Trauma Informed Care Practices: the Role of Community with Character

Teaching our students and greater community about Grit, Confidence, Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Mindfulness, Reflection and Empathy provides a protective factor that allows children to succeed despite many risk factors.  Our Community with Character promotes a responsive environment and explicitly teaches resilience which sets the foundation for positive academic, social and emotional outcomes.  Another connection to our work with the Community with Character is Trauma Informed Care.
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is a leading researcher into the impact of Trauma.

Trauma Informed Care is understanding, recognizing and responding to the effects of all types of trauma.  In general, trauma is defined as a psychological/emotional response to an event or an experience that is distressing or disturbing.  Everyone processes events through their own lens and therefore what may be distressing and/or disturbing to one may not be to another.  However when one's perception of an event is traumatic, issues may arise.   Trauma can have a significant impact on brain development and thus impact behavior and learning in school.  Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs theory suggesting that the needs of the individual must be met before they can move forward with their own growth.

The same theory holds true for learning.

Trauma can impact school performance, impair learning and cause physical and emotional distress.  Some basic rules to follow:

• Maintain usual routines.  A return to "normalcy" will communicate the message that the child is safe and life will go on.
• Give children choices.  Often traumatic events involve loss of control and/or chaos, so you can help children feel safe by providing them with some choices or control when appropriate.
• Set clear, firm limits for inappropriate behavior and develop logical- rather than punitive- consequences.
• Recognize that behavioral problems may be transient and related to trauma.  Remember that even the most disruptive behaviors can be driven by trauma-related anxiety.

More information for preschool-high school age students

We need to understand the needs of the students in our classrooms: be empathetic and respectful in our dealing and instruction of all students.  Understanding that the reason for some behavior may be due to a student's experience with Trauma can only work to foster a relationship so that a student can reach the top of his/her pyramid.  The movie Resilience has been shared with many staff as we continue to emphasize the importance of character.




The book, Help for Billy by Heather T. Forbes, LCSW is an amazing tool to learn more about trauma and the impact on learning.




Trauma Informed Classroom Article




Toolkit on Trauma Informed Resources for providers

This is a short video on the impact of Trauma on learning.

Should Childhood Trauma be Treated as a Public Health Crisis?                                                    Trauma Information from Huron Schools