How can you engage students who are experiencing trauma or other challenges outside of school?

Trust, trust, trust! It is essential that students experiencing trauma and various challenges be enveloped in a safe and supporting classroom and school environment. Establish trust through asking questions, truly know who they are and praise their strengths, actively listen to their words and body language, consistently check-in, provide reliable routines and expectations with flexible learning options. These students need to know what to do, when they don't know what to do! Foster their emotional well-being whilst addressing their individual needs. Know and nurture the person first!

Having a robust understanding of trauma and its impact on social/emotional and academic outcomes gives an educational leader the knowledge and skills to move beyond awareness to action. A whole-school approach to mental health is essential, as trauma-aware staff can confidently identify the signs, and alert external support services sooner.

It’s also important to recognize the impact of trauma on teacher performance. Adults may also experience trauma in their lives and it is critical that school leaders have training on how to best support their staff who have experienced trauma. Many states are now requiring teachers and administrators to be trained in trauma. It is critical to understand the effects of trauma and more importantly, to understand how to best support the needs of individuals who experience trauma.

"Every problem is an opportunity, they say. As educators, when faced with children suffering from truama, we need to identify where the threat or problem is coming from before taking a step to deal with it . Additionally, we should try to avoid showing our anxiety because it may trigger their own anxiety. When children face academic challenges, they should not be forced to get things right but be encouraged to try or experiment with alternatives.

It's important to remember that there is no learning outside of a relationship. To help a traumatized child learn, we must prioritize safety, transparency and trust in our connections with them. Over time, our consistency, predictability and presence will help the child reduce their vigilance and focus on learning.

I'll add that choice is huge. Frameworks like PBIS start with the assumption that learning challenges are the educator's responsibility to figure out - offering choice allows a child who has experienced trauma to utilize their personal agency to make decisions, including about how they demonstrate their knowledge. Offering choices gives structure and flexibility.