A self-study examining how can I improve my ability to support children with complex social emotional needs

The purpose of this self-study was to examine how I can improve my ability to support young children with complex social emotional needs in my classroom. As a private preschool teacher for the past twelve years, I have recently seen an influx of children that need an array of emotional support. It has been very challenging in the last year, as some children have complex social emotional needs, and there are not systems or resources available to private early childhood programs in order to support them. As a reflective teacher and someone who wants to grow in my practice, I chose to do a self--study. I collected data in various forms including qualitative interviews and reflective journals. As a preschool teacher, I reflected on my daily practice to see how I navigate and support my students. While engaging in this self study, I was able to thoroughly examine the access and availability to support systems I had available for children in my class with complex social emotional needs. My findings reinforce that in the private preschool sector, resources were scarce for children with complex social emotional challenges. Private Preschools are known for better teacher student ratios for children with complex social emotional needs. Yet , we see here without the collaboration of these outside support systems it is challenging for a teacher to support a special needs child adequately. The students pediatrician, the school district and the preschool must all adhere to behavioral and social emotional intervention and specific such as teacher training in order to move towards inclusion.