Social Work Commons^™

Exploring A School-University Model For Professional Development With Classroom Staff: Teaching Trauma-Informed Approaches, Elizabeth M. Anderson, Lisa V. Blitz, Monique Saastamoinen

Lisa Blitz

Schools serving communities with high rates of poverty face the profound challenge of meeting the needs of students who are often exposed to significant family and environmental stressors and trauma. Classroom staff are vital members of schoolcommunities who often work closely with students with the highest needs, but they are typically not provided with professionaldevelopment opportunities to develop skills for social-emotional learning intervention. This study, conducted in three parts, describes (1) a needs assessment with classroom staff to determine their learning needs, (2) the development and implementation of a series ofprofessional development workshops that incorporated findings from the needs assessment, …