THE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA IN EDUCATION
REMS 5013
Dr. Ryan Chung
The Effects of Childhood Trauma in Education
Amanda Daniels
Oklahoma State University
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Introduction
Background of Problem
Childhood trauma plays a vital role in the development of children as well as the success
that students gain within the educational setting. Trauma comes in many forms and fashions,
ranging from death, emotional, verbal, sexual, and/or physical abuse, divorce, separation, etc.
Trauma doesn’t just affect students’ behaviors and their learning, it also affects the classroom,
learning environment of others, as well as the teacher therefore more research is needed to ensure
that teachers are equipped with the tools and resources needed to reach and educate these
students.
Early childhood educators know the effects that trauma has on students as well as the
need they have for security. Educators know the importance of training and study as much as
possible in order to be the most effective teacher for these students. These students are the ones
that come into the classroom with the least amount of interest in education but the greatest
amount of need for love and security in their young life. Yet, the opportunities for such training
and professional development aren't readily available.
Statement of the Problem
Due to the increase of childhood trauma exposure in early childhood more research is
needed to ensure educators can meet the needs of these students.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this research proposal is to determine if teachers are being provided with
adequate resources and training to reach students who have been affected by trauma in the early
years of life.
Definition of Terms
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● Childhood Trauma- Groves (2002) states that trauma is any event that affects a child’s
sense of physical and/or emotional safety as well as poses a threat to not only the child
but the safety of the child’s parents or caregivers.
● Emotional Regulation- Relating to the ability to experience and enjoy positive emotions
while maintaining and managing strong or overwhelming negative emotions. (Sorrells,
2015)
● Social Emotional Capacity- The psychological state of an individual including factors
such as depression, stress and/or emotional exhaustion as well as the ability to cope
whether that be cognitive, behavioral and emotional strategies used to handle stress.
(Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, 2016).
● Resilience- According to Wright (2013) is one’s own ability to overcome or recover
from the stress in one’s life by implementing emotional skills.
● Social Regulation- Involves the ability to make a friend as well as be a friend correlating
heavily on a child’s ability to successfully read as well as interpret social cues. (Sorrells,
2015)
Significance of the Study
Researching this topic will provide educators a better understanding and insight related to
students within their classroom who suffer from and/or are currently experiencing childhood
trauma. This research will not only provide a positive impact on the educators of the 21st century
but administrators as well.
Assumptions
The following assumptions were made while conducting this research:
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1. It is assumed that participants have understood the questions asked of them and replied to
the questions to correctly describe their experiences.
2. It is assumed that project researchers have a clear perception of the participant’s
responses to the questions of this study as well as comprehension of the participants'
experiences precisely.
3. It is assumed that data collected for this study have been recorded properly as well as
transcribed if needed, to prepare materials for impending analysis for the purpose of this
study.
Limitations
Potential problems or concerns that could arise within this study could be but not limited
to sample size, interpretations being limited as well as the time needed to complete. The size of
this study could limit the ability of data collection in terms of not achieving the participation size
projected. The particular requirements for participants of this study could adversely affect this
study.
With interpretations being limited due to the nature of a qualitative study, the amount of
time needed to conduct this study and provide relevant data can become a limitation. The fact
that the results cannot be verified due to the nature that they were obtained, could potentially
raise some issues. The requirement to participate in this study could affect the number of
participants due to the nature of requirements as many educators are leaving the education
system. This study will be limited to one school district in Oklahoma and within that school
district will be limited to 2 elementary schools.
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Both the researcher and participants' interpretation of the study could affect the outcome
as both will have personal experiences and knowledge that influence observations and
conclusions.
Organization of the Study
The study is organized into the following sections: introduction, literature review, and
methods. A reference list follows the final section.
Literature Review
The purpose of this research proposal is to determine the effects that childhood trauma
exposure has on students as well to emphasize the need for more resources for educators to reach
these students.
General Information on Childhood Trauma
Early childhood trauma is considered a major public health concern that not only has
severe implications for the child and family but society as a whole. (Barlett and Smith, 2019)
Childhood trauma occurs between the ages of birth and age six, research indicates that the effects
exhibited due to trauma are results of the trauma occurring during the time of sensitive yet rapid
brain development, which is what can lead to serious mental and health issues later in life.
(DeBellis & Zeisk, 2014; Shonkoff, Boyce, & McEwen, 2009) Childhood trauma is defined
through a variety of events that can adversely affect young children, these event include but are
not limited to abuse, neglect, domestic violence, loss of a parent, as well as community violence.
