Trauma is any harmful life experience leaving long-lasting effects on our physical, emotional, and social needs. Research indicates an alarming number of college students have experienced trauma in their lives. The learning process in traumatized students is significantly impaired since they spend most of their time and energy processing their trauma. Therefore, they do not have energy left for other cognitive activities, such as learning. These students have difficulties concentrating and staying motivated. More importantly, students from racial and ethnic minority groups face trauma at much higher rates than the rest of their classmates.1 Poverty has been another factor in the increase in childhood trauma. Therefore, supporting our students who have experienced trauma can also become a framework for obtaining social justice for our disadvantaged students.1

Trauma-informed teaching starts by learning how trauma impacts our classrooms. As Sitler mentions, a student who is passive or disengaged may be a trauma survivor2. This behavioral response is freezing, which refers to a person becoming immobilized by their fear, and incapable of processing information because of feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes, trauma can result in excessive absences due to a lack of motivation. Other times, the traumatized student may behave aggressively or even violently: a fight or flight response, which psychologists indicate as another recurring behavioral response to the trauma.2 The signs mentioned above do not always stem from trauma. However, we should provide a supportive structure for empowering traumatized students and building classrooms that promote self-reliant learners despite their adversities. Research shows the trauma-informed teaching practices can help everyone, a relief for many teachers who have not undergone professional training to identify their traumatized students. We do not all respond to trauma equally. Someone who has experienced trauma may encounter PTSD and burnout, while another may heal faster. The personalized behavioral responses are associated with having different pre-trauma life experiences since we all integrate our new experiences through our pre-established beliefs, expectations, and assumptions of ourselves, the world, and the people.3 For example, a comment that may trigger one of our students may not impact the rest of the students. These personalized responses can make trauma-informed teaching complicated.

With that said, there are still things we can do: Students all share fundamental needs that teachers can assist with to ensure effective learning takes place. These are six needs of traumatized students that are significantly impaired by their traumatic experience. Here are those needs:3

[Image Description: A graphic titles Students' Needs with the following six needs listed: trust, safety, esteem, independence, power, intimacy.]

We must ensure that these needs are met in our classrooms by following some of the following steps:

1. We can create a trustful and respectful relationship by having one-to-one interactions with our students and promoting peer dialogue. Learning students' names and hobbies can be a great start. We must pay attention to our students’ emotional well-being. We should be vulnerable with our students, which means showing our human side, despite the fear of being judged by some. We can admit when we are wrong and discuss personal life experiences with our students. Many traumatized students may not express their feelings easily. Therefore, sharing our struggles both in personal life and in the classroom will benefit them with recovery from trauma.
    
2. We can provide a safe classroom by addressing any forms of bullying, racism, sexism, or any other triggering behaviors. We should stay calm in emotionally elevated situations and refrain from internalizing the students’ behavior. Instead, we can learn the sources of their behavioral responses to the trauma and help them express their emotions.
    
3. Trauma disrupts students’ ideas of self, which results in low self-esteem3. Therefore, we should always help our students to know their value. We can allow our traumatized students to lead groups discussion and clarify that the outcome of their performance is not an indication of their self-worth. Instead, we should encourage their bravery for taking risks to learn new ideas. We must practice a growth mindset by acknowledging their progress, meanwhile, holding them to high expectations.
    
4. Victims of trauma may experience a lack of control over their actions and behaviors3. We can provide several options for assignments to give the students a sense of independence. Opportunities to resubmit missed homework can help students to control their performance. We may even provide information in various forms and let our students choose the learning methods that work best for them.
    
5. Similarly, traumatized students may experience a lack of control of their life.3 We can empower our students with their learning progress by creating a flexible framework to express their identities and ideas. We can create specific times for students’ interactions. We must refrain from oppressing our students or using overtly authoritative language, such as requiring them to do tasks due to fear since it can dehumanize them.
    
6. Traumatized students may struggle with intimacy and the need to relate to others. Therefore, we must build a supportive community within our student population. We can assign low-stake assignments that promote collaboration instead of high-stake tests that promote competitions. Additionally, the use of appropriate and professional humor allows building trust and intimacy in our classrooms.

[Image Description: An animated post-it note with the words "Be Gentle With Yourself" written on it.]

Pictured: Advice for both your students and you 

Once we provide a safe and supportive space for our students, we may encounter times in which we need additional support. We can use more resources4,5 to help our students more effectively. Furthermore, instructors’ mental health should be the backbone of the trauma-informed pedagogy since it directly impacts the students’ mental states. Overall, trauma-informed pedagogy shares many principles of the Universal Design to establish a framework for empowering all students in an imbalanced mixture of privileges that they had experienced in their life.

[1] Crosby, S.D.; Howell, P.; Thomas, S. “Social Justice Through Trauma-Informed Teaching” Middle School Journal, 49, 15-23, (2018). 

[2] Collins Sitler, H. “Teaching with Awareness: The Hidden Effects of Trauma on Learning,” The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas, 82, 119-124, (2009).

[3] McCann, L.; Pearlman L.A.; ” Constructive Self-Development Theory: A Theoretical Framework for Assessing and Treating Traumatized College Students,” Journal of American College Health, 40, 190-196 (1994).

[4] https://openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu/bla-trauma-informed-pedagogy-workshop-summer-2020/sample-page-2/

[5] http://students673.ucr.edu/docsserver/counseling/UCR_Red_Folder_Web.pdf