Trauma and Teachers
The new big thing in education the last few years has been trauma informed education. an interesting take on how children's lives and the trauma they experience effects how they act and react. As Alex Shevrin Venet says in her article, The How and Why of Trauma Informed Teaching, "...traumatic life experiences can sometimes emerge as behaviors that we might otherwise label as challenging".
The insight I would like to point out is how all reactions, both good and bad, are strategies our students learn to succeed in their situations. The student who never turns in work, she's learned that if she just doesn't do work she won't get in trouble for doing a bad job. Or maybe something like that.
In any event the point I want to make is that students who experience trauma, when stressed, often respond with actions that can be detrimental to their ultimate good. However these responses work in most other areas of their life so they won't change them for one teacher whom they see one hour a day.
Why is this important? Emelina Minero, also from an Edutopia article, When Students Are Traumatized, Teachers Are Too, says, "Trauma in students’ lives takes an emotional and physical toll on teachers as well"
If students who experience trauma develop strategies that work in their main environment, but are detrimental at school, couldn't teachers be following a similar model? What if teachers who work in high stress schools develop teaching strategies that work, but in the long run are actually detrimental to their students' education?
When leaders come into an environment like this and aren't looking at teachers through a trauma infused lens, can they be effective leaders? What if everything they do just triggers these traumatized teachers, triggering negative reactions when they wanted to inspire?
The insight I would like to point out is how all reactions, both good and bad, are strategies our students learn to succeed in their situations. The student who never turns in work, she's learned that if she just doesn't do work she won't get in trouble for doing a bad job. Or maybe something like that.
In any event the point I want to make is that students who experience trauma, when stressed, often respond with actions that can be detrimental to their ultimate good. However these responses work in most other areas of their life so they won't change them for one teacher whom they see one hour a day.
Why is this important? Emelina Minero, also from an Edutopia article, When Students Are Traumatized, Teachers Are Too, says, "Trauma in students’ lives takes an emotional and physical toll on teachers as well"
If students who experience trauma develop strategies that work in their main environment, but are detrimental at school, couldn't teachers be following a similar model? What if teachers who work in high stress schools develop teaching strategies that work, but in the long run are actually detrimental to their students' education?
When leaders come into an environment like this and aren't looking at teachers through a trauma infused lens, can they be effective leaders? What if everything they do just triggers these traumatized teachers, triggering negative reactions when they wanted to inspire?
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