Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/what-is-their-bear-a-guide-to-trauma-informed-teaching/5027073/
Trauma, an experience many children live with every day, has an impact within classrooms in various ways—some evident, others hidden beneath the surface. Teachers, already struggling to meet many competing demands, are now being asked to step into the space of supporting children dealing with trauma, a tall order for anyone. A simple checklist of remediation strategies does not exist. Still, teachers need to interact and react in informed, responsive ways to offer the aid and encouragement needed to children who have experienced this most serious adverse childhood experience. If left unattended, the aftershocks of trauma can become invasive for the child and challenging for both the teacher and others in the early childhood classroom.
A Training Experience Points the Way
Recently, while attending a training on trauma-informed practices, participants were asked to consider how individuals react when a traumatic experience drives their brains into the survival mode of fight-flight-or-freeze behaviors. The facilitator gave a personal example, stating, “If I saw a bear I would run!” Many individuals said they would run too; others said they would freeze. This bear analogy offers useful insight for trauma-informed teaching in early childhood education. There is no “standard” regarding traumatic experiences, nor is there one “right” ...