Readjusting the lens

I have never written about the impact of trauma on children’s development, but it is an area that I have thought about quite a lot during my 20+ years of Early Years experience. My interest is partly driven by seeing firsthand the impact it has had on people I hold dear to me, but also from the many children I have taught who I believe were experiencing some sort of trauma at home, which then played out in their interactions in the classroom. The trauma being expressed in many different ways, often unique to the child, but unidentified for what it really was.

When I reflect back on these children, who I think often lived in quite chaotic environments surrounded by experiences that many adults would even struggle to cope with, I am not surprised by how much they struggled in an educational environment. It was not uncommon for them to be found hiding under tables, hitting out at other children and staff, shouting and crying, withdrawing from those around them or running away. Yet through all of this, they were still expected to engage and learn at an unrealistic rate or timeframe, whilst trying to cope with the inner turmoil from trauma. For some this was possible, but for others the unfair expectations just exacerbated the distress they were in. Ultimately it would often lead to them eventually being removed from the classroom, or worse yet expelled from the school.

I recently read about a child that I had taught who ended up in prison as an adult having hurt another person. Was I surprised by this? Sadly, no. I remember him as a young boy, struggling to cope with the expectation put upon him in the classroom, whilst trying to deal with the trauma he was experiencing in other parts of his life. Academic learning was the last thing he could engage in, yet he was still being asked to. I now wonder what would have happened if we had readjusted our focus to meet what he so desperately needed. Would things have been a little bit easier for him? Would things be different for him now? If the focus had been more on what his emotional needs were on any given day, would he have been better equipped to cope with what life threw at him? For example, during carpet sessions, would we have been better to allow him some time outside in the garden instead? Or during phonics sessions, would he have benefited from more physical or therapeutic play? Or during writing activities, would he have benefited from having time to choose an activity that he felt he could manage?

As educators we feel an immense desire to meet children’s needs, but we are also heavily weighted by the expectations put upon us by outside agencies who are often so far removed from the reality of what these children really need and what educators are experiencing. We have significant pressure put upon us through Ofsted expectations, Government policies and guidelines, and the need to track and show progress. Yet none of this prioritises the need to support children’s emotional well-being above all else, or has the space to show how far a child has come with their emotional well being and coping strategies. The ability to truly put children’s needs first is becoming more and more difficult, and children who may be dealing with traumatic experiences will feel the impact of this most.

I have witnessed first hand this process with someone dear to me, and it sadly led to their death. I believe his death was partially due to childhood trauma that had always been hidden away and ignored throughout his life, despite him crying out for help from a very young age. But the focus was never to address where this was coming from, it was always on conformity and outcomes.

Within all of this I am certainly not saying that children should not have the opportunity to learn. That said, I do believe that by readjusting the focus within early years to be more based on how we function as humans, and our inner need to balance well-being and positive mental health, we will better enable children to work through any trauma that may otherwise affect them well into their adulthood. Readjusting the lens may well do this.