Calmer classrooms A guide to working with traumatised children

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Calmer classroomsA guide to working with
traumatised children
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Acknowledgements

• Lets pay respect to the original owners of the
  land, the elders past and present and other
  Indigenous people who may be here with us today.

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Overview

• Our aims for today
• A bit about who we are Take Two
• Understanding Trauma Attachment
• The Calmer Classrooms Approach
• Self-care for teachers
• Where to from here?

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Lets also respect
Professional Self
Personal Self
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About Take Two

• A state-wide, mental health service for child
  protection clients who are at risk of developing
  or already demonstrate emotional and/or
  behavioural disturbance.
• Developmental therapeutic intervention with
  children of all ages who have experienced trauma
  and disrupted attachment.

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About Take Two

• Extensive collaborative work with the service
  system including health, education and mental
  health services.
• Research and training to build and disseminate
  knowledge - Calmer Classrooms is an example of
  this.
• Take Two is formed by a partnership of Berry
  Street, Austin CAMHS, La Trobe University,
  Mindful and VACCA Victorian Aboriginal Child Care
  Agency.

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About Calmer Classrooms

• A resource commissioned by The Office of the
  Child Safety Commissioner. http//www.ocsc.vic.g
  ov.au
• Written and developed by the Take Two Practice
  Development and Training Team (Laurel Downey) and
  published by The Office of the Child Safety
  Commissioner.
• Consultation with State and Catholic primary and
  secondary teachers, Department of Education,
  Department of Human Services and Community
  Service Organisations.

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Calmer Classrooms Key Concepts

• For the majority of children, school is a safe
  protected place for learning and developing
  physically, emotionally, socially and
  cognitively.
• We each have a responsibility to facilitate a
  positive school experience for children.

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Calmer Classrooms

• Many children and young people who suffer abuse
  and/or neglect are at risk of either missing out
  on education or having negative school
  experiences which will have long term
  consequences for them and the community.
• Engagement with School is a critical positive for
  these children.

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Section One Experiencing Abuse and Neglect
Leads to Trauma and Disturbed Attachment
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Attachment theory

• Attachment theory is the dominant theory used to
  view childrens relational development.
• Attachment theory describes the way that infants
  and toddlers develop relational styles with their
  care-givers, that become core templates for
  future relationships.

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Attachment theory

• These attachment styles are laid down in
  neurological pathways, and as such become a
  normalised way of seeing self and others.
• Attachment theorist, Dr John Bowlby saw that each
  child developed their own internal working
  model of self and others.

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Trauma Theory
Talking about trauma is hard work. Take care of
yourself throughout the rest of today!
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Trauma occurs when

• In the face of an overwhelming or ongoing threat,
  
• an individuals coping abilities are overwhelmed,
• with the impact of trauma encoded throughout the
• neurological, emotional, cognitive and physical
• systems.

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Normal reactions to threat

• Our brains are developed to help us to respond to
  threat
• In a dangerous or potentially dangerous
  situation, our brain goes on alert and prepares
  the body ready to respond
• This is the flight or fight response
• Our body increases the adrenaline in our system
  so we can be faster and stronger
• When the threat is no longer there, our brain
  releases other chemicals such as cortisol to
  reduce the adrenaline in our bodies

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Normal reactions to threat

• In some situations where fighting or running is
  not possible, our brain may help us to freeze. In
  these situations our breathing may slow down and
  different chemicals such as endorphins are
  released that help us to be very still or even to
  go numb and therefore feel less pain.

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Trauma and children

• Trauma for children may result from
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Psychological/emotional abuse
• Neglect
• Witnessing family violence
• Other incidents car accidents, painful medical
  procedures, witnessing violence
• War
• Detention and other refugee experiences.

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Cumulative trauma

• Over time the childs experience is that
  maltreatment or something bad is just around the
  corner
• Their behaviour tends to re-enact and replicate
  their trauma, by inviting negative reactions

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Section TwoThe impact of abuse neglect on
learning
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Impact of trauma

• Children living in these traumatic
  circumstances are not free to learn, play and
  explore the world like other children they
  respond to the world as a dangerous and
  frightening place where they get hurt.
• They become primed to look for and protect
  themselves from these threats.
• (Hellett Simmonds, 2003, p76)

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Impact of trauma on academic performance

• Reduced cognitive capacity
• Sleep disturbance (poor regulation)
• Causing poor concentration
• Difficulties with memory
• Making learning harder
• Language delays
• Reducing capacity for listening, understanding,
  expressing

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Impact of trauma on social functioning

• Need for control
• Causing conflict with teachers other students
• Attachment difficulties
• Making attachment to school difficult
• Poor peer relationships
• Making school an unpleasant experience
• Unstable living situation
• Reducing learning, capacity to engage with new
  school

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Affect Dysregulation

• Hyperarousal
• Associated with hypervigilance (neutral stimuli
  seen as threatening)
• Attention concentration impaired
• Dissociation
• Seem distant, vague, unreachable
• Not thinking, because they do not want to think
• May become oppositional in response to a demand
  for attention, contact
• Children may present with either or both these
  forms

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Toxic shame

• Children who have been abused and neglected often
  have intense shame responses to perceived
  failures, insults and to the experience of being
  disciplined.
• Being overwhelmed by shame increased affect
  dysregulation and often leads to aggressive
  outbursts.
• People who live with toxic shame feel
  fundamentally disgraced, intrinsically worthless,
  and profoundly humiliated in their own skin, just
  for being themselves. (Garbarino, 1999)

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Section Three Relationship-based Practices
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Practices which help teachers remain calm and
avoid power battles will be most
effective. Laurel Downey, Calmer Classrooms
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Relationship-based practices

• The focus is on the relationship between teacher
  child, and also on the effectiveness of
  teachers becoming part of a wider support team
  system.
• Crucial issues are
• creating connection and defusing conflict
• planning for challenging incidents
• responding to Indigenous childrens needs
• remembering self-care for teachers
• participating in systems (the care team)

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• A strong attachment to their school can provide
  a child with stability in an otherwise unstable
  world offering relationships, maintaining
  friendships, providing positive and enjoyable
  learning opportunities and ultimately building
  resilience and hope.
• (Downey, 2007)

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Important considerations in applying Calmer
Classrooms

• How do we create a safe educational environment
  that maximises learning and development (for
  children and young people who have learnt that
  the world (particularly adults) are unsafe?
• In what, if any, ways would our school look,
  sound, act differently?
• How would I respond differently or do more of?
• What further assistance do we need in order to
  think about this model in practice in our overall
  school culture and in our teaching?

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Take Two Berry Street

• We Provide
• Seminar Presentations
• Staff training
• Phone [phone] Email toleary_at_berrystreet.org.a
  u