“What is your vision of a peaceful classroom?” This question drove the inquiry and reflection at the Charter School Commission Early Learning Pre-service training in August. Pre-K Teachers and Educational Assistants across the ʻāina gathered with the Commission's Early Learning team to think deeply about how they can create the conditions for a peaceful classroom during this week-long training. A core driver of this focus is the need for trauma-informed care (TIC) in early childhood education reflective of both statewide and national concerns around upticks in challenging behaviors. While this is both disheartening but not surprising given the far-reaching impacts of the pandemic, research has identified nurturing and responsive relationships and high quality supportive environments as the two most important protective factors in promoting positive outcomes, especially for at-risk keiki. These components are the foundation of the Commission's Early Learning program's peaceful classroom vision.
Grounded in TIC research, the Commission's Early Learning team supported teachers in first attending to their own wellness, and enshrining a central tenant into their work: only a regulated adult can support a dysregulated keiki. This is why the health and wellbeing of our kumu need to be the first priority, and the team supported participants in taking a deep dive into their own self care and teamwork practices. Next, the group acknowledged the impact of the pandemic by placing this year's keiki's development along the pandemic timeline. Born in 2020 and 2021, charter school 3- and 4-year-old keiki began their lives when the pandemic was causing unfathomable trauma to them and their ʻohana, and acknowledging that these keiki will have different needs is critical to supporting their resilience. Over 90% of brain development occurs before age 5, so the first years are paramount. Building from this awareness, teachers were encouraged to foster curious dispositions to support them when facing challenging behaviors in their classrooms and wonder 'what happened to you, and how can I support you?'. The Early Learning team shared brain science research that illustrates the benefits of starting with creating a sense of safety first, then fostering emotional connection with keiki, as two essential prerequisites for thinking and deep learning. One pre-K kumu shared “I made connections with how important it is to feel safe and loved, and without the two, we can’t learn and holomua. Doing this exercise I was thinking about my own haumāna and ʻohana, and how each of us contributes an important piece”
5 окт 2024