(Barlett and Smith, 2019)
Sadly, many times it is not perceived as trauma due to the age of the child and adults who
are caring for the children feel as though the child is too young to understand what is going on
and therefore will not be affected by these situations. (Perry, Pollard, Blakely, Baker, &
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Vigilante, 1995) Adverse effects of exposure to trauma early in life can result in children not
being able to form attachments, implications with dealing with stress, feelings and thoughts of
hopelessness, worthlessness, which then result in low self-esteem as well as behavior problems.
(Howse, Calkins, Anastopoulos, Keane, & Shelton, 2003)
Milo, St-Laurent, Ethier, & Provost (2010) concluded that children with a history of
neglect/trauma were more likely to exhibit symptoms directly related to PTSD compared to
children who were not exposed to neglect/trauma. Shonkoff et al (2009) indicated that trauma
can be biologically embedded causing physiological disruptions that can later in life cause them
to have physical and mental disparities. Research indicates that boys tend to exhibit more
externalizing behaviors as a result of trauma early in life while girls tend to lean more toward
internalizing stress responses. (Grasso, Ford, & Briggs-Gowan, 2013)
Teachers Social-Emotional Training in regards to Childhood Trauma
Early Childhood teachers report that managing challenging behavior is an area with the
most need for training in terms of supporting a child’s growth both socially and emotionally, yet
very few are receiving that training. (Yoshikawa and Zigler, 2000) Teachers who have been
equipped with the proper coping strategies have a better understanding of students affected by
trauma and therefore their students are more responsive. (Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, 2016)
Research indicates that teachers who have healthy coping skills are more likely to respond
appropriately to negative behaviors of students. (Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, 2016)
Evidence indicates that teachers in general would greatly benefit from development
opportunities related to social-emotional development. (Conners-Burrow, Patrick, Kyzer, &
Mckelvey, 2017). Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, (2016) indicate that teachers are more attuned
to the students as well as their profession due to the influence of their own ability to identify the
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needs in terms of socially and emotionally in the classroom which results in a more positive
social-emotional environment for their students. The psychological state of teachers has an
immense influence on the climate of their classroom as well as student outcomes. (Buettner,
Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, 2016)
The emotional capacity of teachers is directly correlated to a teachers’ professional
commitment as well responsiveness which Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, (2016) indicates are
two of the most important indicators in quality care. According to (Barlett and Smith, 2019)
teachers indicate that challenging behaviors are common in those students who have exposure to
trauma, these behaviors result in a negative impact for the teachers psychological well-being as
well as their behavior towards these students. When teachers are emotionally distressed they are
less tolerant of challenging behaviors in the classroom. Teachers, who lack the proper
social-emotional training, typically have less engagement not only with their students but also in
their profession. (Buettner, Jeon, Hur, & Garcia, 2016)
Research Question
The purpose of this qualitative study is to provide the impact of childhood trauma
exposure has on a child’s behavior and educational success, regardless of the type trauma the
child experienced.
1. Are educators being provided with adequate trauma training to meet the needs of their
students affected by childhood trauma?
2. With the impact of childhood trauma as related to behaviors that children display while in
a school environment, what more can be implemented for educators to incur they are
guiding these specific students to success?
Theoretical Perspective
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The theory that informs this study is Behaviorism. (McLeod, 2017) Within the
behaviorism theory, it is believed that a person's learning and behavior are a result through
interaction with the environment through a process called conditioning. Conditioning is
considered how a student reacts based on environmental stimuli. Environment stimuli are
anything that results in a change is a person’s behavior such as praise, feedback, or sometimes
just conservation. The process of conditioning results in the behaviors that we see exhibited in
the student yet the student doesn’t recognize that these behaviors are abnormal. The student has
been conditioned to respond in a specific way which is what causes the results of behavior the
student’s exhibit.
McLeod (2017) states that within the behavior perspective, there are three types of
behavioral learning theories, these theories are contiguity, classical conditioning, and operant
conditioning. Behaviorists indicate that learning is any change in behavior that is brought on as
the result of experiences or practice. Learning is viewed as an internal event yet it is not
recognized as learning until it is displayed by noticeable behavior. Bandura (1977) does side with
the behaviorist learning theories of classical as well as operant conditioning. However, he also
advocates that a mediating process occurs and that behavior is learned from an environment
during the process of observational learning. For this study, trauma experienced in childhood will
not be limited to an age range but will be taken into account that trauma can occur in utero. This
study will give educators a broader understanding of behaviors that some students display in
class based upon the environments that they have experienced.
Summary
Early childhood trauma is considered a major public health concern that not only has
severe implications for the child and family but society as a whole. (Barlett and Smith, 2019)
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Early Childhood teachers report that managing challenging behavior is an area with the most
need for training in terms of supporting a child’s growth both socially and emotionally yet very
few are receiving that training. (Yoshikawa and Zigler, 2000) Research is still an ongoing need to
help better equip teachers in reaching and meeting the needs of children affected by trauma. This
study hopes to bring to the forefront the need for more research on this topic.
