Summer Academy 2022: Strategies to Support Students Affected by Trauma

As a result of the war, children and teenagers can experience strong emotions: from fear and anxiety to anger, dismay and sadness. Some of them talk about these feelings; others show them through their behavior.

In addition to the fact that war trauma can manifest itself in many forms, it also influences how a person feels, thinks and behaves. Trauma can be a filter through which a person looks at the world.

Canadian experts who have significant experience in teaching Ukrainian as a second language, Melody Kostiuk and Olena Hartsula, shared useful tips on how teachers can interact with students affected by trauma during the Summer Academy of the Learning Together project.

What are students’ traumas?

If there are traumatized students in the classroom, it is important for the teacher to be aware of trauma signs. The teacher can work with students who get easily frightened, start to distance themselves or show unusual reactions. This behavior can also be noticed in colleagues.

Acute trauma results from a single incident, such as the death of someone special for a student. Students can “relive” detailed memories and show overreaction.

Chronic trauma is the result of prolonged exposure to traumatic situations, such as repeated violence or intimidation. Students may experience denial, anger and social isolation.

Complex trauma is the result of a single traumatic event that is devastating enough to have long-term consequences. It can be a war or the movement of refugees. Students may experience depression, irritability and concentration problems.

Signs and symptoms of learning-related trauma can take many forms. There can be problems with attention, information processing, concentration and implementation of tasks, speech development.

Other symptoms that affect a child’s learning and social life can be as follows:

• sadness/depression;
• physical symptoms such as a headache;
• aggressive behavior;
• bad relationships with peers;
• response to reminders or triggers.

Trauma-informed teaching strategies

It is not possible to work effectively with students affected by trauma if you use a single technique or checklist for all students. Instead, using trauma-informed strategies in the classroom proves to be an efficient approach, which provides all students with emotional and/or psychological support. 

These strategies can also be adapted to help students from displaced families develop resilience skills and prepare them for social and emotional learning.

Strategy 1. Students feel safe

Deep feelings of insecurity and fear caused by trauma can manifest themselves in various areas of people’s lives, in particular during play, interpersonal interaction and at school. Teachers can make their classrooms physically, intellectually and emotionally safer by introducing some rules and arrangements.

Here are some effective rules:

• respect the privacy of others;
• strive for improvement;
• respect others when they speak;
• speak from the heart;
• reserve time for improvement of your health and personal development.

Strategy 2. Be consistent and predictable

Children of any age affected by trauma can be under constant stress. Teachers can make students feel safe and relaxed. Ensuring consistency and predictability through the teacher’s mood, fairness and use of daily routines and schedules can help students calm down. 

For example, a teacher can plan his or her lessons in the same way throughout the week: 10 minutes for a mini-lesson, 20 minutes for work and 10 minutes for reflection and results.

Strategy 3. Empathize with students

The teacher’s ability to empathize with students is extremely important, especially if the teacher has no similar experience. Teachers don’t have to be trauma detectives, but they can be proactive in getting information about the types of traumas.

Strategy 4. Create a team that has information about traumas

Successful support to displaced students requires everyone in the school to work together. This means that it is important for school administrators, principals, counselors, teachers, parents and organizations that support students to be aware of traumas and how to deal with them as well as to support each other.

Strategy 5. Know your limits

When psychological trauma becomes extremely severe for displaced students, you might help families find professional assistance for their child. It is worth remembering that trauma-informed strategies are aimed at helping students cope with problems and start recovering, but this will not replace professional trauma treatment.

Here are some more useful tips from experts on how to apply trauma-informed strategies in the educational process:

• accept children’s reactions: this is how children learn from you that their reactions are normal, that there are no right or wrong ways to feel, and that it is quite normal to show their emotions;
• be honest with your children: answer their questions as openly as possible, and provide information calmly and reasonably, in simple and understandable sentences;
• adapt the details to the age of children, keeping in mind to what extent they are able to understand and perceive information;
• talk about who and what helps during the war: doctors, rescuers, volunteers, humanitarian aid, charities, local and global fundraising, international organizations, etc. – this will help divert talks about the war from the topic of death and destruction, and direct it to positive things;
• engage students in positive activities: holding events to raise funds at school, writing letters to the military, designing posters about peace, etc.

About experts 

Melody Kostiuk has the experience of working in the Secondary School Curriculum Department of the Ministry of Education of Alberta (Canada); she is the author of study programs and manuals, and the teacher with considerable experience in teaching Ukrainian as a second language.

Olena Hartsula is a teacher with extensive experience in teaching Ukrainian as a second language. She used to work as Special Adviser for Ukrainian Language and Culture at the Alberta Ministry of Education (Canada), where she supported Alberta Ukrainian teachers by providing comprehensive in-service training, finding and developing resources and materials.

The Summer Academy on the Ukrainian language as the state language for methodologists of in-service teacher training institutes and teachers who teach Ukrainian in primary schools with instruction in Romanian and Hungarian in Zakarpattia and Chernivtsi regions aims at improving pedagogical excellence in applying modern methods of teaching Ukrainian as the state language to students.

The “Summer Academy-2022” was held from 15 to 19 August 2022 in an online format. The circle of experts of the Summer Academy consisted of specialists from Ukraine and Canada. More than 60 participants took part in the training.