Teacher trainees' experiences with and beliefs about responding to students' challenging life events*

The current study examines teacher trainees' perceptions of their preparation in helping students address specific challenging life events (CLE) of bullying, death, and family separation. 121 pre-service teachers in the United States completed a survey and slightly under half reported having no experience with addressing children's CLEs in their pre-graduation employment or other formal training. Participants felt moderately prepared to address bullying and less prepared to address death of a loved one or family separation. Participants' proposed responses varied based on the type of CLE; some gender and age differences also emerged. Results highlight the need for training pre-service teachers responding to students' CLEs, based on feelings of unpreparedness and the frequency of CLEs children experience yearly.(c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.