Mary Surabian

Challenges in Trauma-Informed Training for Childcare Programs and Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges that occur with trauma training in schools through teacher and childcare leader perspectives. The overarching research question of this thesis is: Given the prevalence of childhood trauma in school-age children, why is trauma intervention training in schools and childcare programs not mandatory? Within this main question, there is a research question at hand: What are the main challenges that schools and childcare programs face when trying to integrate trauma-informed training into their community? Previous research indicates that trauma has severe negative impacts on a child’s growth and development on social, educational, psychological, cognitive, and behavioral levels. Research also indicates that although there is a high population of students with trauma in U.S. schools, teachers face a multitude of challenges when supporting these students, such as lack of confidence in their support skills, lack of training in the subject, emotional burnout, and classroom management in regards to student behavior. Research emphasizes that interventions in schools such as school-wide intervention programs, fostering student and educator relationships, individual student evaluation, educator professional development, classroom strategies, and support from mental health professionals, are key components in building a trauma-informed school. This was a qualitative study with the research approach of phenomenology. The participants of this study are as follows: a Camp Director/After school Site Coordinator, an After School Program Director of School Age Operations, a Childcare Program Inclusion Specialist, and a population of Public Elementary School Faculty. The data was collected through interviews and survey on online platforms. The findings of the study reveal that the main challenges in implementing trauma training into schools and childcare programs are time, funding, participant engagement, and communication. The researcher observed that although there is an array of challenges when implementing trauma practices into school and childcare settings, the majority of participants expressed a desire to receive more intensive training and incorporate more trauma-informed practices in their work setting in order to support children with trauma.

Interviews

(in context of emotional baggage) “As adults, we have a good balance of being able to bear our own and bear others. But when ours are very, very heavy and it's a lot for us to carry, it's really hard to then pick up a child's trauma and support them through it. So it's everybody learning, where is that limit internally to be able to engage?”

-Participant A

"And we've been stuck in the house for a year...more kids may have trauma backgrounds if they've been at home in an unstable environment during this time. So things like that are going to keep progressing and the training needs to keep progressing with it"

-Participant B

Survey

“The demands and expectations of teachers are at an all-time high right now. Adding one more thing to our plate just causes added stress. So finding time to properly implement new training into our day would be the biggest challenge”

-Participant 1

"Trauma techniques are not a one size fits all. It is very individual based on the child which can be hard on teachers especially if they have more than one student in their room who has a history of trauma”

-Participant 2

"There is an increasing number of children who have survived trauma so we need to be trained to help them. Just like we train to help struggling learners we need to be trained to help kids with trauma”

-Participant 2

Epilogue Mary Surabian.mov

My Epilogue

“While reliving trauma is dramatic, frightening, and potentially self-destructive, over time a lack of presence can be even more damaging. This is a particular problem with traumatized children. The acting-out kids tend to get attention; the blanked-out ones don’t bother anybody and are left to lose their future bit by bit.”

― Bessel Van Der Kolk, Body keeps the score, trauma and recovery and hidden healing powers

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