If COVID has an upside, it’s that it has brought attention to the emotional needs of students (and faculty members). Indeed, if a student doesn’t feel emotionally safe in the classroom, their ability to learn is severely impeded. And if an educator is experiencing extreme stress, their ability to work effectively with kids is compromised. The bottom line is that educators must work toward balancing a student’s academic needs with their social and emotional needs. Our three guests from the Elizabethton School District in Elizabethton, TN provide the details.

Dr. Myra Newman — Assistant Director of Schools for Academics, Elizabethton City Schools, Elizabethton, TN

Dr. Jon Minton — Principal, Elizabethton High School, Elizabethton, TN

Megan Ellis — Counselor, Elizabethton High School, Elizabethton, TN

One of the clear takeaways from our series on trauma in schools is that few teachers and administrators receive training on student trauma before they find themselves in front of their kids. Most professional development in this critical area is provided to educators in what are often too-brief training sessions after they are already in the schools. Our guests in this episode, professional development consultants Tamara Neufeld Strijack and Hannah Beach, are helping to disrupt that pattern.

One way trauma grows in the Native American child is through schooling. Native American children attend either schools made up primarily of Native students, or they attend U.S. public schools with the potential for more of a mixed population. As we’ll learn during the interview, Native American children who attend U.S. public schools are often criticized for their silence. But their silence doesn’t reflect a lack of interest or knowledge, it’s culturally driven behavior. Native American children are often silent for two reasons: one, because they’re reflecting deeply on the topic under discussion, and two, they’re demonstrating respect for the thoughts of others, especially the teachers. Instead of being critical of them, we should see them for what they are. Holly Echo-Hawk, a behavioral health expert for the Pawnee Nation provides the details.

One of the aspects of trauma that needs to be fully recognized is its intergenerational potential: the trauma that a student carries with them can often be further weighted by what their parents and or ancestors experienced. This is particularly true for people of color and indigenous populations. Mary Peter, District Vice-Principal, Indigenous Education, Cowichan Valley School District on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and Richard Matthews, the District Counselor at the Cowichan Valley School District provide the details.

When we think about trauma and adverse childhood experiences, the conversation understandably gravitates to one of what happened to the student. That approach can focus us externally on the damaging experiences and events themselves. Dr. Scott Ratchford, an expert on equity and the Coordinator of Equity Advancement for the town of West Hartford, CT, helps us shift our focus to see the internal impact of adversity and trauma on a child and how it can affect their identity, sense of safety and well-being, and perhaps most important, their potential.

Most attempts at large-scale change in education fail because of incoherent planning, lack of buy-in of stakeholders, and poor execution. Another big reason for failure is pace: leadership tries to do too much too quickly. Moving too fast can be particularly detrimental when adopting something as emotionally rich and behavior-changing as trauma-informed practices. Dr. Dana Milakovic, a mental health and trauma specialist, and the state-wide advisor for Trauma (K-12) for the Pennsylvania Department of Education urges a step-by-step approach that includes a multi-system of support.