Education Commons^™

Mitigating Trauma In The Newcomer Classroom: A Commitment Beyond Borders, Laura Garriguez

Master's Projects and Capstones

In this field project, you will observe a melding of macro-and micro-perspectives on the mitigation of trauma in the newcomer classroom. The central premise of the project is that without understanding the socio-political factors, socio-economic realities, and historical process of migration to the United States, it is nearly impossible to attempt to ameliorate the trauma of students new to the country. In other words, attempts to do so without this perspective can and often does leave students marginalized and/or feeling marginalized. Working from an anti-racist and anti-imperialist lens, the project’s framework is grounded in the scholarship and activism of abolitionist …

Feasibility Trial Of The School-Based Strong Intervention To Promote Resilience Among Newcomer Youth, Claire Crooks, Sharon Hoover, Alexandra C.G. Smith

Education Publications

There are thousands of refugee students in Canadian schools and many struggle with distress and trauma symptoms. Even those not demonstrating overt distress may face adjustment challenges. This paper describes the pilot of the Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG) program in ten schools. STRONG is a 10-session, manualized program focused on building skills and helping students process their migration journey. This pilot used a pragmatic mixed-methods approach to evaluate the feasibility of STRONG, with a focus on acceptability, implementation, and perceived utility of the intervention. Clinicians (n = 16) provided data at the training, throughout the intervention …

The Many Facets Of Trauma - High Need Index School Principals' Perspectives Of Trauma-Informed Care., Nicole Michelle Fields

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study attempts to add to the literature by shedding light on the best practices for fostering and applying effective trauma-informed care (TIC) in schools and the educational practices and policies through human experience elements. Creating trauma-sensitive, safe, and supportive schools requires a new discernment among principals. It also requires holistic changes to transform school, culture, build supporting infrastructure, and alter curriculum content and intervention (McInerney & McKlindon, 2014). TIC refers to treating the whole person mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically. This study interview 14 principals' perspectives in a large urban school district to discover what practices, procedures, …

Rehearsing For Transformation: Theatre Of The Oppressed, Pedagogy And Human Rights, Amir Al-Azraki

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal

The report showcases a series of TO training workshops and projects in several contexts and settings. The aim of the report is to show how TO techniques and forms could contribute to the transformation of the learning environment and the social justice issues relevant to diverse communities across cultures (North America, Latin America, Middle East). It highlights and facilitates critical discourse and interchange through working with various participants (students, faculty, refugees, women, artists, prison staff etc.) and tackling significant issues such as trauma, violence, oppression, discrimination, gender inequality and homophobia. The report shows how TO could be used as a …

Teaching And Learning Through Shared Grief And Loss During Covid-19, Amanda Thorpe

Michigan Reading Journal

The closure of Michigan’s schools and the emergency learning that followed no doubt kept students and teachers safe during a global pandemic, but the fallout from these transitions is differing amounts of shared grief and loss among students and teachers. Giving staff and students time, space, and resources to process this will be essential in any plan for returning to learning in the fall.

Elements Of A Trauma-Informed School, Kimberly Avitt

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review explores the research of what makes a trauma-informed school and what interventions are effective in implementing trauma-informed teaching practices to help students with past traumatic experiences become more success in school. Research documents a large number of students who have experienced trauma and that this trauma has a significant impact on a child’s development, both cognitive and social. Teachers and schools are at the forefront of this problem and ideally suited to address this problem. This literature review revealed key areas to focus when implementing trauma-informed teaching practices. These include relationships, resiliency, and climate and culture.

Socially Just Trauma-Informed Responses To Covid-19 With Undocumented Communities, Daniela Dominguez

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Limitations Of Interventions-Focused Case Studies In Influencing Positive Outcomes For Students With Ebd, Stephen Watkins

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has demonstrated that the population of students diagnosed with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders (EBD) has not demonstrated noticeably improved long-term academic and social outcomes in at least the last 20 years. The research questions that are addressed in this capstone project are: What are the limitations of interventions-focused case studies in the practical increase of positive outcomes for students at risk for or diagnosed with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders at the secondary level? What are best practices in the classroom for students with EBD that compensate for these study limitations? The research begins with the establishment of the author’s …

Trauma Informed Classrooms For Secondary Students, Ryan Szymanski

Culminating Projects in Special Education

Not required.

