Summer 2023
Instructor: Nicole Breslend, Ph.D.
Finals Grade: A+
Course Description from Syllabus:
This course is part of the graduate course sequence in Applied Trauma-informed, Resiliency-based and Interprofessional Practice. EDSP 333 will focus on system change in schools and human service organizations. It is designed to provide students with a conceptual framework addressing the strategic process of managing change that is trauma-responsive and encourages a collaborative learning climate for its employees. Further, it will build upon the tenets of implementation science in driving system change. This course will bring students through a process of assessing, installing, and implementing new trauma-informed and evidence-based practices that support schools, families, and communities. Students in this course will be introduced to models of system change and work through a process from assessment to design to implementation and evaluation of a trauma-informed systems change in a school or human service agency.
Course Reflection/ Impact:
When I took this course, it was the summer between changing teaching positions. I was leaving a very rural middle/ high school to move to a a slightly more urban elementary/ middle school just outside of Chittenden county, Vermont. When taking this course, I was often drawing back on the experiences I had at my previous school of three years, but was trying to imagine how these new skills could be useful within a school whose system I barley knew, other then what was on paper. Even though this was a daunting class to take between switching schools, I feel like I was able to take away valuable lessons that I apply in my teaching now.
We started off the course by reading Bloom and Farragher's book, Restoring Sanctuary. We took time to dive into what our dreams were within our current placements in order to make sanctuaries and how to make stronger trauma informed systems. Bloom and Farragher refer to a sanctuary as a place " where injured people- and that includes all of us in some way or another- are able to heal through supportive care of others. Sanctuary is a place where tendencies toward violence and vengeance have been subdued, where individual and collective powers are used to bring about a better life and a better world. Sanctuary is a place of joy and creative innovation, of sympathy and solace, and transformation" (Bloom & Farragher, 2013, pg. 1). After reading this definition, I felt as though I had a new way of describing what I wanted my own classroom to feel like for my students when they walked through the door. I wanted my room to be a place where anyone who entered felt safe and welcome. A place where people could explore their fears and could find ways to tackle their inner deamons. A room that inspired people to feel creative and happy in order to help change the world around them. I have continued to carry this thought through my day to day teaching and always strive to make my room a safe space for all.
The majority of this class was working on my trauma informed system change plan. I focused my project around the previous school I worked at and was focused around the idea of multi-tier systems of supports (MTSS). MTSS is a framework that allows schools to offer targeted support to struggling students. It takes into account both academic and behavioral challenges that students may have and is a process that in turn helps all students. It allows for whole class support, smalll group interventions as well as individualized supports based on what tier the student or group of students need at that time (Rosen, 2024). Using this idea, I based my project around the idea of the Monarch Room, which is a space that was started with court-ordered adolescent girls in order to help them during difficult times instead of regular suspensions or expulsions (Crosby, 2018). This room is a space that has various tools to help regulate students such as sensory puzzles, weighted blankets, fidget toys, stationary bikes, as well as various other exercise equipment. I used this idea to propose that schools should have spaces in which students who not ready to be in the classroom at a particular time can go to meet with the staff in an alternative room that would have knowledge and a background in trauma informed practices. This would also allow the students to build positive relationships with the adult who works in the room who can help the students rebuild relationships with peers or teachers.
The second half of my paper addresses what setbacks or roadblocks may occur when trying to implement an alternative trauma responsive space for students. One topic we talked about heavily in class is teacher/ staff buy in. It has been a common trend that many teachers and other school staff are hesitant when it comes to implementing different programs that do not fit within the traditional school mold, even if research has shown us that it is beneficial for students. Bloom and Farragher mention that “in organizational change, we have all heard that 20% of the staff will be early adopters and embrace a new idea from the beginning” (Bloom and Farragher, 2013, p. 279). This is a very disheartening statistic, so we need some systematic change where school staff, as well as community members, receive training on different trauma practices in order to help understand and want to implement new strategies and plans within the school. Another road block would also be a concern for staffing the room as well as having consistent and thoughtful data taken. In order for it to work, it would be beneficial for one to three adults receive trauma training and helped staff the room and kept a log of events as well as allow for quick check in progress monitoring for students who may need it.
When reflecting back on this class, I am very thankful for the research I did in creating alternative spaces in order to make more trauma informed systems. I did feel hopeless when completing the project as I was fully aware that my previous school would not have listened to my ideas and would have given the regular response of "that could never work here". I was extremly happy when I started at my current school and they already had a space which was very similar to the room I was envisioning. I felt empowered that there were ways in which schools could change to help our students who may be struggling. Since taking this course, I have worked closely with the alternative room staff member in order to help students feel successful at school, especially after hard events that may have occurred. My current school also follows the MTSS model and we have different screeners both teachers and students fill out three times a year in order to get social-emotional data for every student. Lastly, my school has been very supportive of me creating flexible seating in order to help my students feel comfortable and confident in my classroom. I have been able to create different spaces in my room and seating options in order for students to physcially feel comfortable. I also use lamps and string lights for lighting instead of the overhead LED lights to help create a calm feeling in my room. I finally feel like I am achieving a place that I am happy to call a sanctuary to many.
References:
Bloom, S. L., & Farragher, B. J. (2013). Restoring sanctuary: A new operating system for trauma-informed systems of care. Oxford University Press.
Rosen, P. (2024). MTSS: What Is a Multi-Tiered System of Supports? Www.understood.org. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/mtss-what-you-need-to-know
Crosby, S. D., Day, A. G., Somers, C. L., & Baroni, B. A. (2018). Avoiding school suspension: Assessment of a trauma-informed intervention with court-involved, female students. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 62(3), 229–237.