Trauma-Informed Care and Education Practices in Infant Classrooms
CONTENT WARNING #1: I would like to mention that this blog post is written for educational purposes only and not intended to provide any professional services.
CONTENT WARNING #2: The religious/spiritual views used to connect to this blog post are mine based on my own experiences and do not reflect the views and experiences of everyone. Commentaries published on my First Former Buddy Club President influencer page represent diverse viewpoints. If you would like to submit a commentary, please contact me for more information. All perspectives and experiences are welcome here.
TRIGGER WARNING: If you are affected by child abuse/neglect, other types of childhood trauma, references to the Holocaust, and/or trauma responses, this blog post may be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, and/or other mental health professional who is qualified to do so. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada. In addition, you can call 911 or Child Line at 0800 1111 to report experienced, witnessed, or suspected child abuse/neglect (available in the USA and UK).
"In the Hebrew scriptures, the Ten Commandments begin with the words, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:1-3). In the Bible, there is a well-known story about God freeing the Israelites from slavery. Besides in religious stories, slavery was and still is a true and historical political issue that occurs worldwide. Slavery and many other problems can be very traumatizing for victims.
Trauma is any difficult life event that causes emotional distress. Through my six years of teaching and educational background, I am well-aware of how trauma can negatively impact anyone's mental and physical health. I am also educated about the importance of utilizing Trauma-Informed Care and Education practices in classrooms. This is especially true for me to know as an aspiring Special Education teacher. In the summer of 2023, I was a Lead Infant Teacher at a childcare center and my roster of six babies were very attached to me. Towards the end of that summer, I decided to resign after working at this center for a little over one year to focus more on my Field Experience in Special Education internship and student teaching that upcoming school year. Let's just vaguely say that while I was working there, the babies were being exposed to emotional trauma that I cannot get into the details of for legal confidentiality purposes. All of this was especially a health and safety concern for the babies. An Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor named Dr. Viktor Frankl's exposure to being held captive in a concentration camp is deeply described in Rise Above It: Spiritual Development for Educators written by Ray and Star Silverman. To elaborate more, it is described that this traumatic experience severely impacted the mental health of many victims. For example, "as a self-defense mechanism, some prisoners resorted apathy and emotional numbness. It was their way of coping with the horror of the situation. Others ended their lives in suicide" (pg. 18, Silverman & Silverman 2018). Babies have very little memory and comprehension skills due to their small prefrontal cortex in their brains; however, studies have shown that babies can still have other reactions to trauma and some negative events just like everyone else despite their age.
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It became very common for the babies to cry whenever they heard yelling. They would show signs of fear whenever any other teachers –– even if they showed genuine kindness –– did caregiving tasks for them instead of me. If they were awake, they cried in fear whenever I temporarily left the room even when other kind teachers were with them. They also behaved out of the ordinary in multiple other ways when the class routine was not followed. It was as if they felt trapped. Although I am not a psychologist, I do know that it is possible that they were struggling with predictability due to this negative exposure. Through my knowledge as a teacher, I know that this is a common sign of a trauma response or stress. Students of all ages and abilities learn from consistency and structure; so, it is possible that they were struggling whenever this transition occurred since they were so used to me being their teacher for the whole summer. They were also used to my consistent kindness. In addition, families shared concerns with me about my resignation since they appreciated that I did everything that I was supposed to do. I showed support for their concerns by stating, "Your feelings are valid, and I will do everything that I can to support your baby during our last few weeks together." This was always followed by genuine thank yous.
