Cuidando de quem cuida: o bem-estar de educadores infantis em meio à pandemia de COVID-19 e suas concepções acerca do CHIME, um programa baseado em mindfulness

Abstract

In the Brazilian educational scenario, the work and health conditions of the educator represent a chronic problem. Given the fact that the educator's personal and professional stress has negative consequences not only for their own health, but also for the health of their students, this topic has been the subject of research in several areas. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic represented an additional stress factor for this professional: adapting their teaching practices to the remote model while having to maintain the bond with students and families. Add to that the fear of losing your job and/or decreasing your salary. These factors, aggravated the already shaken emotional health of the educator. Some programs, even before the pandemic, were already emerging with the aim of promoting well-being and reducing the stress of teachers. An example of that is CHIME, which is an eight-week mindfulness and compassion-based socio-emotional learning program for early childhood educators. Recognizing the importance of the child educator's emotional health, the general objective of this dissertation was to investigate the notion of well-being, from the child educator's perspective, to reflect on the strategies and resources that these professionals use to deal with stress (such as what they experienced during the pandemic), as well as evaluating, based on the opinion of these professionals, the CHIME program, duly translated and adapted to Brazilian Portuguese. From the methodological point of view, questionnaires of a quantitative-qualitative nature were carried out, as well as focus group interviews. Results revealed that higher levels of stress related to pandemic factors (e.g., worry of contracting COVID-19 upon returning to work) were significantly associated with lower levels of perceived mental well-being and reported general health. In the analysis, the educators reported that well-being for them was being well with themselves, having balance, peace, tranquility, social support and a healthy body and mind. The results suggest that mindfulness practice can be a promising and desired health promotion strategy for these professionals. Furthermore, in relation to the evaluation made by the educators of the adapted program, the participants judged it to be a very useful resource for early childhood educators and agreed that participating in the program would contribute to promoting their well-being and reducing their stress. In general, this dissertation reinforces the idea already suggested by the literature that before expecting educators to promote socio-emotional skills in their students, they need to have their own skills promoted. Beyond that, research like this collaborates with knowledge that supports the promotion of well-being of early childhood educators, and consequently, contributes to a higher quality early childhood education.