SweetSue92
Diamond Member
The idea behind "trauma-informed" is good. But in 30 years as a teacher I have learned that we never take a "good idea" and tuck it in our tool box. No, we let it overtake everything until it is a runaway train until, 5 or 10 or 15 years later, we say--hey, that was a disaster, huh? (See: Lucy Calkins, reading)
Right.
So in "trauma-informed learning" no child WANTS to be naughty. And "all behavior is communication". And rules are just a loose framework and now our schools look like very poorly run, ill-staffed Day Treatment Centers. I have never seen staff so close to the breaking point nor students so out of control. I am talking students running into the street. Destroying classrooms. Being physically violent with each other and adults.
It's not working. It's a disaster, in fact. And I'm not even convinced it's good for traumatized children, who above all probably need a calm, orderly, non-chaotic environment where expectations and consequences are clear.
To the extent that "Trauma-informed" made previously uncaring teachers a little more sensitive--good. To the extent it made our classrooms chaotic environments free of expectations and consequences--terrible.
A trauma-informed classroom recognizes that when a child misbehaves or acts out in class or just simply won’t work, their behavior may have nothing to do with being naughty. In fact, their behavior may have nothing to do with the teacher or the classroom at all.
A trauma-informed classroom recognizes that kids have gone through some serious events in their lives. Not only do they carry the memory of those events with them, but their brains are different because of this trauma.
insightstobehavior.com
Right.
So in "trauma-informed learning" no child WANTS to be naughty. And "all behavior is communication". And rules are just a loose framework and now our schools look like very poorly run, ill-staffed Day Treatment Centers. I have never seen staff so close to the breaking point nor students so out of control. I am talking students running into the street. Destroying classrooms. Being physically violent with each other and adults.
It's not working. It's a disaster, in fact. And I'm not even convinced it's good for traumatized children, who above all probably need a calm, orderly, non-chaotic environment where expectations and consequences are clear.
To the extent that "Trauma-informed" made previously uncaring teachers a little more sensitive--good. To the extent it made our classrooms chaotic environments free of expectations and consequences--terrible.
What Is a Trauma-Informed Classroom?
The older, more traditional methods of classroom management focused on rules. They were teacher-centered methods that punished students immediately for not following the rules, assuming that kids who didn’t follow those rules were just plain naughty.A trauma-informed classroom recognizes that when a child misbehaves or acts out in class or just simply won’t work, their behavior may have nothing to do with being naughty. In fact, their behavior may have nothing to do with the teacher or the classroom at all.
A trauma-informed classroom recognizes that kids have gone through some serious events in their lives. Not only do they carry the memory of those events with them, but their brains are different because of this trauma.
Trauma-Informed Classroom: Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom
Children act out all the time, but “naughty” behavior does not indicate naughty kids. When children deal with stress, their brains move into a fight-or-flight mode. All of our brains do this. It’s the brain’s way of saying, “you’re in trouble, and you better do something about it.” Children...
insightstobehavior.com
