Exploring Child Care Professionals' Reflective Supervision Consultation Impacts and Preferences: A Preliminary Statewide Study

Background/Purpose: Reflective supervision consultation (RSC) is an infant-early childhood (IEC) professional development tool. Frequently facilitated by social workers, RSC supports professionals’ understanding of the relational experiences that define IEC work. Preliminary research suggests associations between RSC, reduced burnout, and increased job satisfaction for IEC professionals (Meuwissen et al., 2024). RSC’s expansion to child care settings, which are impacted by limited access to professional development activities and risks for burnout, warrants the expansion of social work RSC research. Minimal empirical attention to race, culture, and intersecting identities in RSC supervisor-supervisee relationships (Meuwissen et al., 2024) hinders developing culturally responsive RSC practices. This paper describes a statewide evaluation that addresses child care professionals’ description of: (a) RSC participation; (b) the impacts of RSC on work experiences; and (c) preferences for RSC supervisors’ identities and lived experiences.

Methods: An online, anonymous survey was disseminated to an IEC workforce association’s membership. Participants included 27 child care professionals who have received RSC. All of the respondents identified as women; 62.96% identified as White; and 37.03% identified as BIPOC. In addition to demographics, a pilot self-report survey assessed level of agreement with statements about RSC beliefs and impacts. Preferences about RSC supervisors’ identities and lived experiences were also assessed. Four qualitative questions addressed RSC experiences. The mixed-methods study used descriptive analysis, including cross-tabulation, to compare RSC beliefs/impacts and preferences based on racial identity. A two-cycle coding process was used for qualitative thematic analysis.

Results: There were differences between BIPOC and White participants’ frequency and degree of self-reported agreement with statements about RSC beliefs and impacts. A majority of BIPOC participants remained neutral or disagreed with statements regarding RSC’s positive impacts on their sense of overwhelm, well-being, and stress; whereas a majority of White participants agreed with these statements.

A majority of participants prefer RSC supervisors with professional child care experience. A majority of BIPOC participants reported racial and/or ethnic, cultural, religious and/or spiritual, and gender identities as important for building a supervisor-supervisee connection; however, this was not the case for White participants. Qualitative results complemented the quantitative findings. Themes highlighted the importance of RSC supervisory relationships and RSC’s positive and negative impacts on professional development.

Conclusion and Implications: The findings inform the IEC workforce association’s funding applications, training, and advocacy for RSC in child care settings. Results raise questions about the degree to which RSC addresses the well-being, stress, and overwhelm of BIPOC child care professionals. RSC cannot exist in one format and also be culturally relevant or universally beneficial (Shivers et al., 2022). It is essential for social workers to cultivate and actively increase child care professionals’ access to culturally congruent RSC supervisors who have child care work experience. The survey questions can be piloted in practice settings to gauge RSC preferences and provide data that supports culturally responsive RSC funding and resources. Future studies should include diverse samples and examine RSC experiences in the context of broader employment, organizational wellness efforts, and work-life balance (Eaves et al., 2018).