School Psychologists' Beliefs, Perceived Competence, Knowledge, Social/Norms Expectations, And Implementation Of School-Based Trauma-Focused Interventions, Amanda Rian Hanrahan

Theses and Dissertations

Two out of every three children will experience a traumatic event before the age of 16 (APA, 2008). Due to a variety of barriers, many of these children will not receive the mental health treatment and support they need (GAO, 2009). Researchers have identified School Psychologists as the primary school-based mental health professionals to provide services in schools (Jaycox et al., 2007). The present study aimed to better understand the prevalence of childhood trauma, analyze the factors that lead to increased intervention implementation for School Psychologists, and identify factors that decrease the negative association between barriers and implementation frequency of …

“I Missed A Lot Of Childhood Memories”: Trauma And Its Impact On Learning For Formerly Incarcerated Adolescents In The Age Of Zero Tolerance Policies, Alberto Guerrero

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature makes abundantly clear that trauma has a detrimental impact on students’ academic and behavioral efforts. It also challenges the notion of zero tolerance disciplinary practices being effective in redirecting student behaviors, making schools safer, and creating an environment that is conducive to learning. Yet, our current school climate consists of educators who have not been exposed to trauma-informed learning, while also incorporating disciplinary practices that are both draconian in nature and push students out of their learning spaces. This unfortunate reality is felt even more harshly by students who return to schools following an incarceration. This phenomenological study …

Preparing North Carolina Principals For Trauma-Sensitive Leadership, Tawannah G. Allen, Anthony Jackson, Dustin Namath Johnson, Derrick D. Jordan

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Childhood trauma is an all-too common factor in the lives of students and their families. Schools and communities across America are more likely to serve families that have experienced trauma (Anderson, 2016). Although trauma or toxic episodes can impact families across the economic spectrum, children living in poverty, in socially isolated areas, and in economically distressed communities are often disproportionately affected. Statistics offered by the National Resiliency Institute (2018) are as equally dismal, in that 72% of children and youth will experience a traumatic episode caused by abuse, neglect, the loss of their homes to hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, incarceration, parental …

The Importance Of Trauma-Informed Practices In Schools, Heather French

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

Students who have been exposed to trauma may face social/emotional, behavioral, or cognitive developmental delays, poor health, problems in school, and mental health issues. These effects may last into adulthood. The intent of a trauma-informed school approach is to break the cycle of trauma by identifying trauma in students, providing support and interventions to help students cope and heal, and helping prevent future trauma. In order to meet these standards, schools need to collaborate with families and mental health professionals. Teachers need the proper training in trauma recognition to be able to provide an environment for all students to feel …

Children Living With Trauma, Maggie Boyd

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

There are many experiences that can happen to children that may lead to trauma. This literature review uses scholarly articles and journals, as well as books, to explore the impact trauma has on children. The research shows that there are many factors that may influence a child’s life and cause a child trauma. Trauma has a significant impact on the wiring of a child’s brain. As a result of the wiring, or lack of wiring due to trauma, children will show deficits in physical, social emotional and cognitive skills. Many times trauma can be misunderstood and diagnosed as a disability …

Individual Experience, Individualized Help: A Case Study Of Three Siblings Whose Father Died By Suicide, Caitlin Cotten

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study describes the disparate experiences of how three siblings reacted and were affected by their father's suicide death. Specifically, through individual interviews, this study explores the siblings' individual memories, emotions, and perceptions of support connected with the time directly before and after their father's death. In addition, the researchers considered the long-term effects of their father's death by suicide as lived by the sibling survivors. In seeking to understand the siblings' experiences, this study also explores each sibling's reaction as they were presented with a group of children's picture books that were developed to help children express …

Review Of The Vulnerable Heart Of Literacy: Centering Trauma As Powerful Pedagogy., Zipporah Galimore

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

In The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy (2019), Elizabeth Dutro provides educators with heart-felt, inquiry-based strategies for using trauma as pedagogy in literacy classrooms. This book describes how to situate both educators and children to provide testimony and be critical witnesses in an effort to allow life knowledge, empathy, and wisdom be brought to classroom learning experiences. Dutro uses classroom vignettes and student work samples to illustrate how the concept of trauma as pedagogy can be applied across genres. Experiences and examples of literacy instruction in children's work from several elementary classrooms, from second grade through …

