My attempts to map the cycle of trauma were not as clean cut as I imagined. I was trying to illustrate the impacts of trauma, how a cycle is formed and highlight areas of intervention. An effort to organize the thoughts in my head may be better formulated with a flow chart. While I don’t want to doom every child that experiences trauma, the research shows that as humans experience trauma, our brains and bodies change. If we experience it enough, the changes can span the lifetime, producing more and more negative effects. So, what does this look like in the classroom? I spoke to some teachers to find out. 

 The three K2 teachers I spoke with had different views. Two teachers stated that they most often referred children to the school counselor or social worker for the following: aggressive behavior (hitting, kicking, spitting, yelling etc.), bullying, name-calling, defiance, visible signs of neglect or abuse, disobedience and academic/developmental concerns. The other teacher I spoke with was more nuanced in her approach. Let’s call her Mrs. T. She described a number of signs such as inability to focus, attention getting behavior, struggles to make social connections, low executive functioning, trouble with transitions, poor boundaries and lack of impulse control as some of the things she watches out for.

Listening to the two teachers who listed the more obvious challenging behaviors, I could make some assumptions about their world view. I heard a lot of blame being put on the students. “Some of them are just wild. It is unacceptable.” stated one teacher. On the other end of the spectrum, Mrs. T, seemed to think there was an underlying cause for these behaviors. Speaking of one student she had referred to the counselor, she said “He was going through a lot. Eventually he told the counselor his parents were getting a divorce and he didn’t get to see his dad anymore.” Mrs. T seemed to think that the childs challenging behavior was a result of his family situation. I am inclined to agree. 

There was a vast difference in the tone and words used as these teachers spoke about their students. This is really interesting to me. The way the students are perceived has a huge impact on their lives. I am totally biased because I do believe teachers should adopt a trauma-informed, student-centered approach. What this means, to me, is that teachers are considering all the factors that contribute to challenging behaviors in the classroom. It means they are informed about the how trauma impacts the brain, they possess and understanding of what is and isn’t within a childs control. My goal with teacher interviews was to try to understand what causes a child to be referred to a counselor or social worker for support. The answer I found is that it really depends on the teacher. There are definitely universal behaviors that are deemed to be problematic and result in a referral. I did learn that it often takes repeated incidences for a child to be referred to a counselor or school social worker. When the classic punishment fails time and time again to modify the behavior, that is when additional support is sought out.

A lot of what I am learning through my interviews is confirming what I already know or suspect. The different schools, teachers and approaches really complicate things. This is a little overwhelming. However, someone told me early on in my Evergreen career that a good program will not answer your questions as much as lead you to new questions. I have found this to be true and it seems that is what I am experiencing now.