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Teachers play a critical role in creating a safe, supportive learning environment.

Positive relationships between teachers and students can have long-lasting effects on social, emotional, and academic development.

Teachers can improve the overall school climate by building strong relationships with students, which can lead to the prevention of physical violence, bullying, and/or emotional abuse at school.

(NCSSLE)

In a trauma-sensitive school, the educational environment:

is based on an understanding of trauma

considers the impact of trauma on the developing brain

is designed to promote resilience for all

Defining trauma-informed care-
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) identifies 4 aspects of trauma-informed care:

1. “Realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand potential paths for healing.

2. Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in staff, clients, and others involved with the system.

3. Respond by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, practices, and settings.

4. Resist re-traumatization"

Students need to feel safe in their classrooms, especially when they may not have a safe or comforting environment at home.

Teachers should incorporate social-emotional learning into the curriculum to help students cope, self-regulate, and manage emotions.

Schools should implement practices and policies which ensure that trauma-impacted students will be treated with care instead of being punished. less about punishment and more about finding solutions, creating space for change, and helping families connect with resources in the community.

(Berardi & Morton)

To incorporate knowledge about trauma into practice, school policies and procedures should be adjusted to include the six principles of a trauma-informed approach:

1. safety

2. trustworthiness/transparency

3. peer support

4. collaboration/mutuality

5. empowerment, voice, & choice

6. cultural, historical, & gender issues

Effective SEL incorporates the following four elements, represented by the acronym SAFE:

SEQUENCED: Connected and coordinated activities to foster skills development

ACTIVE: Employing active forms of learning to help students strengthen new skills

FOCUSED: Dedicated time and attention to developing personal and social skills

EXPLICIT: Targeting specific social and emotional skills

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Use a MTSS- multi tiered system of support for students

Make students feel academically challenged, physically and emotionally safe, valued, and connected to their school settings.

Balance accountability with an understanding of traumatic behavior

Teach school and classroom rules while reinforcing that violent or abusive behavior is not allowed at school

Minimize disruptions to education with an emphasis on positive behavioral supports and behavioral intervention plans

Create consistent rules and consequences

Model respectful, non-violent relationships

In the documentary "Paper Tigers", students like Aron, Eternity, Steven and Dianna succeeded and graduated college, due to the the positive school climate that the teachers created.

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First step in a successful school experience. Don’t know how to ask for help.

“Kids who’ve never developed that early template that you can trust people, that you are lovable and that people will take care of you,” Dr. Howard explains, “need support to form that kind of relationship.”

These kids do not know how to ask for help, since they have not experienced an adult regularly giving them emotional and physical support.

Schools have very little patience for kids who provoke and push away adults who try to help them.

Steven from the documentary "Paper Tigers" pushed teachers away even after he was accepted to college.  He self-sabotaged because of his history.

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Traumatized children have difficulty managing strong emotions.

"As babies and toddlers, children learn to calm and soothe themselves by being calmed and soothed by the adults in their lives" -Dr. Howard

Due to neglect, these children often have chronic dysregulation-they do not know how to regulate themselves on their own and feel overwhelmed.

Students have PTSD, separation anxiety, social anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and oppositional and aggressive behavior

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These traumatized children develop a belief that they are bad and that the bad things that happened to them are their fault.

As Dr. Howard puts it, “I’m a bad kid. Why would I do well in school? Bad kids don’t do well in school.”

Dr. Rappaport notes: "children from abusive homes are sometimes unable to participate in classroom activities because they are paralyzed by fear of making a mistake, and that can make them appear to be oppositional."

These children see negative responses when they are intended to be neutral

“So if a teacher says, ‘Sit down in your seat,” they hear it as, ‘SIT DOWN IN YOUR SEAT!’” she explains. “They hear it as exaggerated and angry and unfair. So they’ll act out really quickly with irritability.”  Dr. Rappaport puts it: “They see negative where we see neutral.”

Eternity from documentary "Paper Tigers" said "my greatest fear is ending up alone with no one to love!"

Aron from documentary "Paper Tigers" preferred to go about his business unnoticed since he has a hard time fitting in.

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Hypervigilance and Executive Functioning 

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Hypervigilance and Executive Functioning 

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Classic symptom of trauma is becoming overly alert to danger.

Dr. Howard. “These kids are jumpy, they have an exaggerated startle response. They can have some big, out-of-control seeming behaviors, because their fight or flight response has gone off.”

Appears to be ADHD, which causes misdiagnosis among children

Chronic agitation can lead to difficulty sleeping and being irritable.

Chronic trauma affects children’s memory, their ability to pay attention, plan, think things through.

