‘We cry together every day’ - expressing emotion in early childhood empathy research’

This article uses selected findings from a small-scale research project entitled ‘Exploring early childhood practitioners’ perceptions of empathic interactions with children and families’. The project used an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology to explore data from a small number of early childhood practitioners working in nurseries and preschools in the UK. Participants completed diaries, reflecting on empathy throughout their working week; this was followed by a semi-structured interview to further discuss the diary content. This article focuses on findings demonstrating emotion within close empathic relationships with children, indicating that the inherent emotional labour has the potential to cause stress and burnout, although empathic satisfaction can counter this to some extent. The findings of the project call for improved reflective supervision for early childhood practitioners who report an impact upon their own well-being daily. There are potential opportunities for applying findings to international contexts and to parallel roles in working with children.