Children come everyday to our classrooms carrying their Schools bags. But what we don't seem to realise as teachers is what kinds of excess baggage they also bring with them to school such as experiences of trauma. Children have their own expectations and views and oppinions which are shaped by what they are exposed to at home and the community. Those experiences are what also shapes them and their views when they arrive at School.
I read an interesting article on helping Traumatised children learn and it came up with some of the behaviours that these children may show in the classroom and there were a few which stood out.
Defiance
Children who enter the classroom in a state of low-level fear may refuse to respond to teachers either by trying to take control of their situation through actively defiant behaviour or, more passively and perhaps less consciously, by “freezing.” Either way, the child is not receptive or responsive to the teacher or the demands of the classroom. Children who actively try to take control may be more overt and deliberate in their unwillingness to cooperate. This can be particularly frustrating to teachers, since these children can appear to be in control of their behaviour.
Withdrawal
Children who withdraw in the classroom cannot participate effectively. Unsurprisingly, these children rarely attract their teachers’ attention. Feelings of vulnerability may foster reluctance to engage in the classroom.
These are two behaviours that I have noticed. I have experienced defiance where the child has been non-compliant. Analyzing this senario now I have a better understanding of this situation. Some thoughts that come to my mind are that the child possibly wasn't allowed to do anything at home, and wasn't being listened to, or their needs neglected. So in terms of the classroom context, this is the only area/place where they possibly felt they had the most amount of control in their life.
"Traumatic experiences in childhood can diminish concentration, memory, and the organisational and language abilities children need to succeed in school" (Helping Traumatised children learn, http://www.traumasensitiveschools.org)
Scientists have found that children who have been subjected repeatedly to trauma suffer from other social, psychological, cognitive, and biological issues, including difficulty regulating their emotions, paying attention, and forming good relationships—all of which make it very difficult for a child to succeed in school
Today for our staff meeting we talked about Vulnerable Children's Act and how it applies to our School. We talked about procedures and processes and what we should do if a child in our class confides in us and lets us know that they have been abused.
School is usually the one place that a child that has been going through abuse or traumatic experiences feels safe. So I feel as teachers it is our job to be able to know the child and recognise any patterns or trends that we notice and document these. We can do this by asking open ended questions and asking statement questions such as who was where, what happened, when did it happen and so forth.
It is also important to make sure that the principal is notified about your concerns as well as other people such as SWIS, Health nurse, previous teacher as they may have also noticed patterns and trends and are able to add to the documentation.
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