Trauma Informed Education

Implementation of trauma-informed practices in schools requires a whole of school approach, endorsed and reinforced by leaders at the school. In part one of this three-part series on trauma-informed education leadership, we speak with Elizabeth Verstappen - former principal of Sadadeen Primary School in Australia. The school has implemented the Trauma-Informed Behaviour Support program over a four-year period and has been the pilot site for the evaluation of the program.

Sports and physical education often provide students experiences of success and efficacy that they may be lacking in other areas of their educational experience. How can physical education capitalize on trauma-informed practices? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Douglas Ellison. He is an assistant professor of Physical Education in the School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies at Kent University. Dr. Ellison discusses the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model of trauma-informed practice in physical education.

Helping students feel safe is a hall mark of trauma informed education. For some children, feeling safe in relationships is difficult. Well intentioned teachers often fall short in the skills required to communicate and reinforce a sense of trust amongst these students. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Kim Golding about her new book, 'Working with Relational Trauma in Schools'.

Teaching methods are now personalised and student-focused, using an array of activities and modalities.Classrooms should now be flexible learning spaces, which enable multiple users to work concurrently with multiple purposes. So how do you incorporate the specific needs of an trauma informed approach into the design of a school? That’s the question the Oklahoma City-based nonprofit organization Positive Tomorrows asked itself when it was daydreaming about a new building that could meet the many needs of its students. Positive Tomorrows has been educating homeless kids and providing social services to families since 1989. Today we speak with Gary Armbruster and Amy Brewer.To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com.

Relationships change the brain. The good news from the science and research on brain development is that while our earliest interpersonal experiences may have created unhelpful patterns, new patterns are formed as children develop into adults. Today we speak with Bonnie Badenoch. Bonnie is a master therapist, supervisor, teacher and author who has spent the last 15 years integrating the discoveries of neuroscience into practice. To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com.

Today we speak with Dr. Jaime Mendoza-Williams, the head of student wellness at Mindright – a nonprofit that provides personalized mental health coaching over text message to teens. Developed by Ashley Edwards and Alina Liao, MindRight provides programs aimed at empowering youth of colour to heal from trauma and systemic oppression, including poverty, violence, racism, and discrimination. To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com.

For many of us advocating for trauma informed practices, we may find ourselves isolated in schools that are stressed, under-resourced and punitive. In these systems, compassionate and thoughtful strategies to help students is met with strong opposition and cynicism. So what can be done to change such schools? In this episode, we speak with psychiatrist, Dr. Sandra Bloom. In addition to her faculty position at the School of Public Health at Drexel, she is President of CommunityWorks, an organizational consulting firm committed to the development of nonviolent environments. To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com

Sports and exercise can be a powerful tool of engagement and teaching,. But it can also be a stressful experience for students who struggle at school. Learn about the science of trauma informed physical education with Megan Bartlett. Megan has spent most of her career working in, designing, and advocating for programs that use sports to promote youth development and positively impact communities. She speaks regularly on the power of sport to create social change and help kids heal and is co-author of the book Re-Designing Youth Sports: Change the Game. Megan serves on Nike's Global Training Advisory Group and is working Dr. Bruce Perry and the Child Trauma Academy to create the Neurosequential Model in Sport-—a fully trauma informed sport intervention model. To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com.

With research on trauma informed practice growing in leaps and bounds, we run the risk of losing sight of the harrowingly emotional experience of the students we are trying to help. So how do we stay empathic and remind ourselves of the needs of these children? Today we speak with Nathanael Matanick. Nathanael is the director and producer of ths short film, ReMOVED. The short film powerfully portrays the emotional journey of a nine-year old girl who is taken from her abusive birth home and placed in the tumultuous foster care system. To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com.

With the increasing awareness of the benefits of sensory strategies in the classroom, how can we use these strategies in a coherent and meaningful way to get the most impact? Today we speak with Kimberley Hodges.Kimberly has dedicated her career to working with students identified as having severe emotional behavior disorders. She has worked in the private residential and public-school settings as a behavior specialist, classroom teacher and instructional lead teacher. Kimberly received her Master’s in Special Education from Georgia State University and her Specialist in Education from University of Missouri with a concentration in Mental Health in Schools. To get access to the links and resources mentioned in the interview, please visit www.tipbs.com.