ECHOES OF CARE: UNDERSTANDING WELL-BEING AND ADAPTABILITY AMONG RURAL APPALACHIAN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS

In rural Appalachian early childhood contexts, educators have complex, demanding jobs that are steeped in compounded, consistent forms of trauma (i.e., environmental, secondary) and minimal opportunities to care for their own well-being. In these spaces, educators are often expected to use their social capital in overwhelming ways to lessen social determinants of health for the young children and communities that they support. This study utilizes Critical Theory of Place and The Social Ecology of Resilience to understand the multiple forms of well-being that impact the early care and education workforce (i.e., physical, psychological, professional, and relational). This study explores the stories of five rural Appalachian early childhood pre-kindergarten educators, specifically how they conceptualize their own well-being and the factors that impact it. Conducted across three years this study is situated within a trauma-informed research-practice partnership, the Trauma-Informed Intervention Preschool Studies (TIPS). Critical Narrative Inquiry and Reflexive Thematic Analysis were utilized to understand the factors that relate to how educators conceptualize their own well-being and act as reflexive means to amplify educator voice. This study found rural educators conceptualize their own well-being through connection to place, critical understanding of complex traumas that affect their everyday experiences, and the negotiation of resilience factors and forms of adaptation that are influenced by their assets and resources. This research contributes to the limited body of literature that provides a comprehensive understanding of the lived experiences of rural early childhood educators.