Pre-school as a Health-promoting and Attractive Workplace

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on Research in Education

Year: 2025

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Pre-school as a Health-promoting and Attractive Workplace

Marcia Håkansson Lindqvist, Marie Häggström, Rikard Wahlgren

ABSTRACT:

A healthy and attractive workplace is crucial for the well-being of employees. Health is now defined not only as the absence of ill health, but also as an expression of well-being and opportunity for development. In Sweden, in the preschool context, all children, regardless of their circumstances and background, need to develop and be challenged in preschool. Here, preschool teachers have an important role to play. The aim of this study was to, using qualitative interviews (N=4), explore and analyse qualified preschool teachers’ perceptions of the working environment in preschool. The following research questions were posed: How do preschool teachers describe the working environment in preschool?; What opportunities and challenges do they see in their work?; and How can these opportunities and challenges be understood based on Theorell and Karasek’s (1996) theory of demand-control? The data material was analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2012). Key aspects that influence preschool teachers’ experiences of stress and the ability to recover are described as a pressured schedule, large groups of children and sometimes insufficient staff, as well as occasions with adequate staffing levels and too many temporary staff who lack specific skills and assignments. This can also be linked to the wide range of tasks that preschool teachers perform in addition to caregiving, which in turn challenges scheduling. High demands and low control in certain areas lead to feelings of stress. Salutogenic opportunities to build on are influence on decisions, knowledge regarding expectations, good relationships with colleagues and motivation at work.

Keywords: Control; Demand; Preschool Teachers; Salutogenic Approach; Working Environment