Skills and Challenges in Child Care: Perceptions of the “Flow” Experience among Teachers

Abstract

Perceptions of the experience of “flow” as described by M. Csikszentmihalyi was examined among child-care employees. Flow was defined as the difference between raters' perceptions of the challenges presented by child-care employment and their self-reported skills for the job. Teachers (N = 189) of 4-year-olds rated their perceived skills and challenges on 10 activities that typically occur during a day at a child-care center. Multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated no significant effect on Flow due to the amount of child-care training, the number of years of preschool teaching experience, or the interaction between Education and Experience. The flow variable, which is a direct comparison of perceived skills and challenges, was significant. Post hoc analysis indicated that mean ratings on skills were significantly higher than the mean ratings on challenges on all 10 teaching activities. According to flow theory, then, these teachers would be expected to experience boredom rather than flow in work. The results suggest that teacher education programs might focus on enabling caregivers to recognize challenges inherent in routine caregiving or to create challenges to make the work experience more enjoyable.