1st Edition
Trauma-Informed Teaching in Your Elementary Classroom Simple Strategies to Create Inclusive, Safe Spaces as the First Step to Learning
Research has proven that childhood trauma affects school engagement and success while at the same time recognizing that the majority of students have experienced it. This book offers simple strategies, based on evidence-based studies, that elementary educators can use to effectively recognize trauma, teach resilience, and support their students in being ready to learn. The book covers all the tenets of trauma-informed teaching, including understanding the effects of trauma, creating safety and predictability, fostering healthy attachments, and modeling resilience as part of social emotional learning, all of which are framed within cultural humility and competence. Designed for all teachers, professionals, and school administrators working with elementary students, this practical guide is key reading for creating a safe classroom and school environment that is inclusive of all learners and conducive for learning.
Meet the Authors
Introduction
Part 1- The Why
Chapter 1 – Understanding Trauma
The Human Nervous System
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Systems
Memories: Regular and Traumatic
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn (FFFFs)
Fight/Flight
Freeze
Fawn
Chronic Stress and Changes to the Brain
Epigenetics
Brain Connections
Exposure to Stress Hormones
War
Answers to Brain Breaks
References
Chapter 2 – Intergenerational Trauma
Back to ACEs
Prenatal
Epigenetics
FASD
Cigarettes
Maternal Nutrition
Postnatal
Attachment Theory
Historic Trauma
Reserves
Residential Schools
First Nations and the Courts
Sixties Scoop
Inuit Housing Today
Slavery and Its Legacy in the USA
Answers to Brain Breaks
References
Part 2 – The How
Chapter 3 – Culture
Biases
Unconscious Bias
Resource Bias
Deficit Thinking
Ethnocentricism
Trust
Cultural Humility and Cultural Competence
Case Study: Forest Glen School (K-4) Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Resources
Answers to Brain Breaks
References
Chapter 4 – Safety and Predictability
Attachment
Mirror Neurons
Identifying and Removing Triggers
Answers to Brain Breaks
References
Chapter 5 – Cognitive-Behavioral Theory
What is Cognitive Behavior Theory?
How Does CBT Work?
CBT: Body➨Brain
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources for You and Your Students
Flow
Reflective Listening
Reflective Feeling
CBT: Brain➨Body
Recognizing and Challenging Thoughts
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) For Your K-3 Students
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) For Your Grade 4-6 Students
CBT for Teachers
Brain Break Answers
Resources
References
Conclusion
Biography
Lori Brown, Psy.D. has 28 years of experience working as a teacher, registrar, counselor, administrator, and consultant in the public school system.
Alison Bartlett, B.Ed. has worked in the Anglophone East School District since 1989 as a classroom teacher and had a Special Position of Responsibility (SPR) for her school’s Positive Learning Environment.
Lori Brown and Alison Bartlett have created a useable text that provides practical trauma-informed strategies that support both students and teachers in the creation of a trauma-informed school. The authors have insightfully included a whole chapter not just on cultural competencies but also on cultural humility. In an ever changing world, we must all be aware of our own cultural biases. This is a must read for all teachers.
-Coreen Collins, Manager Student Support, Department of Education, Government of Nunavut
As our youngest students experience trauma around them, we as the adults who care for them and educate them, must be better prepared to understand the natural responses of children to the trauma in their lives. Lori Brown, Psy.D is an authority on this topic and has written a very readable, research informed, guide to the steps a school community can take to ensure that the entire school community is prepared to support and work with all students.
-Rebecca Wardlow, EdD- Dean, College of Education, United States University
This book addresses important issues in education today, such as how trauma happens to individuals and cultures, as well as how to address it in your classrooms. Written for teachers by teachers, it is a thoroughly researched and user-friendly resource for education in 21st century. Well done!
-Armand Doucet C.M.
