Quinsigamond Community College, Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC), and Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP) have partnered to bring college-level courses in trauma-informed care to early childhood educators through a project called READYGO (Reading Educators And Developing Young Children for Great Outcomes). The initiative is led by MASSCAP and funded by the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts (THFCM).
“We are thrilled to be able to offer the READYGO courses to support the early education and care workforce to most effectively support and nurture children who have experienced trauma” said QCC President Dr. Luis G. Pedraja.
Three years ago, THFCM provided a Synergy Initiative grant to MASSCAP for the READYGO project, with the goal of promoting the well-being of young children and the readiness of educators by providing trauma-informed care training in the form of two robust college courses: Introduction to Trauma-Informed Care in Early Childhood Settings and Best Practices in Trauma-Informed Care in Early Childhood Settings.
“In seeking to ensure that early education and care educators receive appropriate training to address the manifestations of childhood trauma in their classrooms, it was natural to partner with MASSCAP, the statewide association of community action agencies which provide one-third of all subsidized early education and care in the state, and the community colleges which educate so many individuals entering the field,” noted President and CEO of THFCM, Dr. Amie Shei.
QCC and MWCC developed a two-course series (each course is 4 credits). Early educators from each of the three provider organizations have taken the courses during the academic year, 2021-2022. Course topics cover content these educators do not get elsewhere including: the neurobiology of trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACES), building resiliency, and anti-bias education in the context of ACES.
“At MWCC, we were pleased to be chosen to work together with QCC to develop the courses. This work is critical, especially as we exit a pandemic which intensified the trauma experienced by children. We hope to continue to offer these courses as a part of the early education and care curriculum across the state,” MWCC president James Vander Hooven said.
“Our community college partners have displayed a meaningful commitment to trauma-informed care practice with early educators. Their expertise and dedication have resulted in courses that are already having an impact,” explained Kathy McDermott, Co-Project Director. She continued that there is long-standing evidence that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children. ACEs negatively impact brain development and can lead to long-term effects on learning, behavior, and health.
McDermott added that living in poverty is a strong contributing factor for ACEs due to the higher number of traumatic incidents in the home and community. Young children who experience trauma cannot verbalize their feelings and, as a result, they often have more difficulty regulating their emotions and behavior. Challenging behavior not only impedes individual children from developing effective impulse control, emotional regulation, and attention span, but it disrupts entire classroom environments by monopolizing a teacher’s attention and energy.