The importance of positive emotions among early childhood educators

ABSTRACT Bearing in mind the educational process has its cognitive and non-cognitive determinants, this article emphasizes the significance of early childhood educators’ emotions in their work with children and focuses on the analysis of their positivity. A total of 152 pre-service and in-service early childhood educators participated in this study. The participants self-evaluated using the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule scale daily for 13 days. The results showed that participants most frequently felt interested, active, determined, and awake. They felt ashamed and hostile the least frequently. Therefore, they experienced more positive emotions than negative ones with a relatively high positivity ratio. The pre-service educators experienced negative emotions more frequently and had a lower positivity ratio than in-service educators. This article emphasizes the importance of providing support to pre- and in-service early childhood educators in the domain of their affective states during their initial education and professional development.