A young student has witnessed domestic violence at home, and he’s constantly anxious. Another child’s family is homeless, and she often comes to school hungry. A third student has recently seen her parents split up, and believes it’s her fault. And yet another child is quietly being bullied, something he hasn’t even told his parents.
这些学生可能都生活在创伤中. 这会影响他们的学习方式.
你是一个班上有30多名学生的老师, 你会意识到他们更明显的差异:性别, 比赛, 也许宗教, 学习差异或残疾. But there is probably something else that you can’t see that affects your students in the classroom: trauma.
Nearly half of all children in the United States – 47 percent, according to the 全国儿童健康调查 10月, 2017 – have experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) such as abuse, 目睹或成为暴力的受害者, 或者失去父母, 离婚, 监禁, 或死亡. Nearly a fourth of all students have experienced two or more such events, and a third of all those entering kindergarten have already experienced at least one.
The word trauma is used in more than one way in society today; it is used to describe severe physical injuries, 比如那些可能由事故或枪击造成的, 或严重的精神痛苦, such as that which occurs after experiencing or witnessing something very emotionally disturbing. Veterans returning from war have a high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder, 或创伤后应激障碍, 以闪回症状为特征, 内疚或羞耻的感觉, 比典型的抑郁和焦虑的比率要高, 情绪水平的上升, 包括悲伤, 愤怒和绝望. 大脑总是反应过度，就好像它仍然处于危险之中.
在教室里, 除非学校里真的发生了创伤性事件, 学生身上的症状可能并不明显. But the cumulative trauma of ACEs and the stress of everyday living is affecting these students, 这确实会影响他们在学校的表现.
“枪击事件. 食品不安全. 夜里有警报声和打斗. 专家们发现这些压力源在不断累积, creating emotional problems and changes in the brain that can undermine even the clearest lessons,Anya Kamenetz写道 美国国家公共电台. 换句话说, the students’ brains are so busy coping with perceived threats in daily life that there’s no room to learn. 他们可能会表现出愤怒, 悲伤, 完美主义, 乏力, 低自信, 恐慌症, 极端的自力更生, 自残或冒险行为.
“未经处理的, 研究人员发现这些事件是复合的, 影响身体的许多部位,报告说, 题为“教学通过创伤.” “Studies show chronic stress can change the chemical and physical structures of the brain.”
Researchers have shown that chronic stress affects children’s abilities to pay attention, 集中注意力, 要有创意, 记住他们被教导的. Dr. 卡拉Wellman, 他是印第安纳大学神经科学和心理学教授, has found that chronic stress in mice will create deficiencies in the pre-frontal cortex, 大脑中需要解决问题的区域.
那么，老师要做什么呢? 首先，学习理解孩子可能发送的信息.
“Identifying the symptoms of trauma in the children can help educators understand these confusing behaviors,“写 孩子的思想研究所. 这有助于避免误诊, 因为这些症状可以模拟其他问题, 包括多动症和其他行为障碍.”
The institute lists these obstacles to learning as common in students experiencing trauma:
- 难以与老师建立关系 (especially in children who may have been abused or neglected; they don’t necessarily see adults as being safe);
- 可怜的自我调节 (the child may have never learned to regulate strong emotions or how to soothe himself or herself);
- 消极的想法 (这可能源于孩子认为他们是坏的, 或者他们生活中发生的一切都是他们的错);
- 高度警觉 (a child that is overly alert to what his or her brain sees as potentially dangerous);
- 执行功能的挑战 (including a child’s ability to pay attention, plan, solve problems and plan ahead).
支持和倡导网站 我们是教师 offers these 10 things about childhood trauma for teachers to understand:
- 学生们不是故意行为不端的. 他们难以调节与创伤相关的行为和心态.
- 受创伤影响的孩子总是担心. 结构、常规和感官线索会有所帮助.
- TraumA对每个人都是不同的. What may be traumatic for one child might not affect another in the same way. “Anything that keeps our nervous system activated for longer than four to six weeks is defined as post-traumatic stress,Caelan Kuban Soma说, 临床主任 国家儿童创伤和丧失研究所.
- TraumA并不总是bet5365首页暴力. Anything that causes extreme, ongoing stress to a child can have trauma ramifications.
- 即使你不知道发生了什么，你也可以帮忙. Respond with empathy and gentle flexibility to the child’s emotions and needs.
- 受创伤影响的孩子需要成功. If you find opportunities for these students to set goals and achieve them, 你会帮助他们自我感觉良好.
- 只有当孩子感到安全和受支持时，他们才能学习. Empathy, routine and tasks at hand create a situation that feels safe to a child
- 建立“大脑休息”来帮助孩子充电. Even just a 5-minute break – announced at the beginning of a 20-minute task – will help a student focus and cope.
- 问问自己能帮上什么忙. 简单地问一句:“我们能做些什么让你感觉更好吗??可以导致有益的行动.
- 把这些行为教给成年人. You can spread the message that the kids aren’t necessarily pushing buttons deliberately. “提醒每个人:‘孩子的行为与他或她的行为无关，’Soma说. ’问问你自己，‘我想知道那个孩子怎么了?而不是问“这孩子怎么了??这是我们看待孩子的一个巨大转变.”
Unfortunately, teaching children who have been affected by trauma is part of our world today. “It is imperative in today’s classroom that teachers understand the causes of trauma, 如何识别创伤的迹象, and how to effectively work with and support students experiencing the effects of trauma,项目主任说, 鲍勃Wellman. bet5365首页’s online professional learning division’s, EDUO 9894 course, Working Effectively with 教室里受创伤的学生 Setting:理解创伤及其影响, 汇集了讲座, 文章, 视频, 在线课程论坛, and a Trauma Toolkit to help teachers better understand how to connect with and be more effective for these students.
“当老师介入帮助有危险的学生时, 整个教室都受益,莫尼卡·多明格斯说, 埃尔帕索的学校辅导员, 德州, 在采访中 教学Tolerance. “You’ll have a more calm, focused class with fewer distractions and outbursts.” Dominguez believes that getting to know students who could otherwise be branded as troublemakers or even learning-disabled helps both students and teachers. “你不应该低估这些孩子.”
教育周 同意，即使面对令人沮丧的统计数字.
“孩子们经历的ACEs越多, the greater the likelihood they will struggle academically and disengage from school. But maintaining a strong connection to school and to caring adults throughout the building is a powerful way to buffer the negative impact of pervasive stressors. Schools are one important place in a community that can reduce the negative impact of ACEs on children’s health and development.”
