How to Create a Trauma-informed Environment in the Classroom?

We often minimize trauma and everything this word conveys, including all the situations, emotions, and behaviors it hides behind. Noone, regardless of age, socioeconomic status, gender, etc., is exempt from suffering emotional trauma.

This word, derived from the Greek, means wounded and is caused by the response to external negative situations when a person is unprepared and taken by surprise, causing damage that can last for life if not treated. There are different types:

• Acute trauma: Refers to a stressful and/or dangerous situation that occurred once, where the safety and even the person’s life were in danger. This can be anything from seeing violence toward someone else to experiencing a natural disaster.
• Chronic trauma: This is the consequence of experiencing traumatic events continuously, for example, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse.
• Complex trauma: It results from experiencing various situations during a traumatic event. Let’s place ourselves in the shoes of a war survivor who lives through many events that subject him to a wide range of intense emotions like anxiety, guilt, sadness, anger, etc.

The impact of emotional trauma can present itself in different magnitudes, but that does not mean that some are more damaging than others since the spectrum of pain is different for each person. Trauma dramatically impacts their lives: affecting their physical health, relationships, thought processes, and many others.

Trauma-informed teaching in the school setting

Trauma-informed teaching refers to teachers’ understanding of how trauma impacts learning and what incorporates good practices to support their students. In this way, teachers are aware of what the student’s behavior signifies and can ask themselves, “What happened to the student?” instead of “What is wrong with the student?”

“Being informed about trauma is not a to-do list; it’s a mindset change,” said Carmen Zeisler, director of ESSDACK Learning Centers, during a teacher dialogue. Trauma impacts a person internally, but these feelings and attitudes act out in the classroom, impacting the whole group. And while the origins of trauma are endless, it should be noted that many people still feel affected in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding to the world mental health crisis. As singer-songwriter Héctor Lavoe says, “Each head is a world,” and it is crucial to be understanding of all the people present in our classroom.

Creating a safe environment for everyone in the classroom

“Neurobiologically, students cannot learn if they do not feel safe, accompanied, and cared for within their schools” Aupperle et al., 2012. Considering all this, here are some valuable tips for implementing a trauma-informed classroom environment:

• Don’t take anything personally: Be aware of your emotions and their management. Students can overreact at any time but remember that behavior is a form of communication.
• Recognize the signs of trauma:  Missing class, moodiness, and continuous isolation are some of the many signals a person with trauma may exhibit. Identify them to know your students.
• Be predictable: Introduce your classes with the day’s agenda to reduce students’ anxiety levels. An anxious person can find it distressing not to know what the day holds, so knowing the schedule lets them prepare mentally.
• Give positive feedback: Empower your students by congratulating them on small achievements. This can also be done by restructuring your feedback. For example, instead of using phrases like “This is wrong, correct it,” which can be taken personally, use positive approaches such as “It turned out very well! There are a few areas of opportunity to make it better.”
• Implement breathing exercises and stretching: Make time for small physical activities that enrich students’ moods while giving them a small break.
• Connect: Students won’t always vent their problems to school authorities and should not be coerced to. Simply greeting the students entering the classroom and making each of them feel seen throughout the class period are enough.
• Be empathetic: At the moment of a strong reaction from a student, keeping the voice soft and calm acknowledges that their emotions are valid and offers support.

Trauma-informed education benefits people with emotional trauma and all students in the classroom because creating a supportive and safe environment reinforces the learning process. It is vital to remember that there is not just a cluster of people seeking to learn; every person in the classroom has different perceptions, experiences, and ways of thinking. Having this mentality invites teachers to reflect on the responsibility they have for their students in the classroom. Let’s build an inclusive space for everyone!

Translation by Daniel Wetta

References

Aupperle R., Melrose A., Stein B., Paulus M. (2012). Executive function and PTSD: disengaging from trauma. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21349277/

Mariana Sofía Jiménez Nájera

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0