Characteristics of Learners

Characteristics of Learners with Trauma

Teachers all across the world have student victims of trauma sitting in their classrooms everyday. This is unfortunately, a wide-spread problem that needs to be addressed. Trauma is referenced by Medley, 2012, as “...a response to a stressful experience in which a person’s ability to cope is dramatically undermined.” (Cole et. al 2005). Educators need to recognize the signs of trauma in their students, in order to be able to reach them on a personal, and hopefully academic level. The reason I say hopefully on an academic level, is due to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

https://carrothealth.com/importance-of-sdoh/ 

Maslow’s theory was developed around basic human needs, but it can be applied to children as well, as he was influenced by Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. When our students most basic needs aren’t being met their attention to, and motivation for learning is not at the necessary level in order to be successful. According to Dutro, we do need to be careful about not considering every child that comes from poverty, also comes from trauma (Dutro, 2013). This may not be a common misconception about students, but educators need to be aware of this possible bias. 

As for how this relates more closely to educational theory, we will now look at the critical literacy theory of the more broad Social Constructionist Theories umbrella (Handsfield, 2016). Critical literacy theory is closely associated with the work of Paolo Freire, a Brazilian educator. As an educator, he found that educational practices needed to be “humanized” (Handsfield, 2016) in order to encourage individual learning as well as an overall awareness of the effects of social structures on students. Value should be placed on academic achievement, but theorists behind critical literacy theory also explain the importance of becoming, “critically literate” (Handsfield, 2016). Students coming from trauma need to learn coping skills, and this theory allows them to engage in literacy practices that affect change in their own communities. Coping skills for working collaboratively with peers can lead to these students creating a positive change, ideally in their personal environment, and to be leaders for social change. Critical literacy theory invites participants to create their own texts and insert their own perspectives and backgrounds into their writing. Considering trauma from the stance of critical literacy theory, this should begin to empower students to make changes to better their own future.

So...What are the different types of trauma our students experience?

There are many different types of trauma that some of our students go through that can begin in very early childhood, such as the following (Bartlett, et. al, 2019) and (Dutro, 2013):

• Experience domestic violence in the home

• Parental substance abuse

• Homelessness

• Unintentional injuries requiring emergency care

• Mental health problems

• Illness

• Loss of loved one

• Child being removed from the parent’s care

These exposures are counted in a child’s ACE score, or Adverse Childhood Experiences. Scores are calculated per child based on the number of exposures to each experience. Students receive one point for each time they are exposed to one of the negative factors. ACE scores, and their effects on children have the potential to negatively impact the educational experience, such as, “lower levels of school engagement in middle school and adolescence.” (Jimenez, et. al, 2016). Lack of engagement with education can lead to the student in question dropping out of high school, and beginning the traumatic process over with their own children. There are other exposure factors that contribute to a child’s ACE score, but the ones listed above are more directly tied to trauma. In 2020, Oklahoma children lead the nation in the highest average ACE scores, which unfortunately leads to a higher probability of a lifetime full of traumatic issues. We encounter these students every day, and are charged with giving them their best chance at educational and personal development.

What are the signs of trauma in students?

Trauma takes on sometimes physical, as well as physiological dimensions (Medley, 2012) that when we are observant, we can recognize the traits of trauma in our students. These behaviors can be difficult to manage in classroom settings, and the child in question can be viewed as being the problem, rather than the child is facing problems (Dutro, 2014). We have to break through our own personal feelings about the behaviors in order to help these children. Any variety of the following may be witnessed:

• Acting out or socially disruptive behavior (hitting, biting, reckless behaviors)

• Withdrawal from society (self-destructive thought and behaviors, unwillingness to share information with peers and teacher)

• Chronic inattention and lack of motivation

• Externalizing behavior (delinquency, aggression, anxiety, depression)

• Struggle to fit in with peers

• Chronic absences

The kids who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving ways

In my eight years as an educator from second to fourth grade students, I have seen each one of these symptoms of trauma make its way into the classroom. While each occurrence may not have been from a child truly experiencing trauma, there are a handful of students who have been affected by something at home. 32% of Oklahoma children have had a long-term trauma event in their lives (Tulsa World, 2019). Socially disruptive behavior is often an attention-seeking tactic from the child in question. This child will seek out positive or negative attention, whichever one comes first. The student who is withdrawn, and struggles to fit in with peers bottles everything inside which can be extremely detrimental to their own mental health. If this persists at the secondary level, students have a higher chance of falling into and starting their own traumatic lifestyle that will follow them after they leave school. Chronic inattention in children goes hand-in-hand with out of school factors, a child typically dealing with adult problems that they shouldn’t even be aware of. With some students in the past, when the child either won’t, or can’t pay attention I’ve found that a positive relationship leads to conversation about what is affecting them at home. The lack of motivation to improve one’s educational stance is also a symptom of trauma, as the child in question doesn’t find value in what is happening in school. Their motivation may be to work to pay bills (obviously at the secondary level), or support a sick parent, or taking up for the absence of a parent. Unless we build the relationships with these students, we will never know how to truly help them. With the motivation factor chronic absences are prevalent. Their motivation is not to be at school, it could be to work, or do any number of things that don’t involve school. Whatever the reason is, lack of motivation can be seen as a symptom. Externalizing factors such as aggression, be it verbal or physical, can also lead to students not feeling like they fit in with others. Due to their background of trauma, this child often feels like they aren’t doing anything wrong when they are aggressive and they don’t understand why they don’t have any friends. They take it as an affront to their character, and they feel that nobody likes them, with no reasoning as to why this is the case. 

If you are a teacher, or caretaker for a child of trauma, you may recognize some of these signals through some of these examples:

Many schools and districts are cognizant of the fact that many children come from homes of trauma, and are putting professional development programs in place for their teachers. When teachers are informed of how to respond to trauma, we can help to reduce the negative impact it takes on students’ educational environment (McInerney, et. al 2014). Efforts to build relationships, and a positive classroom community in which students collaborate to learn needs to be put in place from the beginning of the school year. When positive relationships are in place with students, there is a higher chance of conversation about factors affecting their motivation and attitude. It may not always be realistic for every child, but teachers can begin the process of breaking the cycle of trauma by becoming trauma informed (McInerney, et. al, 2014).

In conclusion, these students need love and support in order to make social and academic growth. We have to keep in mind the ultimate goal, what do we want for these students that come from trauma at the elementary level? At the secondary level, what are these students’ educational or career goals? In a perfect world, we would want this child to break through their chains and become academically and socially high functioning. These students often struggle with social cues, making, and keeping healthy friendships. Across the board, we need to encourage collaboration so that these students can move past their traumatic experiences in a positive manner. For further information on characteristics of learners from trauma, please view this video on the differences between the learning brain and the survival brain: Understanding Trauma: Learning Brain vs Survival Brain 

Characteristics of these learners leads us to our next post about why these students struggle, and what their key challenges are.

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