Trauma Informed Education that Doesn’t Inflict Trauma on Educators?

Before we look at trauma informed education as it applies to teaching, let’s discuss what contributes to a school’s trauma informed principles. 

Schools today are all about that data, so here are some numbers that point to the state of trauma in education today:  In 2018, according to a Child Trends study, “Nationwide, 45% of children have experienced at least one ACE [Adverse Childhood Experience], and 21% have experienced three or more.”  That was 2018 – over five years ago.

And what big, life-altering experience did every child experience between 2018 and today?

COVID-19.  Disrupted schools.  Panicked societies.  Resource shortages.  Uncertain futures.

I’d say, during (and even after) the pandemic, that our children experienced a universal adverse experience that highlights the need for a trauma informed approach in schools.

Don’t Forget the Teachers

But students and children aren’t the only ones affected by trauma.  

According to the National Education Association, “73% of teachers reported job-related stress in 2022.  Fifty-nine percent also reported burnout. Another 28 percent reported symptoms of depression.”  

Teaching has, in my experience over the last twenty years, always been hard–but it feels as if it’s gotten harder.  We see the effects of this as our colleagues leave the profession, as our schools contend with teacher shortages. Our students require more from us as we are required to establish trauma informed classrooms, adopt trauma informed pedagogy, and implement trauma informed practices in schools.  

Those things take a toll on us.  That’s not a feeling; that’s fact.

Research and experience have proven that “[b]eing exposed to traumas students bring into school every day can exact an emotional and physical toll on teachers and other educators.”  As educators, I think we can agree with this.  

How many times has a student’s story made our heart ache?  How often do we go to bed thinking about the hardships our students face: hunger, bullying, inequality?  How frequently do we ask ourselves how much longer we can continue on in education?  

Our compassion feels more and more finite in the face of so much adversity. 

Indeed, “Research suggests that compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress is prevalent among teachers, especially those in high-poverty schools, and is a factor in their decision to leave.”

So how do we adopt trauma informed teaching practices without sacrificing our well-being and without sacrificing the rigor of the classroom?  Let’s see what we can find out and what we can do to implement a trauma informed education model. 

Trauma Informed Definition and a Trauma Informed Education Model

Here are some key takeaways from a research study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention when it comes to trauma informed education:

• “Strong, frequent, or prolonged exposure to trauma may result in a ‘toxic stress response’ which can change the structure and function of the brain.”
• “Trauma affects students of all backgrounds, but is highly correlated with poverty and race.”
• “The impact of trauma can be overcome by trauma-informed approaches that build resiliency.”
• “Addressing the issue of childhood trauma in public school requires whole school transformation.”
• “Students dealing with ongoing trauma often rely on many facets of their school community to supply what they are not receiving after school hours.”
• “School communities that engage in shared leadership, vision and accountability in supporting students suffering from childhood trauma have a higher percentage of success.”

As we see in the findings above, trauma impacts students. This, in turn, impacts learning and schools, but schools and educators can also help mitigate the effects of trauma on students.

What this means, then, is that educators and schools aren’t just responsible for students’ reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.  

They are, in addition, charged with aiding students’ social and emotional learning by adopting a trauma informed design that permeates a school and its classrooms and its offices.  

In short, then, a trauma informed teaching definition is really about being aware of the trauma students (and others) carry into the classroom. It’s also about being responsive in a way that lessens the effect of this trauma on learning and living.

But how can we do this without succumbing to compassion fatigue or, as some might say, enabling students or lowering rigor?

Trauma Informed Teaching Strategies and Trauma Informed Practices for Teachers

Below, you can find some other ideas of trauma informed approach examples that can be used in schools.

Guarantee trauma informed education training for teachers

Teachers are learners, and in general, we like to learn!  We want to do better, to be better. 

For some teachers, especially those who have been in the profession for a while, planning and executing trauma informed teaching activities (like conducting regular morning meetings, teaching students to use fidgets, giving students time to talk or write about their experiences, etc.) might be uncomfortable or philosophically misaligned with their approach in the classroom. 

With training, teachers can read the research and wrestle with trauma informed teaching practices in order to integrate them fully into their practice.

Foster a safe and supportive environment

Students’ home lives can be raging storms of uncertainty, so let school be their anchor.  Let school be predictable.  Establishing norms, rules, and expectations with clear rewards and consequences help students make connections between behavior and outcomes.  Having clear agendas, learning targets, and instructions helps students make connections between activities and learning.

Build positive relationships

This point connects to the point above, so it’s a bit of a cheat, but it’s important to note that the people in the room are important and meaningful. It’s not just the course content, the trauma informed teaching resources, and the routines and procedures. 

A fist-bump at the door, a “What was the best part of your weekend?”, a one-on-one reflective conference: these all go a long way to establishing and building relationships grounded in trust and humanity.

Be clear where you are tight and where you are loose

It’s important for students to know where you and the class are flexible–but also where there’s rigidity.  For example, I might be loose with due dates, offering students a turn-in window of several days rather than making something due by 11:59 PM on a single date.  But I might be tight when it comes to technology use in the classroom as I implement a restrictive cell phone policy. 

By giving students a sense of the boundaries of the classroom (or our personal boundaries as educators), they can make sure that they think, act, and do accordingly.

Partner with others in the school

A good teacher goes a long way to helping students grow–but it’s not all on the teachers. 

Trauma informed interventions could (and should) be administered when appropriate by other school support personnel like social workers, counselors, and psychologists.  When it comes to students, viewing them as “our” students rather than “my” students goes a long way in implementing trauma informed practices in schools.

Partner with the community, too

Just as there are resources in a school building, there are resources in the community. 

The more we integrate trauma-informed communication among all stakeholders ()educators, parents, students, community members) the more we can approach students holistically, offering support from many angles, in many ways, at many times. 

After all, most students are in their schools for just a fraction of their days, so schools cannot be the sole provider of or sole supporter of trauma informed education.

Note that the ideas above don’t negate the rigor of a classroom or dilute a students’ accomplishments.  On the other hand, practices like those above might increase the number of students who are ready for rigor.

For example, if I offer a flexible due date, this might give students without homework help at home more time in school to get support. 

My flexible due date might give students without the Internet at home more time to access the school’s resources. This choice might allow students to work through stress and persevere with a little more coaching and mentoring from a peer, a parent, a teacher.  

For sure, trauma informed education principles shouldn’t lower standards or excuse poor grades or behavior.  

They should, instead, give permission to educators to implement a trauma informed approach that helps all students, and hopefully and ideally, alleviates stress and hardships educators themselves might experience–so a trauma informed classroom is a healthier classroom for all.