It is difficult to avoid the impact of trauma on the children in our schools. There are many ways trauma's effects manifest in the classroom, such as through student disengagement, outbursts, or avoidance. What is less visible is the cumulative negative effects teachers may experience by working with trauma-impacted students. Secondary traumatic stress (STS), defined as the emotional toll when an individual hears about the traumatic experiences of another, can create systemic instructional or classroom-management problems which pull focus away from student wellness, achievement, and school improvement.
Based on our experiences coaching teachers and collaborating with district leaders, we have seen parallels between how students and teachers react to stressors (Souers, pp. 29). Students who have experienced trauma may respond by activating their flight, fight, or freeze instincts, such as leaving school or cutting classes (Hammond, 2014; Souers, 2016). Teachers also manifest the same survival instinct in their reaction to stressors, as shown below.
Secondary Traumatic Stress on TeachersFlight: can appear as absenteeism, burn out, or resignation.Fight: can appear as getting caught up in a cycle of escalation, engaging in power struggles with students or staff, or enforcing punitive consequences for behavioral issuesFreeze: can appear as losing track of a lesson, ignoring disruptive behaviors, or ignoring passive students
The good news is that instructional leaders can support teachers on how to use trauma-sensitive practices through targeted conversations that identify when to offer students comfort and when to maintain high expectations. Trauma-sensitive practices may defuse tensions and prevent high levels of STS, as teachers balance opportunities for productive struggle with supportive relationships and increase their ability to be "warm demanders," (Delpit, 2012; Hammond, 2014). Here are our recommended instructional strategies for trauma-sensitive coaching.
Build emotional intelligence through self-awareness.
Instructional leaders might let teachers vent and offer sympathy before going back to the "real conversation" on instructional design or classroom management. This stance neglects the chance to build teachers' emotional intelligence. "A new teacher may struggle with classroom management, but if his emotional intelligence gap is huge—if he doesn't have strategies to respond to his own frustration and sense of failure—it will be much harder to close his skill and knowledge gaps," coach Elena Aguilar writes (2018).
Part of fostering emotional intelligence is allowing teachers the space and grace to discuss emotions. One approach is to ask teachers for permission to explore emotions that emerge in coaching conversations. If a teacher says, "This class just stresses me out," we might respond, "Would you like to talk more about this?" We can write down his or her key statements and read back the verbatim notes, which can lead to insight and self-awareness (Schwarz & Davidson, 2008). It can be a surprise to hear that what one says about students or parents might conflict with deeply held values and beliefs. A teacher may believe that all students are capable of learning, but the notes may reveal language that indicates the opposite. This process can allow teachers to release emotions and explore options for improvement.
Manage a difficult classroom situation.
Another option builds awareness when a teacher feels "triggered." If a student says something inappropriate during a lesson—whether it's a verbal attack on another student or a student who keeps asking when class is over—and the teacher does not know how to respond, that may provoke anger, sadness, or embarrassment. Instructional leaders can help teachers recognize these feelings and purposefully access a calming strategy.
One strategy is "Break and Breathe," where the teacher pauses in a charged situation, moves a step sideways, and takes a deep calming breath before addressing the student. Teachers are more likely to effectively respond when they manage without emotion. Then, coaches and teachers can explore how to approach conversations with students from a neutral or restorative stance with a Describe, Express, Invite process:
Coaching to Combat Secondary Traumatic Stress-table
Describe | Express | Invite |
|---|---|---|
| Describe what is happening/has happened. Be specific and objective. | Express why this is important to you and to the class. | Invite the student to share their view and any concerns or feelings they have. |
A neutral conversation moves charged interactions into a more restorative and reflective framework to stop the cycle of escalation that can disrupt relationships and remove students from classrooms. If a student repeatedly sings loudly during a class discussion and the teacher's nonverbal cues and simple redirects do not work, the teacher can take the student aside for a dialogue.
Describe: "I heard you singing during our class discussion, I noticed that this made it difficult for students to hear each other.
Express: "Our goal is that students respect each other and their ideas."
Invite: "What is going on today? Is there something you would like to tell me?"
The student may respond that she sings when she is feeling particularly anxious. At this point, the teacher and student can coconstruct a plan for improvement and alternatives for self-regulation that are less disruptive to the class. One such plan could be an agreement that the student can write out the lyrics to a song when she is feeling high anxiety. Another could involve giving her permission to take "think putty" from a classroom box of stress-management tools.
The Missing Link
We typically think of supporting students' emotional awareness and intelligence, but we must foster emotional resilience and competency among teachers as well. In cases where a teacher's emotional stress indicates the need for more support than a coach can offer, we can point them in the direction of professional resources. However, these coach-driven strategies can bolster the social-emotional knowledge and well-being of our educators experiencing STS. In turn, we are all more able to teach those skills to students.
