Developing Trauma Informed Teachers

<p class=ql-align-justify>Trauma is a public health crisis. High rates of trauma exposure among youth and the impact that experiences of trauma can have on students' psychosocial and academic outcomes are well-established. These traumatic events do not live outside of the scope of schools and teaching. As children and teachers develop communities within their classrooms and schools trauma comes with those who have experienced it whether invited or not (Bien & Dutro 2014). This extended time that teachers spend with students inherently provides opportunity to witness students' lived experiences (<span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>Caringi et al. 2015; </span>Motta 2012). These experiences capture many facets of students' lives including traumatic events; however many teachers indicate that they feel unprepared to address students who have experienced trauma in meaningful and sustainable ways (<span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>Caringi et al 2015</span>). <span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>In response many schools and districts have adopted trauma-informed practices (Overstreet & Chafouleas 2016). </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>This text addresses the gap in the literature in embedding trauma-informed practices into pre-service teacher education. </span>This text provides examples of the various ways educator preparation faculty are developing and implementing trauma-informed practices across their programs instituting broader curricular shifts to incorporate trauma-informed practices shifting pedagogical practices to include trauma-informed practices and collaborating across disciplines in order to ensure that teacher candidates are thoughtfully prepared to address students' needs and create classroom environments that are equitable safe and sustainable for students and teachers. </p>