Southeast Asian Refugee-Learners: Identities Informing Esl Education And Support, Andrew J. Perlman

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Serving as a synthesis of previously published studies and digests, this paper focuses on Southeast Asian refugees in America to address the complex interaction between refugee-learners’ ongoing construction of identity and the ESL environment. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research on one of America’s most prominent refugee populations, this exploration highlights the traits that constitute Southeast Asians as a unique group of learners due to their shared histories of trauma; social, cultural and religious influences; and ongoing sociocultural and linguistic negotiations of identity during resettlement. As a result, ESL programs and practitioners become critical to both language …

Community Building In The Classroom To Support Students Dealing With Trauma, Kelcey Scannell

Education | Master's Theses

Unfortunately, many students enter school each day carrying the effects of traumatic experiences with them and many times teachers are the ones given the daunting task of supporting these students. Some schools lack the ability to provide counseling to students, but many schools have been able to adopt special programs to help students with their social emotional needs. Other schools do not have counselors, and do not have the ability to implement these programs for reasons, such as cost. Through this study, the researcher hoped to understand what teachers can independently do in their classrooms to help support their students’ …

Through The Lens Of Trauma: Building Resilient Learning Communities, Kristen Wimpee

Education | Master's Theses

Children's brains develop within the context of their earliest environments and experiences. Their neural and social development can be affected as consequences of complex trauma, disorganized attachment, maltreatment, and abuse. During early childhood, children's nervous systems are in their most vulnerable period of maturation and organizational development. Early life traumas and stresses can lead to structural and physiological differences, having long-term consequences on emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and social development. Children with adverse childhood experiences, including complex trauma, are more likely to be suspended, expelled, or have lower academic achievement. This puts students with early trauma histories at greater risk of …

Better Serving Students In Foster Care In The Classroom, Emily P. Cihon

Honors Projects

Within this work, I utilize research to educate current and future teachers on the inner-workings of the foster care system and how to utilize this information to inform teaching and better serve students in foster care in the classroom. Through surveying preservice teachers I located common questions about the topic such as reasons for the increase in the number of children in foster care, grounds for removing children from their homes, moving them through hearings, and finding placements, guardians, and advocates. I had the opportunity to learn from and interview foster care alumni and advocates who work within the foster …

Creating Classroom Community To Welcome Children Experiencing Trauma, Katherina A. Payne, Jennifer Keys Adair, Shubhi Sachdeva

Occasional Paper Series

How elementary and early childhood classrooms engage with socio-emotional learning is deeply connected to creating a classroom community. Yet, much of socio-emotional learning curricula focuses on the individual child, rather than on the everyday interactions that build and sustain community. During the Civic Action and Young Children study, we spent a year in a Head Start preschool in Texas, where we noticed that although many children in the class struggled with varied difficult circumstances including poverty, homelessness, discrimination and threat of deportation, the teachers did not label them as homeless, illegal immigrants or poor. Additionally, children seemed to help one …

Emotionally Responsive Practice As Trauma Informed Care: Parallel Process To Support Teacher Capacity To Hold Children With Traumatic History, Lesley Koplow, Noelle Dean, Margaret Blachly

Occasional Paper Series

This article features an adult-focused trauma informed approach that is an integral part of Bank Street’s Emotionally Responsive Practice work in schools. The authors share stories of parallel process work with teachers and administrators in various school settings, giving the reader insight into an approach that supports integration of the teacher’s past and present, and promotes empathy for the children they once were, as well as the children who fill their classrooms. The work is situated within the context of the high prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences that impact our communities of both children and adults, and leave them vulnerable …

Looking For Trouble And Causing Trauma, Marquita D. Foster

Occasional Paper Series

The purpose of this paper is to examine the genuine but misguided efforts to address the behaviors of Pre-K students in a Texas public school. After espousing the concept of building strong children through correction, evaluation, and intervention in my role as assistant principal, I began to question how these methods tended to lead to pathologizing the behaviors of Black pre-kindergarteners in my school. In an attempt to find solutions to the children's perceived misbehavior, Pre-K teachers were charged with utilizing PBIS strategies and the RTI process for behavior. Social and emotional learning (SEL) was also considered. We discovered that …

