Reflective supervision in early childhood education: how one program used the intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 crisis created stress, anxiety, and depression in early childhood educators, with particular adverse effects on minority and marginalized populations. The use of reflective supervision (RS) has helped childhood education (ECE) programs respond to the ill effects of the pandemic. Thus, it is important to explore the specific mechanisms of how RS supports ECE workers in such times of stress. This phenomenological case study was conducted at Educare DC, an ECE program that serves a low-income, predominantly African American population in Ward 7 of Washington, DC. It aimed to examine the lived experiences of supervisors who used RS during the early months of the pandemic to support staff during this period of heightened stress. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 supervisors to develop an understanding of their experiences of providing and receiving RS. The findings led to the creation of a model of workplace reflective supervision in early childhood education. They show that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the needs of Educare DC staff and as a result, RS evolved to address these needs. Reflective supervision relies on a strong supervisory alliance, and the data illustrate that culture supports relationship building, which then promotes trust and the creation of a safe space in RS. Trust and a safe space create an environment of psychological safety, supervisor self-efficacy, and agency for supervisor and supervisee. This culture of trust then leads to the workplace providing intangible rewards for staff, like an inclusive and culturally accepting work environment, which has been shown to lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction. These rewards likely helped Educare DC staff feel supported during the pandemic. The data represent the transformative power of RS and how it can be adapted to meet the needs of ECE programs in crisis. It also provides a look at how one ECE program was able to support their staff during the pandemic, which can help other similar programs formulate their own support plans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)