Edinburgh Napier University

  Although existing research on early childhood trauma has proliferated, it displays a marked urban-centric bias and significantly overlooks the issues related to rural areas. Additionally, these studies primarily centre on the repercussions of trauma but with scarce attention paid to how teachers identify and support children who are likely to have experienced trauma. Therefore, this study, grounded in the trauma-informed approach, aims to explore the current understandings and challenges of kindergarten teachers in rural regions of China. The findings reveal substantial gaps in teachers' understanding of early childhood trauma, and the study underscores the challenges that teachers face in addressing childhood trauma and preventing re-traumatization for lack of knowledge in trauma-informed practices and relevant training. The study also highlights the need for establishing and enhancing collaboration among families, schools, and broader community support systems. Trauma-informed training has been recommended for teachers and governmental support for early childhood education.