By having difficulty planning, this impacts completing tasks in school and behavior

Weakness in ability to self-narrate — to mentally talk themselves through what they need to do as they are carrying out a task.

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School avoidance

Missing school due to illness

Difficulty concentrating- due to intrusive thoughts

Reading comprehension

Communication

Lack of motivation

3 times increase of having an IEP

Trauma also has a negative impact on academic functioning with higher symptoms of traumatic stress predicting poorer reading, math, and science achievement scores among elementary students (Goodman, Miller, & West-Olatunji, 2012).

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Restorative Practices and Activities to Promote Social Emotional Learning

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Restorative Practices and Activities to Promote Social Emotional Learning

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Classroom Circle

The circle gives equal opportunity for all to listen, contribute, and practice social emotional skills in a safe, supportive space within their classroom.

Restorative Conversation

Conversation skills focused on expressing feelings and needs.

Uses nonviolent communication and conflict management techniques.

Guided by reflective listening and avoiding blame language.

Mindfulness practice

Can improve ability to manage stress & increase resilience

Improve emotional regulation & conflict resolution skills

Increase focus & creativity

Breathing exercises

Helps students learn how to self-soothe & "chill out"

Practicing in advance helps during times of dysregulation

Positive words of affirmation

Builds confidence

Fosters better peer relationships

Contributes to a growth mindset

Guided imagery

Activates mind-body connection

Reduces physical and emotional stress

Can decrease anxiety

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Berardi, A. A., & Morton, B. M. (n.d.). Chapter 9: Responding to Behavioral Disruptions Using Trauma-informed School Practices: Principles and Practices. https://pressbooks.pub/traumainformedschoolpractices/chapter/chapter-9-responding-to-behavioral-disruptions-using-trauma-informed-school-practices-principles-and-practices/

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. A Guide to Toxic Stress. (2020, January 6). https://developingchild.harvard.edu/guide/a-guide-to-toxic-stress/

DC Alliance for Restorative Practices (DCARP). (n.d.). Trauma Informed Practices Discipline Guide. RestorativeDC. https://restorativedc.org/restorativepractices/

EndCAN. (2021, January 20). Unwrapping the Link Between Childhood Trauma and Health. https://endcan.org/2021/01/20/unwrapping-the-link-between-childhood-trauma-and-health/

Miller, Caroline. "How Trauma Affects Kids In School" Child Mind Institute.  (2023)

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE). (n.d.). Trauma-Sensitive Schools Training Package. https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/trauma-sensitive-schools-training-package

Redford, J. (2015). Paper Tigers. Brainstorm Media.

Ridgard, Tamique, et al. “Trauma-Informed Care in Schools: A Social Justice Imperative.” National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), www.nasponline.org/publications/periodicals/communique/issues/volume-44-issue-2/trauma-informed-care-in-schools-a-social-justice-imperative. Accessed 18 Oct. 2023.

“Tennessee State Government - Tn.Gov.” Trauma Informed Discipline Practices , Aug. 2019, www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/safety/Trauma_informed_Discipline_Practices_Guidance.docx.

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Why Trauma-Impacted Students Need Positive Supports

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Why Trauma-Impacted Students Need Positive Supports

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ACEs- Adverse Childhood Experiences

3 Categories of ACEs:

Abuse-

Physical

Emotional

Sexual

Neglect-

Physical

Emotional

Household Dysfunction-

Mental illness

Violence toward mother

Divorce

Relative(s) in prison

Substance abuse

(EndCAN, 2021)

A person who has experienced 4 or more ACEs is 7x more likely to end up in prison, has a double risk of developing cancer, and is 12x more likely to attempt suicide
(Paper Tigers, 2015)

The 2015 documentary, Paper Tigers, defines TOXIC STRESS as:

"a term used to describe traumatic experiences in childhood which threaten healthy brain development, and are associated with lifelong health and social problems. Increasingly, researchers are identifying toxic stress as a key contributor to epidemics of poverty, violence, and disease."

Toxic stress response occurs when a child experiences severe, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity. This activates the stress response systems in the body. With constant prolonged toxic stress, a child's brain development and other organ systems are at increased risk for developmental delays and other health problems down the road- including heart disease, diabetes, substance abuse, and depression. (Center on the Developing Child, 2020)

"Research also indicates that supportive, responsive relationships with caring adults as early in life as possible can prevent or reverse the damaging effects of toxic stress response." (Paper Tigers, 2015)

Trauma-informed care:

ensures students' problematic behaviors are treated as a direct result of the many ACEs they have experienced, not as willful or punishable actions

takes into account the many hardships these children have endured

ensures that students are not being punished for behaviors that may be out of their control