Graduate Student Research Symposium 2026

Early childhood education in Hawaiʻi has gained more public attention in recent years. Thousands of people dedicate their lives to this field, yet research related to early childhood education and early childhood educators is lacking in comparison to research for elementary level and above. The workforce is a necessity, but more importantly the people in the field matter. Early childhood education continues to battle a teacher and staffing shortage. Available research often focuses on identifying the negative influences as the solution to combat this issue. Perhaps approaching the issues by flipping the narrative and exploring teacher happiness can allow insights into job perceptions and specificity of job happiness. By using a mixed method approach I aim to capture the voices of Hawaiʻi’s preschool teachers and use a strength-based approach to explore future supports for the local early childhood workforce.