Kristin Souers with Peter Hall Fostering Resilient Learners—Strategies for Creating a Trauma Sensitive Classroom
Being a
school leader is an incredibly time demanding profession. There are some days
when there is truly not enough hours in the day to accomplish all the tasks
that are simply mandatory. To start this joyful madness, there is one task I
prioritize and hope to never lose sight of. The first person students see each
day when they walk through the front door is me, followed by their grade level
teacher as they walk into their classroom.
Our
school improvement efforts are focusing not on what we can’t control, but what
happens when student immediately enter our schools and classrooms. Our goal is
to build positive interactive relationships where students feel appreciated and
valued for what they “bring to the table.”
Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive
Classroom by Kristin Souers with Pete Hall reminds us, “How we ‘set the table’
often determines how successful our students will be” (p. 35).
Each of
our students has a story to tell, and their often “complicated, stressful lives
can create conditions that present massive obstacles to learning” (p. 14). We
don’t know their whole story, but we often experience the effect trauma has on
their lives every day. The authors refer to the trauma a child can experience
as adverse childhood experiences. These events may include poverty, substance
abuse in the home, parental divorce, witnessing domestic violence, family
incarceration, and physical or emotional abuse which has “a powerful negative
effect on students’ readiness to learn” (p. 20).
During
this traumatic experience student’s brain switches gear. It kicks into a stress
response releasing chemicals into the body to allow the brain to survive these
states of stress. Normal operational
development then leaves the brain as elevated stress hormones take over
affecting learning, disposition, retention, and other executive functions (p.
22). As teachers and leaders what we do know is each of our students handles
stresses differently ranging from constant disruptions to ceremonial
withdrawals. Souers and Hall help us as
understand as educators we can support student’s responsiveness by teaching
specific self-care strategies on how to cope.
The
author’s references the work of Dr. Dan Siegel, from the UCLA School of
Medicine. When students are in the fight, flight, or freeze response their
thinking brain is “downstairs” and not in a state of learning----yet. Our goal
as educators is to support student’s recognition when they are in this state.
We can provide them with the skills and strategies needed to regulating their
behaviors and move their thoughts back upstairs so they can think, reason, and
learn (p. 31).
What I
appreciate most about the author’s perspective on this growing challenge we are
facing in schools is the solutions in the form of certain self-acknowledging
strategies we can implement in our schools and classrooms. In their words,
Souers and Hall recommend to “Stay out of Oz,” and “Remain grounded amid
chaos.” Beware and avoid getting sucked into student tornados by admiring the
problem and getting whisked off to Oz, to teaching them how to self-regulate
and staying grounded in Kansas. Although to be successful in the classroom we
need to be more of the Good Witch and not allow our triggers to guide us. There
is no place like home in our upstairs learning brains (p.59).
None of
this happens without the persistent connections we make every day with our
students.
As we
greet our students with the traditional Hellos and Good Morning, we also need
to genuinely listen to their responses, make eye contact, and let them know
they matter. Here you are safe, respected, and yes even loved for the talent
and abilities you have and are acquiring as you are becoming a resilient
learner both academically, socially and emotionally.