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I did everything that I could to support my students' social-emotional development during this rough time. I even shared our concerns with a higher-up who showed strong support. Even though it was hard during my last weeks at this center, I showed up anyway. I "chose the highest response possible" to make the best of the situation by nurturing and protecting my students (pg. 17, Silverman & Silverman 2018). I thought the following affirmation: We can do hard things. I continued to comfort them when they would cry, play with them, take care of them, and teach them. Every morning, we clapped and sang songs at circle time after their morning snacks. Every day we also made a footprint craft that related to our lesson theme of the week. Since all infants have different schedules, I would take the babies who were not sleeping yet outside for stroller rides when the weather was not inclement as part of our daily routine too. When the weather was bad outside, I would take them on stroller rides in the hallway instead. While we were outside, another teacher would stay in the classroom with the sleeping babies, and I would take them out again later. This experience not only supported their sensory and social skills; it also served as a positive distraction and gave them a break from toxic stress. I have observed that positive distractions, breaks, and exposure to nature can be beneficial strategies to support people of all ages and differences who have been exposed to trauma.
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Another trauma-informed practice is to be mindful that how all people heal from trauma and any negativity varies. The progress in healing depends on how effective their exposure to an emotional support system is. To quote the Shema, "Hear O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). In other words, teachers of all subject areas and age groups should nurture their students by showing as much care as possible.
This blog post introduced a powerful recurring theme that appears in many of my posts and is an issue that is very important to me as part of my professional philosophy as a teacher. My passion for developing a background in Trauma-Informed Care and Education started along my journey of healing from trauma in my teenage years. As a teacher who is a trauma survivor, relating to any of my students and other people who have also experienced trauma tends to come easy to me. This is because I know how it feels to be traumatized while no two trauma survivor stories are completely alike. Traumatic stress during and after the traumatic event is like being trapped in "the house of bondage" (Exodus 20-1:3). While traumas tend to have many similarities, every experience and reaction is different.
Many of my positive and negative experiences as a child have contributed to my development as an aspiring Special Education teacher. This also contributed to the strength of my passion as a disability advocate. As everyone who follows me knows and by my social media handle name, I was a member of my alma mater high school's Buddy Club during all of my four years as a student there and their first ever Buddy Club President. I have always wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl, but Buddy Club confirmed my career path of wanting to teach Special Education, specifically Life Skills Support. I also returned to this same classroom for my Field Experience in Special Education internship during the fall of my senior year at Bryn Athyn College. While I have always been a disability advocate, Buddy Club strongly contributed to the strength of my passion as a disability advocate. As a current volunteer in the same Life Skills Support classroom that inspired my dream job, I often reflect upon many of my memories from my time volunteering in Life Skills Support back in high school.
It is important for everyone to pay close attention to the fact that while advocating for other people's rights can be rewarding, it can also be stressful. That stress can cause us to say things that we do not mean, such as but not limited to taking the Lord's name in vain or other explicit statements. Advocating for other people's rights is hard and stressful because it matters; however, advocates can tap into their higher selves to rise above madness and chaos.
You might also like and gain a better understanding of Trauma-Informed Care and Education practices in infant classrooms and the job responsibilities of infant teachers by reading my other blog posts linked below:
- Trauma's Impact on Mental and Physical Health Can Be Really Scary
- When Trauma Gets Trapped in the Body, Mind, and Spiritual Self
- Lack of Empathy for Students is a Huge Issue in the Education Field
- FAQs About My Former Job as a Lead Infant Teacher
- Infant/Toddler Teachers Need to be Valued More as Teachers
To learn more about the representation of and how to support infant/toddler mental health, click on the below links from Zero to Three's website that include several resources about this topic:
In addition, to learn more about how childhood trauma and other types of traumas can affect social-emotional development and physical health in people of all ages, you may enjoy reading the following book:
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma written by Bessel van der Kolk
If you are affected by child abuse/neglect, any other childhood trauma, and/or trauma responses, remember that you are not alone and there is hope. If you or someone you know needs support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
In addition, you can call 911 or Child Line at 0800 1111 to report experienced, witnessed, or suspected child abuse/neglect (available in the USA and UK).
You can also visit The Mighty's suicide prevention resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
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1. Silverman, R. & Silverman, S. (2018). Rise Above It: Spiritual Development for Educators. Name of Publishing Company.
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