EMOTIONAL LABOUR AND THE WELLBEING OF CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS IN BENINCITY

This study examines emotional Labour and the wellbeing of early childhood educators in Benin City. To achieve this objective, five research questions were posed and answered. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study, and the sample comprised 150 early childhood teachers selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. The data collection instrument was a self-structured questionnaire. The instrument was validated by three experts in the field of early childhood education, health and counselling psychologists. Cronbach's Alpha was used to assess the instrument's internal consistency, yielding an alpha of 0.89. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations). The findings revealed that early childhood teacher experienced a high level of emotional Labour in their professional roles. In addition, emotional Labour affects the wellbeing of early childhood teachers. Furthermore, the study indicates that the emotional Labour experienced by early childhood teachers is triggered by contextual factors such as workload, low salaries, large class sizes (high pupil-to-teacher ratios), school management policies and cultural expectations of teachers. Moreover, the study revealed that early childhood teachers employ various strategies, such as prayer, spiritual activities, positive thinking, peer support, relaxation and exercise, in coping with emotional Labour. Additionally, the study indicated that the support system available for the teachers includes family, friends, colleagues and training opportunities. However, management's institutional support was limited. Based on these findings, the study recommends, among others, that school management and educational authorities should establish structured emotional support systems for teachers, such as counselling services, mentorship programs and regular wellbeing check-ins. Government and school proprietors should reduce class sizes, provide adequate teaching resources, and ensure fair workload distribution to minimise emotional stress among teachers.