https://www.fosteringresilientlearners.org/

Relationship, Responsibility, and Regulation

Trauma-Invested practices for fostering resilient learners

Every behavior is an expression of a need. 

When we start to look at behavior as a means to an end– an attempt to get a need met– then we can begin to respond with more patience and tolerance. Whereas a singular focus on the behaviors can result in negative interactions, thoughts, and outcomes, shifting our lens to answer the quesiton “What need is this child trying to meet?” can lead us to practice empathy.

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Generalizations

Manipulative

Clingy bossy dramatic immature oppositional

Relationship: A meaningful connection with another human being– in particular, a student’s healthy-enough, safe–enough relationship with a teacher

Responsibility: A sense of self-worth, efficacy, and competence. A student with theme characteristics can engage in the challenging business of learning and mastering content. 

Regulation: The ability to take in stimuli and manage emotional and behavioral responses accordingly

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Before focusing on the intervention peiece of the puzzle, howerver, it’s essential that you partner with your teammates, colleagues, parents, and students to ensure the following:

1. You’re taking care of yourself, knowing that your ability to teach, lead, and develop others is compromised when you’re not in peak emotional, physical, and psychological condition (Souers & Hall, 2016).

2. You’re embracing a culture of safety, knowing that your primary responsibility when it comes to children is to ensure that they are safe and well cared for. 

3. You’re considering your own systems of meaning, knowing that your awareness of your own thoughts and beliefs will affect how you process your professional responsibilities. 

4. You’re shifting your focus from student behaviors to student needs, knowing that every behavior is at some level an expression of a need.

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Spectrum

1. Trauma inducing

2. Trauma Ignorant

3. Trauma Indiferent

4. Trauma Aware

5. Trauma Informed

6. Trauma Sensitive 

7. Trauma Invested.

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Systems of Meaning 

Behaivor (why we do what we do)

1. Flight-Fight-Freeze Response/Need for sAfety or Having an Unmet Need

2. How Our Brain was Trained to Respond

3. Systems of Meaning

Impacted systems of meaning, which is when we make interpretations about future events based on our own past experiences, what we have been taught to believe, and how our thoughts have been influenced by others. 

1. We construct an explanation for children’s behaviors based on our own experiences.

2. Our systems of meaning contribute mightily to the ongoing problems that exist in our education system.