participated in a composite course experience the phenomenon of professional self-care and how it influenced their work. Data consists of group and individual interviews, as well as participants ´ written descriptions which formed the basis for a phenomenologically inspired analysis. The phenomenon is characterised by being associated with an intentional perception of the lived body, which increases the opportunities for changed attitudes in the lived interactions with children and colleagues. In a body-phenomenologically inspired perspective, the findings are discussed with the purpose of contributing to a nuanced understanding of the phenomenon and its influence on both children’s and adults´ institutional life.