{"id":3691,"date":"2021-04-28T15:05:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T19:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=3691"},"modified":"2023-01-27T16:39:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T21:39:35","slug":"creating-a-mindful-trauma-sensitive-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2021\/04\/creating-a-mindful-trauma-sensitive-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Mindful, Trauma-Sensitive Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI am now challenging you to look beyond the behavior and focus on motive<\/em>. If we can identify what may be motivating students to react, we can redirect them by providing alternative options for them to manage their stress.\u201d (Souers & Hall, 2016, pp. 32)
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Souers and Hall made this challenge to their educator audience – we need to look beyond the surface of our students\u2019 behaviors and realize that trauma is omnipresent within the classroom. I present the same challenge to you here. I challenge you to look at the underlying student motives, although we are not to know the exact trauma, and create a classroom space that is sensitive to student trauma and to help students on their journeys in becoming a resilient science learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image Reference: https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Fostering-Resilient-Learners-Strategies-Trauma-Sensitive\/dp\/1416621075<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is Trauma?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Before we talk about the importance of a trauma-sensitive classroom, we first must define trauma and ACEs. 
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According to Souers and Hall, trauma is \u201can exceptional experience in which powerful and dangerous events overwhelm a person\u2019s capacity to cope.\u201d (Souers & Hall, 2016, pp. 15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACEs are adverse childhood experiences (Souers & Hall, 2016, pp. 2) or trauma events that occur in an individual\u2019s childhood. There are a multitude of ACEs, some of which are shown below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image Reference: https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2015\/03\/02\/387007941\/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why is creating a trauma sensitive classroom and aiding students on their journeys to becoming resilient science learners so important?<\/strong>
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\u201cQuite plainly, I believe that if our students aren\u2019t in the learning mode<\/em> – a term coined by Pete\u2019s mentor, Frank C. Garrity, that refers to mental, physical, spiritual, and psychological readiness to learn – they simply will not learn. And students suffering from the effects of trauma are definitely not<\/em> in the learning mode.\u201d (Souers & Hall, 2016, pp. 26-27)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students who are continually suffering from trauma are not in \u201clearning mode.\u201d And as many of us know, in school we learn more than the difference between precipitate vs redox reactions, it is also about learning problem-solving skills and how to work with others. Students will be shut off to ALL of these learning opportunities because of trauma if it is not given the care by the educators that it deserves. This can deprive students of valuable skills that can help them as they enter into every facet of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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