Podcast: Promoting Mental Health in Young Children Via Teacher Training

Maybe they are simply tired or frustrated. Maybe there is something bothering them that they can’t articulate. Whatever the reason, young children can often display troubling behaviors such as pushing, biting or worse.

Unless an early childhood educator is well-equipped to handle the situation, it can spiral out of control. Some teachers and directors go so far as to expel a child from a preschool or childcare center, which can exacerbate the problem. One well-publicized study by Yale University researcher Walter Gilliam showed that in 37 states, the rate of expulsion from preschool was higher than the rate of expulsion from K-12 schools.

Knowing how to cope with, and ultimately help, children who are acting out is an important skill for any teacher. But it doesn’t have to be something that they handle all by themselves. In fact, new research is showing that it shouldn’t be something they have to deal with alone.

In this podcast we open up a conversation about a relatively new field in early childhood: mental health consultation, a strategy through which teachers are assisted and trained on how to head off troubling behavior and cope with disruptions in the classroom. Joining me to explain the significance of this field is Deborah Perry, associate professor and researcher at the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. The Georgetown center has helped to develop the new Center on Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, funded by the Office of Head Start.

In our podcast, Perry talks about the concept of mental health in early childhood and describes some of her recent research that looked at 14 rigorous studies of mental health consultation to discern when and why it works – and how to make it more available. 

Podcast: Promoting Mental Health in Young Children Via Teacher Training

With our guest: Deborah Perry, associate professor of pediatrics, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development

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