How Teachers Can Identify Trauma in Students and how It Affects Learning
Trauma and learning don’t mix. When students see or hear about an upsetting event, their school performance can suffer. The evidence is poor grades and, in the classroom and elsewhere, unacceptable behavior. Since teachers interact with students regularly,once they learn how to recognize trauma in students,they’re in the position to aid them. Read on to learn the causes of trauma, its signs, how it affects learning and behavior and how teachers can help traumatized students. This piece ends with tips for how teachers can work more effectively with these students.
Examples of Traumatizing Events
Addiction, catastrophes, natural disasters, domestic violence and illness in families can lead to trauma. Add to these violence by firearm, car and truck accidents, sexual or physical violence, poverty, housing insecurity, suicide and death. At school, bullying and unfair punishment are also catalysts for trauma.
How Trauma Impacts Learning
Trauma impacts learning by affecting memory, attention span, the ability to plan and the capacity to reason. It can also prevent students from being well organized, making good decisions and learning from their mistakes. And in young children, trauma can prevent them from learning to read well.
How Trauma Affects Students’ Behavior
Students affected by trauma may feel worthless, cut class or run away from home. Older students may abuse drugs or alcohol or have no filter when it comes to sex. Over-the-top independence or a need for extreme emotional support are also signs of trauma.
Students may be argumentative, quick to anger, irritable, defiant or anxious. Some exhibit poor hygiene, tardiness or sleep deprivation. Others are overly vigilant because they expect trouble.
10 Ways to Be an Effective Educator of Traumatized Students
Teachers who recognize students’ trauma and want them to have better lives can help them. Following are 11 tips to help teachers succeed when working with students who’ve experienced trauma.
1. Aim for a Safe School Environment
Educators should do everything they can to ensure the physical and emotional safety of traumatized students. If they feel safe emotionally, they’ll be more likely to share their feelings. And physical safety protects them from injury.
2. Don’t Forget What Drives Bad Behavior
Dealing with behavioral problems alone is not the answer to trauma. Rather, teachers must realize that acting out out poorly is likely due to trauma. Disciplinary action to manage these students should not be harsh and unfair. Expulsion and detention are discouraged. Rather, teachers should learn how to diffuse trouble by using positive measures to discourage disruptive behavior.
3. Be Innovative and Tailor Approaches to the Individual
Each student is unique. Therefore, effective ways to deal with each one will differ. Educators should think outside the box and not lean wholly on traditional methods of teaching.
4. Study Schools That Are Getting It Right
Educational experts urge teachers of these students to learn from schools that have successful programs for helping traumatized students. These learning institutions usually involve the whole school community: principal, teachers and support staff, school nurses, mental healthcare workers, bus drivers cafeteria workers, security personnel, parents and others.
5. Keep Structure in Lessons
When teachers lead well-structured lessons, students who’ve experienced trauma feel more secure. Taking attendance daily and greeting individual students kindly also adds a sense of structure to the classroom. Rules and “punishment” should also be standardized and consistent.
6. Act With the Belief That the Emotional Temperature Is Correct
Educators must take the student’s troubles seriously. Show compassion for him in words and actions. Let him know that you believe that something out of the ordinary has affected him.
7. Find the Positive in Emotional Situations
Even if a student says something unkind to the teacher, the educator should respond with a positive attitude. After harsh words, the teacher might say, for example, that she regrets that the student feels that way and that she wants the student to do well in school. So, she tells him that she hopes he’ll complete his assignment.
8. Remember That Some Discussions Trigger Bad Memories
Some topics under discussion in class could cause a student to re-visit the memory of a traumatic event. Therefore, teachers should exercise care in classroom discussions when possible. In such situations, educators are helped if they have forehand knowledge of the traumatic event.
9. Pay Attention to the Student’s Actions and Words
Teachers should monitor the student’s emotions and behaviors. By doing so, they can gauge whether the student is beginning to heal from the traumatic event. There’s no timeline for this progress.
10. Safeguard Your Health, Dear Teacher
Of course, educators must protect their physical health by eating well, exercising, getting enough rest and enjoying their favorite leisure-time activities. And they want to avoid burnout, so it’s good for them to talk with wise people, some of whom may be mental health counselors.
Teachers Are Not Alone in Helping Traumatized Students
Educators can call on the help of others who’re caring and/or professionally trained to guide them in redirecting the lives of these students. As the saying goes, “It takes a village.” However, teachers are sometimes a first line of defense in helping these vulnerable students.
When problems are serious, it is wise to seek expert help. There are lots of great options around Flower Mound but, at Primacy Counseling, we take a faith-based approach to counseling. Additionally, we employ a variety of techniques whether helping children struggling with trauma or processing and healing from the remnants as adults.
Sources
“Students Exposed to Trauma.” American Psychological Association.
“How Trauma Affects School Performance.” Mental Health America.
Caroline Miller. “How Trauma Affects Kids in School: Signs of Trauma and Tips for Helping Kids Who Have Been Traumatized.” Child Mind Institute website.
‘Trauma-Informed Classroom Practices.” In “A Practitioner’s Guide to Educating Traumatized Children.” Educationnorthwest.org.
