Three Strategies Educators Can Use to Foster Trauma-Informed Learning Environments
I recently opened a workshop for elementary school faculty and staff by asking everyone, “How do you know if a student is suffering?” When people began to share, there were examples such as “if a student becomes withdrawn,” “a drop in their grades,” and “appears upset.” But early into our discussion, several participants named a hard truth: many times our students are suffering, and we have no idea.
Every day, students who have or are currently experiencing trauma walk into our classrooms. Sometimes, we know what they are facing, but more often, we won’t. Being trauma-informed doesn’t mean becoming trauma detectives; a trauma-informed approach isn’t about knowing everything; it’s about how we hold what we don’t know. A trauma-informed learning environment doesn’t just benefit students who have experienced trauma- a trauma-informed classroom benefits everyone. We can support our students without requiring them to be ready to share their experience, and by creating a space where students feel safe, supported, and cared about, they are more likely to tell someone- maybe even their teacher- what they are going through. Here are three simple ways educators, from pre-k through university, can foster a learning environment where all students can thrive.
Connection: In his excellent video on “Learning Brain vs. Survival Brain,” clinical psychologist Dr. Jacob Ham shares, “What I really believe is that the most important thing schools need to focus on, way more than any techniques or curricula is whether their students feel surrounded by these… supportive (adults) who are going to protect them and look out for them. When students have that, I bet it unlocks their curiosity (and) their eagerness to learn.” Time is a precious thing when you are an educator. Class sizes are often large; there are often too many things to do and not enough time to do them. When educators make the time to check in and get to know their students, it increases the students’ ability to succeed individually and collectively. When I think back on the teachers who have had the most profound impact on my life, it had very little to do with the content they covered and everything to do with how they made me feel. Even taking a few minutes each week to do universal check-ins with students or requiring students to schedule time during office hours to get to know them better can make a huge difference in their lives, whether or not they have a trauma history. Especially for students who have experienced trauma, their ability to feel safe enough to learn, make mistakes, and ask questions is inextricably linked to the trust they have in their teacher.
Predictability: We can’t control so much of what impacts our students outside of our classrooms that may affect their ability to learn when they walk into school. Students who have experienced trauma have had a profound and meaningful loss of control. To be better able to learn in your classroom, they need to feel a sense of predictability and stability. Something as simple as a daily agenda visible on the wall or whiteboard can help ground a student by giving them information about what to expect that day. We also can’t control everything- fire drills and other disruptions can happen. We can let our students know the plan for the day, and if something needs to change, we’ll remind them that we are there to figure out what needs to happen, and we’ll communicate that to them, answer their questions, and address their concerns. We can offer predictability through agendas while helping them build resilience when things don’t go as planned by reminding them that they are not alone and a caring adult is looking out for them while they navigate that change. We can also provide classroom expectations so students know what to expect from us, what we expect from them, and what they can expect from each other. We can offer clear guidelines for addressing expectations when they are unmet. We can’t control if a student disrespects another student, but we can make it clear that disrespect is not tolerated and have a straightforward procedure for addressing such behavior.
Consistency: What we do in the classroom matters and how we show up has a tremendous impact on a student’s learning ability. Students need to experience their educators with consistent interaction and engagement to feel grounded and know what to expect. Sometimes, when we notice a student is struggling, we may feel compelled to loosen our boundaries to foster connection and gain their trust. When a student hasn’t had healthy boundaries modeled at home or has had their boundaries violated by someone they trusted, it is even more important that we model healthy boundaries with them. We also want to ensure that our support is consistent with our role and can be maintained over time, not just for that individual student, but for any and all of our students. If we start to go “above and beyond” for one student, more and more students will come looking for that same level of support. Consistent boundaries are vital to maintaining your sustainability and helping students in the long term.
Want to learn more about fostering trauma-informed learning environments? Reach out and schedule a training today!