Method
This section will outline the research designs, participants, data collection, instruments,
as well as data analysis related to this study. A summary will be provided as well.
Research Design
This is a qualitative narrative study, data collection will be collected using surveys. Each
participant will be sent a survey that will include multiple types of questions such as multiple
choice and open ended questions. For analyzing this study on childhood trauma the use of
qualitative data analysis (QDA) will be utilized as this study having open end questions. Once
the data is collected then it will need to be coded. Narrative Analysis could also be utilized for
this study as a source analyzing date method of analysis due to narrative analysis being able to
interrupt stories that are told within the context of research yet are shared in everyday life.
Participants
The sample will be 24 educators from Bartlesville Public Schools who meet the specific
criteria outlined in the population.
Population. The population for this study will be elementary educators with varied years
of experience who teach PK-5th grade at public schools in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Sample. The sample size of 24 educators from the study population must meet the
following requirements:
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● Employed at a public school within Bartlesville, Oklahoma
● Minimum year 2 of teaching.
● Pre-Kindergarten-5th grade educator
Sampling Method.
Intensity sampling will be the first sampling method used for this study. Upon getting
confirmation of willing participants, random sampling will then be used to conduct the reminder
of the study.
Data Collection
Data collection will be collected using the following procedures. An initial email will be
sent to principals of 2 elementary schools in Bartlesville. This email will introduce the study as
well as the researcher, as well as asking permission for the email addresses of the educators
within their school. Upon getting responses from the principals with the email addresses of
prospective participants, the initial email to prospective participants will be sent, identifying the
purpose of this study as giving demographic information of the researcher. The initial email will
have a response by date. A reminder email to prospective participants will be sent 2 days prior to
the response by date. Upon receiving the responses of educators who want to participate, a
second email will be sent to them with a google form attached for the participants to complete.
The google form will consist of both open ended as well as multiple choice questions.
Instrument
The questionnaire questions used in this study are attached and labeled as “Appendix A”.
These questions are intended to allow educators to provide information as it relates to their
experience in the educational environment during their career.
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Trustworthiness. Trustworthiness and credibility are vital to qualitative research,
therefore for the purposes of this study these will be defined using the following definitions.
Within qualitative research, trustworthiness, sometimes referred to as the rigor of a study is the
degree of confidence in the data interpretation, as well as the methods used to ensure the quality
of study (Polit & Beck, 2014).
Reflexivity. Reflexivity as it pertains to qualitative research is the perspective of the
researcher regarding attitude and reaction of the research construction findings, is useful in
identifying potential or actual effects of personal, contextual or circumstantial aspects of the
research as well as results throughout the entire study and is beneficial in maintaining awareness
of the researcher’s self as part of what they study. (Berger, 2015) My personal as well as research
interest in this particular topic stems from my experience in the education field.
Data Analysis
The analytical method used in this research study will follow suggestions made by
research design and methodology course textbook. Gay & Mills (2019) indicate that within
qualitative data collection, observations, interviews, as well as questionnaires are acceptable as
the approach is ethical, feasible, and a contribution to the study. Data collection or fieldwork for
a qualitative study involves time within the setting, engrossing oneself in the setting and
retrieving the relevant information needed. (Gay & Mills, 2019) Gay & Mill (2019) state that
when using questionnaires to be careful, questions should be relevant as well as the presentation
eye catching. Summary
Questionnaires will be sent to willing participants to gain their perspective of the effects
of childhood trauma on students related to their learning abilities and behaviors exhibited in the
educational setting. Through methods and procedures to ensure trustworthiness and protect the
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identity of the participants, the research will properly be analyzed for data that correlates to the
topic of childhood trauma. This study intends to bring to the forefront the need for more research
in the area of the efforts of childhood trauma in education.
Appendix
Questionnaire Questions for Educator Participants
1. Do you feel as an educator you are provided essential training for teaching students affected
by childhood trauma?
2. What do you feel educators need more of to be effective in teaching students affected by
childhood trauma?
3. Do you feel that colleges need to provide more education courses on childhood trauma and the
effects it has on a classroom environment?
4. What do you feel that most students affected by childhood trauma need to be successful in an
educational setting?
5. Do you feel that childhood trauma truly affects a child's success in an educational setting?
6. Do you feel that children affected by childhood trauma can be as successful as their peers who
have not experienced childhood trauma?
7. What do you feel can be done to ensure a child’s success in an educational setting when they
have suffered childhood trauma?
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References
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