15/12/23, 16:47 Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies | American University

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Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies

to Implement in the Classroom
February 8, 2021   

Every student enters a classroom with a history. Sometimes that history consists of the typical, if
not uneventful, ups and downs of childhood. Other times, that history may include tragedy—many
students experience sexual abuse, the loss of a parent, homelessness, and violence. Such tragedies
can traumatize students, affecting their ability to perform well in school.

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Today’s education leaders must recognize the prevalence of trauma and its impact on learning. With
knowledge about how trauma affects children’s development, educators are better positioned to
attend to the needs of all students.

How Prevalent Is Trauma Among Students?

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a 1998 landmark study, transformed people’s
understanding of just how common trauma is, spawning the development of trauma-informed
approaches in disciplines ranging from medical care to education. In the ACE Study, 61% of adults
reported having experienced at least one trauma during childhood, and almost 1 in 6 reported
experiencing four or more traumas.

Trauma can have devastating consequences in people’s lives. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), in addition to increasing children’s risk of developing a broad
assortment of chronic diseases later in life, toxic traumatic stress can change the development of
children’s brains and affect their attention levels, decision-making capacities, and learning abilities.

Educators can expect two-thirds of their students to have experienced one or more traumatic
events by age 16. How those experiences manifest in student behavior or learning abilities can vary
considerably according to age and personality. For example, elementary school students can
experience anxiety and fear and struggle to concentrate, while middle school and high school
students can experience depression, self-harm, and misuse alcohol or drugs.

A review of research between 1990 and 2015 found the following statistics regarding the
prevalence of various traumatic events in school-age children:

13%-17% of girls and 3%-5% of boys had experienced sexual abuse.

69%-71% of students had experienced assault or physical abuse.

70% had witnessed violence.

18% had lost a loved one due to crime or vehicular homicide.

29% had experienced bullying.

22% had experienced disasters.

One consequence of these traumas is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The US Department of
Veteran Affairs’ National Center for PTSD reports that 3%-15% of girls and 1%-6% of boys who
experience trauma develop PTSD. These alarming percentages highlight the importance of trauma-
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informed teaching strategies to more effectively address the challenges students confront because
of past and ongoing traumas.

Trauma’s Impact in the Classroom

The harm trauma inflicts on students’ lives often carries over into the classroom. Though many
children show only some dysfunction as a result of their traumatic experiences, others exhibit
significant learning impairments. Trauma-related symptoms can interrupt key areas of a student’s
education, including relationships, behavior, and academic performance.

Trauma’s Impact on Student Relationships

Trauma can make it hard for children to form bonds. For example, students who have experienced
neglect or abuse from adults might have difficulty building trust, or they may feel wary of asking for
the help they need. However, forming positive relationships with teachers can play an important
role in student success.

Students with trauma often need guidance and support in building trusting relationships with
teachers and their classmates. Unfortunately, one obstacle to getting the guidance and support they
need can be their behavior. When students misbehave, schools often discipline them in ways that
isolate them or withdraw support. This approach can further hinder ACE-affected students from
bonding with their teachers.

Trauma’s Impact on Student Behavior

Traumatic experiences affect students’ ability to regulate their emotions. In healthy environments,
adults calm and soothe young children, which teaches them to calm and soothe themselves.
However, children who have experienced neglect or abuse often do not receive such support and
thereby don’t learn how to manage their emotions. The inability to manage emotions can lead to

outbursts and other behavior problems in the classroom.

Students with traumatic histories may also experience higher levels of fear and anxiety, which can
make it difficult for them to control their behavior. Additionally, trauma can skew a child’s ability to
interpret social cues and express feelings appropriately, which again can lead to disruptive behavior
and is often associated with academic difficulties.

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Rather than responding with frustration and harsh punishment, educators can coach students to
calm themselves and adjust their responses. By helping students de-escalate their feelings of
emotional overload, teachers can direct them to healthier responses and improve their chances of
engaging in learning.

Trauma’s Impact on Students’ Academic Performance

Trauma can plague students with intrusive thoughts that distract them from absorbing information
in lessons, paying attention in class, or studying. The disruptive behavior students with traumatic
histories often display interrupts instruction and leads to more suspensions and expulsions, further
reducing their instructional time. Compared with their peers, students with these troubled
backgrounds tend to have:

Lower grade-point averages

Higher high-school dropout rates

Poorer employment rates

Trauma can also affect children’s executive functions, limiting their comprehension, memory,
organization, and engagement. With reduced capacities in those areas, students can struggle with
reading, writing, math, and classroom discussions. Trauma can also delay and thwart their
development of language skills and hamper their ability to synthesize information or see cause-and-
effect relationships. Such problems make success in school particularly challenging.

Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies

As students with trauma often experience feelings of anxiety and lack of control, classroom
environments that help reduce stress and guide students toward open, trusted relationships can
mitigate the problems that stem from traumatic histories. Trauma-informed teaching strategies
foster predictability. They build a sense of stability for students, help cultivate self-worth, and give
students opportunities to better regulate their emotions and improve their focus.

Relationship Building
Trauma-informed teaching creates a space for students to build trust and recognizes that content
may need to come after the forging of relationships. Trusted relationships often begin with getting
to know one another personally. Activities that encourage students to share elements of who they

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are, such as their favorite songs and interests, help establish a foundation for relationships. For
example, community circle conversations can guide students through discussions in which they
share their ideas, express their concerns, and connect with peers and teachers.

Teachers can also cultivate trust and build rapport with increased one-on-one interaction. This
creates a chance for them to have conversations with students related and unrelated to school. In
this way, teachers can help give students a sense of belonging and support.

Restorative Approaches to Discipline

All too often schools mete out punishment for bad behavior without helping students reflect on or
adjust their actions. Restorative approaches shift the discipline focus to be positive and supportive
rather than punitive. Students with traumatic backgrounds need this kind of support to heal and
restore their faith in fairness. They also often need opportunities to rebuild positive relationships
with authority figures, and restorative discipline does just that.

Restorative discipline can take many shapes. For example, for younger students, teachers can create
“fairness committees.” These committees, made up of students and teachers, let students explain
themselves when they’ve done something wrong. Then, instead of doling out a punishment, the
committee helps students make amends.

To complement restorative discipline, educators can implement other important restorative

strategies, such as meditation, counseling, and team-building exercises. These activities augment
students’ abilities to reflect on their behaviors, self-regulate, and build trust.

Opportunities to Build Self-Efficacy

Students with traumatic histories often have low self-esteem. They can also feel uncertain about
their environments and unable to control them. Giving these students regular opportunities to
cultivate self-efficacy, or a belief in themselves and their abilities to meet the challenges in front of
them, can prove to be healing.

Trauma-informed teaching should give students responsibility and opportunities to achieve. Both
responsibility and achievement help students feel in charge of themselves and promote feelings of
self-worth and competence. Several techniques can improve students’ chances of success while
encouraging accountability.

For example, schools can encourage classroom policies that allow students to submit work for early
feedback before receiving final grades or revise their work until they earn a desired score. These
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policies give students multiple chances to show what they’ve learned, improve their grades, and
ultimately build an image of themselves as capable learners. These policies also reduce stress
because they let students see a path to reaching competency.

Learn How to Put Trauma-Informed Teaching

Into Action
Educators can create safe learning environments for students with trauma by implementing
thoughtful programs that make use of trauma-informed teaching strategies. Explore how American
University’s School of Education prepares educators to use creative approaches to reach all
students through its online degree programs.

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