麻豆传媒入口

Many children experience (PTEs): Researchers report that undergo at least one adverse childhood experience, such as the loss of a loved one, the deployment of a family member in the military, or abuse and neglect. As a result, these students with things like attendance, behavior, and academic achievement at school. 

may help, and leaders are in a unique position to create a school culture in which students (and teachers) who have experienced adversity feel a sense of belonging, as Matthew Bowerman, assistant principal and expert in trauma-informed education, who recently authored the book , told me recently.

鈥淗eartleading is the idea of leading in and with love,鈥� Bowerman explained. It鈥檚 鈥渟trategically operationalizing love to create intervention-based strategies and supports to prioritize academic and social-emotional, trauma-responsive success.鈥� (It鈥檚 important to note that trauma can be , so administrators need to promote an understanding among staff that school may not feel safe for all students.)

Bowerman described three starting places for leaders looking to implement this approach.

Strategy 1: Start With the Self

Many teachers and leaders write a personal philosophy when entering their profession to describe the 鈥渨hy鈥� that leads them in their work. There鈥檚 value in returning to and revising that philosophy from time to time. But when it comes to trauma-informed leadership, Bowerman stresses that the first step is to consider not only one鈥檚 professional purpose but one鈥檚 life story and its impacts on how one shows up as a leader.

He models that work firsthand: 鈥淚 deeply struggled with my own disabilities and trauma as a student and was drifting,鈥� he shared. 鈥淭he manifestation of that, the behaviors, were constant hypersensitivity and hyperreactivity. School became a disaster. Ultimately, the arts saved my life and guided me to better places, but embedded at the core was love. It鈥檚 the truest thing people will feel and remember 30 years after being in a classroom鈥攅ither the things that broke and destroyed them, or the things that constructed a life for them and showed them that they were loved and valued.鈥� 

There are many ways leaders might engage in self-work, from going to therapy to talking with a trusted colleague to practicing mindfulness journaling. Bowerman notes that this is an ongoing journey: 鈥淎nybody working on themselves knows it鈥檚 a recursive process of reflection and challenge and deep, deep work.鈥�

Strategy 2: Foster a Sense of Safety

The second step for leaders looking to institute a trauma-informed approach, according to Bowerman, is to create 鈥渁 safe, predictable environment.鈥� Trauma not only involves , but typically occurs in unpredictable situations鈥攁n unexpected emergency, for example.

It makes sense, then, that students need routine to recalibrate. 鈥淏ottom line,鈥� shared Bowerman, 鈥減sychosocial, social, educational, and psychological research has all proven that safe, predictable environments are crucial for kids in trauma, kids with social-emotional needs, kids with general anxiety, or just kids in general, in K鈥�12 spaces鈥攅specially post-pandemic.鈥�

Safety means 鈥渃lear expectations, routines, and boundaries in the classroom and throughout your school,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he messaging needs to be clear around expectations, codes of conduct, and technology policies鈥� because that consistency in structure will provide security and safety.鈥�

Setting up expectations can occur in town hall鈥搒tyle discussions, virtual or in person, in which leaders 鈥渁nswer questions around the applications of behavioral interventions and disciplinary consequences, especially when working in restorative justice frameworks where the work of prevention, intervention, repairing harm, making amends, and reestablishing community may be new.鈥� Or leaders might host 鈥渟essions where they discuss and reinforce policies through scenarios, gallery walks, restorative circles, and roundtables to examine how a disciplinary response is provided with unconditional positive regard.鈥�

Leaders should also consider staff and student preferences: 鈥淣ot unlike if you were to give someone that you care about a gift, you can鈥檛 control the way they accept or respond to it,鈥� said Bowerman. 鈥淭hat wasn鈥檛 why you gave it. You chose to share it, to extend love to this person. In the school setting, we鈥檙e giving that gift, but we also need to understand, recognize, and evaluate impact.鈥� 

Whether a staff member responds best to words of affirmation or collaborative problem-solving, or a student appreciates one-on-one meetings with the principal or prefers quiet time to make art, trauma-informed leaders can observe these preferences and tailor their approach, recognizing that there are many ways to show appreciation and create a sense of safety at school. In his own practice, Bowerman 鈥渕akes it a point to create opportunities to have talks on common ground, in the neighborhoods and at the park and local places where families congregate,鈥� he told me. 鈥淚t brings you into their worlds and bridges the conversation between school and family, allowing additional levels of trust and respect to be created.鈥� 

Strategy 3: Center Care in Relationships

Caring, responsive relationships are critical to preventing, intervening in, and , which is central to creating the sense of safety outlined above. To avoid burnout and maintain adults鈥� mental health, leaders can serve as a nexus鈥攆ostering connections between and across communities. 

鈥淪upportive, strong, empathetic, compassionate, loving relationships with parents, staff, and kids are a regulation strategy,鈥� Bowerman told me. 鈥淓veryone needs them. The 20-year veteran teacher, the first-year teacher, the principal, the cafeteria worker.鈥�

For a trauma-informed leader, this looks like 鈥渁uthentically listening to kids and adults; sharing validation of their stories and experiences; expressing genuine care and connectivity; engaging with them around their interests; connecting around their cultures, languages, and racial experiences; and finding ways to elevate that work in your school communities,鈥� Bowerman told me.

At the start of the pandemic, Bowerman did that work by 鈥渂uilding focus groups [that] looked at policies and procedures for supporting students who were struggling as they returned to school; the goal was to involve stakeholders. We also organized bimonthly focus groups, in their native languages, with feedback sessions to gather input and ensure policies were relevant, adaptable, and respectful of all perspectives,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e used the feedback to create systemwide messaging and reports to provide to the central office around the needs of the broader community.鈥�

By offering plenty of choices鈥攖o teachers regarding the types of trauma-responsive professional development they engage in, to parents and guardians about where to meet to discuss their concerns, or to students in how they work together to resolve conflicts鈥擝owerman highlights that when leaders offer others autonomy, they strengthen meaningful connections at school, especially in times of challenge. 

These three strategies are just a starting point. True trauma-informed leadership pervades one鈥檚 way of being in all aspects of a learning environment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an overarching, full-arms, wraparound approach,鈥� Bowerman told me. 鈥淵ou as the administrator share that message of care with your stakeholders, on billboards, on the walls of the school, in newsletters, and in all the other things administrators have to carry in terms of school operations and management and instructional coaching.鈥