CONNECTing Children and Teachers Through Child Teacher Relationship Training

Children are with teachers 6-8 hours a day making teachers the most influential and important adults in children’s lives next to parents/primary caretakers (Ray,2011)

• Studies show that healthy, consistent, loving, nurturing interactions with early childhood teachers greatly influence brain development and children’s ability to engage in the early childhood setting (NAEYC, 2015). Warm, positive relationships between children and early school teachers significantly impact factors that contribute to a child’s school success (Helker,Schottlekorb, Ray, 2007) Multiple studies show that attuned and responsive relationships are the most important trauma sensitive strategy for supporting young children!

 

Young children who experience warm, positive, nurturing relationships with their earliest teachers:

• Develop better interpersonal skills

• Develop better peer relationships

• Develop improved social interaction(Birch&Ladd,2002)

• Develop early literacy skills

• Develop better language skills

• Are better able to self regulate behavior (Pianta&Stuhlman,2004)

• Perform better on math and thinking skill assessments (Peisner-Feinberg,Culkin,Howes,and Kagan, 1999)

 

When teachers are able to build positive relationships with their young students, the result is mutually beneficial! 

Teachers:

• View themselves as more competent

• View themselves as more successful

• Report more job satisfaction

• Experience less feelings of burn out and exhaustion

 

The CONNECT Model of Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT) is an 8 session class for teachers rooted in child centered play therapy and is designed to empower early childhood and elementary teachers with knowledge and skills to respond helpfully to children through:

• Increasing teachers’ understanding of how children communicate experiences, feelings, and needs

• Increasing teachers’ awareness of ways to respond that builds children’s confidence, self-esteem, and promotes positive, secure emotional child-teacher relationships

• Increasing teachers’ understanding of how to helpfully respond to a child experiencing emotional, behavioral, and mental health difficulties

• Increasing teachers’ awareness of how ACEs and trauma may impact the developing child