Child care teachers' perspectives on including children with challenging behavior in child care settings

In this study, 9 teachers from 5 child care centers were interviewed to examine their perceptions on including children with challenging behavior in their classrooms. The findings provide a firsthand view into how child care teachers support children's social and emotional development and address challenging behavior. Results confirm previous research that suggests that challenging behavior is a significant issue for teachers in child care programs. Participating teachers discussed numerous strategies that they used to address challenging behavior; however, few strategies were implemented in an intentional and/or individualized manner. These findings highlight the need for increased professional development for child care teachers to support young children's social and emotional development and effectively prevent and address children's challenging behavior.