A. Sophie Rogers School master teacher Meredith Schilling gave a presentation titled “Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn: Examining Challenging Behaviors Through a Trauma Lens,” at the 2024 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Professional Learning Institute conference earlier this month in New Orleans.
In her presentation, Schilling urged the audience to understand what was behind a child’s disruptive actions and to interpret the behaviors through the lens of childhood trauma such as food insecurity or neighborhood violence. This deeper understanding by teachers should allow for better outcomes in helping the child modify and learn self-control over challenging behaviors, Schilling told the audience.
The NAEYC Professional Learning Institute is an annual conference that brings together thousands of early childhood practitioners to hear innovative ideas in early childhood education that are informed by research, policy, and practice.
