How does trauma affect your students’ ability to learn?

Trauma never stays in the past. Its impact lasts years, if not a lifetime. If triggered, the body and brain respond immediately, mobilising disturbed brain circuits and secreting massive amounts of stress hormones. 

In education this plays out in multiple ways. Here are some of them. 

Memory:

People living with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) have been shown to have a consistently smaller hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps with learning and memory, than others. In class, learners may find it difficult to remember from one lesson to the next. Teachers need to go slowly, scaffold carefully, and recycle often.  

Concentration:

Repeated exposure to trauma and its after-effects causes the body and nervous system to overwork. The immune system may become inflamed and a student’s capacity to concentrate can consequently be severely impaired. Your learners may therefore be easily distracted and find it hard to pay attention. As a teacher, make it easy for your learners where possible, for example by breaking learning into small, manageable chunks with quick rewards. 

Behaviour:

Materials, topics, activities, and classroom conversations may trigger trauma, leading to panic, upset, aggression, shutdown, or learners unable to let go of something that is bothering them. Students may walk out, burst into tears, get angry over what looks like nothing, or refuse to engage. As a teacher, you’ll need to show empathy and avoid criticism or any response that could be considered punitive. Be patient, manage carefully, and go gently. 

Feeling unsafe:

Your learners may be hypervigilant and feel unsafe. They may not want to share in front of other learners, answer questions about their thoughts and feelings, or take part in pair or group work. As a teacher, creating a safe space for learning is paramount. This takes time, experience and a clear approach. 

We cover the 7 steps to creating a safe classroom environment in our course on Core Skills in Teaching English to Refugees and Migrants, as well how to best manage and engage your learners who are living with trauma. 

For more details, visit the course page.

To join the next course in September, book here.

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