Public-School Systems Are Criminalizing Our Young People: Giving Voice To The Marganilized, Carrie Stoltzfus

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

A phenomenological qualitative study using Critical Race Theory and counter-storytelling was completed to investigate what K-12 public schools should be doing to keep young people out of the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). This study took place in a large city in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Interviews were completed with former students of the researcher who were previously incarcerated, educational professionals, and justice system professionals. Additionally, observations of the court systems and document reviews were completed in order to triangulate findings. Themes emerged around factors that lead to incarceration and the preferred practices to support young people to avoid …

“Raining” In Your Emotions As A Student Affairs Professional, Chantel J. Vereen

The Vermont Connection

As younger generations of student affairs professionals become

more involved in the field and aware of their mental health

identity, there appears to be a disconnect between young professionals

and those who are older and keep the state of their mental

health hidden. The author questions whether young professionals’

openness about their mental health identity lines up with the

institutional/general professional expectations for dealing with

emotional trauma in their field. In this narrative, I discuss my

understanding of how student affairs professionals encounter

tragedy while holding their own mental health wellness. I will

further delve into how professionals can feel …

Building Resilience Through Culturally Grounded Practices In Clinical Psychology And Higher Education, Catarina Campbell, Phyu Pannu Khin

The Vermont Connection

There is no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to the process of healing, particularly for individuals who are continuously affected by the many barriers and impacts of systemic oppres- sion. This reality demands the sustained development of a praxis rooted in trauma-informed and culturally grounded care so that we may better serve our most-impacted communities (such as Black, Indigenous and People of Color [BIPOC], disability, queer, and survivor communities). As practitioners in the fields of Clinical Psychology and Higher Education, we engage in cross-disciplinary analysis so that we may amplify and share our tools for collective healing. …

Searching For Understanding: How Hamlet And Frankenstein Inform Humanity’S Response To Trauma, Jonathan Knippenberg

English Senior Capstone

By looking at trauma narratives we are able to learn about the nature of trauma as well as the effective and ineffective ways it has been handled by literary characters. Hamlet by William Shakespeare tells of the young prince Hamlet who, in repressing his trauma, unwittingly falls victim to repeating the anger reinforced by his father’s ghost while he continually allows no one to see anything but the mask of his antic disposition. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley portrays the turmoil between Dr. Frankenstein and his monster—a rejected creation scorned by a tortured creator—which not only consumes them but also tears …

Overview Of Trauma And Trauma-Informed Practices, Chelsea Larson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review explores trauma and trauma-informed practices. This literature review uses scholarly articles and journals explains an overview of trauma, toxic stress on brain development, assumptions of trauma-informed approaches, trauma screening and assessment, and an examination of teacher’s personal anxiety. The research will show how prevalent trauma is and negative impacts trauma has on students and adults. Trauma can cause a lot of difficulties on academic achievement for students. This literature review also includes information of protective factors such as resiliency, attachment, relaxation techniques, collaboration among professionals, instruction on expressing feelings, play in the classroom, and classroom environment suggestions. …

How Does Trauma Affect Preschoolers?, Lisa Wolterman

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review discusses the need for teachers to be aware of trauma-affected students that may be in their classrooms. History shows us that trauma is not a new topic. In the last few years more research is being completed to help us understand what these students are thinking and feeling. Teachers are a key piece to helping trauma-affected students. This review provides some strategies for working with trauma-affected students. What is known is that with help, trauma-affected students can learn and grow when given the chance.

Association Of Drowning Mortality With Preventive Interventions: A Quarter Of A Million Deaths Evaluation In Brazil, David Szpilman, Danielli B. Mello, Ana Catarina Queiroga, Rogerio Ferreira Emygdio Rfe

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

In 2015, drowning in Brazil was responsible for 6,043 deaths and was the second leading cause of death in children. Although several prevention strategies have been promoted to reduce drowning, most are still based on low levels of evidence. This study evaluated the effectiveness of prevention and water safety interventions in reducing drowning mortality. Data obtained from the National Mortality System for 36 years were split in two time periods to allow the comparison of drowning mortality numbers before and after implementation of SOBRASA’s drowning prevention and water safety programs and to check for any positive effects attributable to such …