Early Childhood Special Education Teachers’ Use of Trauma-Informed, Equity-Centred Practices

Abstract

There have been an increasing number of calls for the use of trauma-informed practices with young children with disabilities. However, the use of trauma-informed practices without an equity-oriented approach can cause further harm to children in schools. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore early childhood special education teachers’ use of trauma-informed, equity-centered practices. Semi-structured interviews using photo-elicitation were conducted with 12 early childhood special education teachers in one state. Our findings indicate that while participants did share using trauma-informed, equity-centered practices, they also reported using practices that did not align with an equity-centered approach. The findings from this study have implications for research, practice, and policy related to supporting early childhood special education teachers’ use of trauma-informed, equity-centered practices.