Abstract:

More than half of students in public schools have experienced or continue to experience trauma from adverse childhood experiences (e.g., child maltreatment, exposure to violence}. The effects of trauma on students include learning deficits, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and exhibiting challenging behaviors. When teachers use trauma-informed strategies with traumatized students it provides a buffer that enables students to learn better, relate more effectively to others, and reduce their propensity toward challenging behavior. However, teachers are often not trained to use these strategies and the frustration that teachers experience with these students makes it difficult for teachers to react in helpful ways. This presentation will provide trauma-informed strategies that can be used by teachers to increase their effectiveness in dealing with traumatized students including empathy, reflective listening, reframing, and paradoxical responding. Additionally, methods will be presented that can be helpful for teachers in dealing with their frustrations and finding the motivation for using these trauma-informed strategies, such as peer support and some of the same strategies mentioned above.

Keywords:

Trauma, trauma-informed strategies, students, teachers.