Feeling overwhelmed by the diverse needs of your students and unsure where to start with trauma-informed teaching? You’re not alone.
As classrooms become more dynamic, embracing the role of a trauma-informed educator is more essential than ever. Trauma-informed teaching shapes not just how we teach, but how we connect with and support every student. Approximately 25% of children will experience one or more traumatic events by the time they are 16.
Just prior to Christmas I was at a local market shopping, and I met a former paramedic who was selling her book. It was historical fiction based upon her experiences working in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in Canada. We got to talking about trauma, and I reflected upon the importance of teachers learning more about trauma-informed teaching practices.
She understood, but she was adamant, “We can’t put more on teachers! They are already responsible for too much already.”
I am grateful for her respect and support for teachers, but as I said to her, “Many of our students are traumatized. Not learning how to support them only makes the classroom more work for all of us.”
This is absolutely true. In my last years I had students with both generational and more recent trauma. Two of my students had trauma that I was aware of early on. Another I only learned about her trauma into my second year of teaching her.
Known or unknown, traumatized students are in our classrooms. We need to know how to support them.
What is Trauma Informed Teaching?
Our students can experience trauma from a variety of sources. Something as commonplace as a car accident to ongoing domestic violence. These incidents and experiences may cause learning and behaviour challenges as the student’s sense of safety and stability is undermined.
As we grow in our understanding of the impact of trauma on the brain and behaviour, we can create classrooms where students feel safe and understood. By doing this we are meeting their emotional and cognitive needs.
Why is Trauma Informed Teaching Important?
Trauma can significantly impact students’ abilities to learn and participate in their education effectively. This creates additional layers of challenge, and ,perhaps, additional trauma.
However, by understanding trauma, and its impact, we can interrupt this process, and be a part of making space for our students to heal. This may lead to less behaviour and more engagement from students, and greater confidence and empowerment for you, the teacher.
My husband has attended 22 student funerals in his 30 years as a high school teacher. The deaths that were experienced by his school community caused trauma for many of the staff and teachers. And, of course, some of the funerals were the result of trauma.
Trauma-informed teaching is unarguably important.
How to be a Trauma-Informed Teacher
As a trauma-informed teacher you will be nurturing specific traits that create a supportive learning environment:
Empathy and Compassion:
As you grow in your understanding of trauma informed teaching practices you will develop a deep understanding of students’ experiences. The compassion that comes with this will strengthen your connection with your students. They will feel valued and supported.
Adaptability:
Flexibility has always been a requirement of effective teaching. Being able to flexibly adapt to trauma-informed teaching strategies is essential. Differentiation will allow you to adapt your instruction to meet the diverse needs of your students, and this creates an equal opportunity for each student to succeed.
Strong Observational Skills:
As we learn to recognize subtle signs of trauma we are able to adapt and support our students. This further provides a feeling of safety and security to our students who may need that little bit of extra care.
What are Trauma Informed Teaching Practices?
Create a Safe Learning Environment
In addition to physical safety, we need to be thinking about the emotional safety of our students. Clear, appropriate, consistently and appropriately reinforce classroom expectations are a significant part of achieving this. Students will feel grounded and open to learning. Add to this a healthy and safe classroom community in which students support each other and rely on each other provides encouragement and support for every child, including those who have experienced trauma.
Build Trusting Relationships
Trust is fundamental to trauma informed teaching practices. If your students know they can trust you they are more likely to engage and participate. Add to that a healthy, trusting and respectful classroom community encourages your students to communicate more openly. Your students will be more relaxed and less isolated.
Implement Trauma-Sensitive Practices
Teaching classroom organization, including routines and procedures, and integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) into those routines helps students to manage their emotions and learning experiences. The predictability of routines and organization reduces stress, and students who have received instruction in SEL develop better emotional resilience and understanding.
Trauma Informed Teaching Strategies
Clearly this blog can’t share all of the trauma-informed teaching strategies that will support you in this part of your journey. However, there are a couple of mindful strategies that will support you in integrating your trauma-informed teaching practices:
Positive Reinforcement
Celebrate small successes. The significance of this impact should not be understated. By acknowledging even the little stuff, you will build confidence and motivation in your students. Overall this will enhance the learning and boost the self-esteem of everyone.
Collaboration
Keep communication open with colleagues, families and mental health professionals. This creates a comprehensive support system for your students. Where appropriate include the family too, of course.
I once had a student who had just returned to school after losing his Dad. He was chosen as ‘Star of the Week’, and he wanted to do it. If he chose to include photos I figured his mum would want to know ahead of time to prepare herself. So I emailed her.
I did not offer and psychotherapy. Just a short email explaining the activity, reassuring her that the main requirement is participation so not to stress herself, and to let her know that most students included photos. I just thought she might want some time to compose herself before looking through the photos.
They did a beautiful poster together by the way. There was a moment that I could tell that the project was bittersweet for him, but overall he was proud of what he was sharing.
Benefits of Trauma Informed Teaching
Trauma-informed teaching benefits and enriches the entire classroom dynamic.
- Student well being is enhanced as students develop a growth mindset which encourages resilience and helps students to overcome challenges.
- A classroom grounded in trust, empathy and understanding creates a positive classroom culture. This contributes to a thriving school culture. Students feel connected, safe and ready to learn.
Principles of Trauma Informed Teaching
Becoming a trauma-informed teacher means becoming an empathetic and dedicated teacher committed to lifelong learning. Honestly, this just sounds like the teacher journey.
To embrace trauma-informed teaching strategies allows us to profoundly impact our students’ emotional and academic lives. This transforms our classrooms into a safe space for their growth and discovery.
Embracing trauma-informed teaching enables us to unlock the potential of each student, providing students the tools they need to thrive in the midst of their challenges.
For more information to start you on your journey of implementing trauma-informed teaching, download the ‘Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators’ from The National Child Stress Network.
For strategies that align with trauma-informed teaching download my ‘Classroom Management Checklist”.
You will also find these classroom management strategies in the free video, ADHD Essentials for Teachers.
