During CSBA’s Feb. 21 webinar “Trauma-Informed Education: What governance teams need to know,” attendees learned about principles and strategies of equity-centered, trauma-informed education that they can use in their local educational agency to support staff, students and families. While many resources related to trauma-informed education are designed for administrators or classroom educators, this forum was designed with the board member role in mind. From policy-setting to resource allocation, governance teams can support trauma-informed education.
Trauma can be brought on by a single instance like a natural disaster or an accident or by continuous stressful experiences or feelings of being unsafe.
Trauma is a response that is dependent on elements such as the individual, protective factors like community support or access to resources, context and other variables, Venet said. Not all stress results in trauma, however, and what may be experienced as trauma is different for everyone. For example, two siblings can experience the same event or circumstance at home but respond in different ways.
There are a range of responses to trauma, both negative and positive, including fear, depression, memory problems, anger, lack of self-confidence, health problems, increased coping capacity, personal growth, stronger relationships and perfectionism.
Venet added that people impacted by trauma “aren’t just one thing.” It can cause pain or disruption as well as facilitate growth and meaning and those realities can co-exist rather than cancel each other out. She also cautioned against using narratives that position individuals as damaged or broken or as a hero or someone who “overcame their trauma.”
Venet defines trauma-informed education as “educators and schools addressing the impact of trauma that has already happened, preventing trauma inside our schools and disrupting the causes of future trauma.” It is about universal, proactive, whole-school shifts.
Under that umbrella are trauma-specific practices, in which individuals who have experienced trauma receive support from qualified and experienced individuals or groups in a responsive and intentional way. Teachers typically shouldn’t be leading a trauma-specific plan, but instead collaborating with counselors or therapists.
Venet has identified four proactive priorities for trauma-informed decision making: predictability, flexibility, connection and empowerment.
Principles of equity-centered, trauma-informed education include it being anti-racist and anti-oppressive, asset-based, systems-oriented, human-centered, universal and proactive, and social-justice focused.
Overall, trauma-informed advocates are seeking to change discipline practices and disparities, and the impacts of oppression on students and schools, school communities, mental health and well-being, working conditions and local, state and federal policies, according to Venet.
Patrick Harris II, an award-winning middle school educator and dean of students at The Roeper School in Michigan, agreed that boards should establish relationships with school employees. To support students, he said the “Portrait of a Graduate” vision should be kept in mind. “We have to get clear about how we are including creating conditions and what our great vision is for mental health of our students,” he said. Avoiding reliance on punitive policies is also important.
Oriana Ides, a school mental health training specialist at the Center for Applied Research Solutions and a field coach for the School Crisis Recovery & Renewal Project, noted that, for students and staff, safety is relative and each person, based on their own lived experiences, defines it for themselves. “Many of our schools do not feel safe,” she said, adding that LEA leaders should listen to their communities to define safety and then create spaces to fulfill that vision.
A reflection process, transparency, sustainability and considering who is being empowered by decisions are factors the panelists recommended boards consider as they evaluate policies or actions to boost trauma-informed practices.