How can professional development for early childhood educators on trauma-informed practices help support whole child development?

Research findings have indicated that early childhood educators are requiring additional knowledge and skills than what is currently provided to better support the development of young children after they have experienced a traumatic event (Alisic, 2012; Kim et al., 2021; Loomis & Felt, 2020). Approximately one in four children have experienced a traumatic event by the time they turn two years old (Loomis & Felt, 2020). This paper examined the impact of professional development opportunities for early childhood educators on trauma-informed practices to better support the whole child. In addition to professional development opportunities, the research suggested that curriculum enrichment and family engagement practices should be implemented, as well. The studies in this paper commonly showed that trauma-informed training and curriculum can boost teacher confidence (Shamblin et al., 2016), have long-term academic impacts on young children (Sanders et al., 2020), and create a sense of community for caregivers and parents (Eismann et al., 2019)