As we seek to support students coming back from an unprecedented year characterized by upheaval and global crisis, it’s helpful to keep in mind the ways we already know how to address trauma among the student body. Trauma-informed pedagogy, in particular, foregrounds the knowledge that students must feel safe and supported before they are physiologically able to learn. Though definitions of trauma-informed education are still somewhat in flux, the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation at UC-Irvine provides a simple one: “Trauma-informed pedagogy is pedagogical practice that keeps trauma, its prevalence, and how it affects an individual, in mind.”  Many colleges and universities are grappling with just such an understanding that students face high levels of trauma and anxiety right now. Drawing from the recommendations of experts at the nonprofit organization Learning for Justice, this tip offers three practical strategies for implementing trauma-informed teaching. 

Establish a routine and maintain clear communication 

Students who have experienced trauma benefit from a predictable schedule. An established routine will help these students stay organized even while dealing with ongoing unpredictability and stress. Consider opening each class with a review of the week’s assignments. Reviewing discussion board responses or annotations will also increase student accountability and motivation outside of class, and revisiting key concepts leads to higher retention of ideas. To close class, consider assessing student progress toward the daily learning objective. To do this, you might ask students to complete a quick summary of the lesson or an iClicker poll before leaving for the day. Whatever workflow you establish for your course, it is important to communicate expectations clearly and often. If any changes are made, these changes should be announced as early as possible, and frequent reminders given so students don’t forget important changes.

To ensure clear communication, students need to know your preferred method(s) of communication. Regularly remind students of the ways they can check in with you about their academic progress and emotional state. One way to ensure student to instructor communication is to build regular check-ins into your course. Using polling tools like iClicker or Canvas anonymous surveys (e.g. How are you feeling about the upcoming exam?) can reveal overall student attitudes in the course. You can use scheduled on-on-one slots during office hours for this. Offering multiple opportunities for students to interact with you will help students who are struggling to stay motivated and on track. 

Flexibility and Well-being should take priority over strict policy 

In addition to giving students the opportunity to communicate their experience of how the course is going, it helps to take steps to intentionally build a safe and flexible learning environment. Build a culture that accepts some errors as part of the learning process by allowing students to drop their lowest grade, and consider breaking up high stakes tests into smaller assignments. Make sure each assignment directly serves a specific learning objective, to help avoid an unnecessarily heavy workload (which many instructors are inculcated with over the course of their own class work!). Whenever possible, build flexibility into your course policies to allow for human error. 

If students do fail to meet course expectations, try making student well-being the first priority and academic compliance secondary, in your response. The notion that well-being takes precedence over coursework does not mean a student's failure goes unaddressed, but this mind-set will help you respond compassionately to address the root problem. The student may be facing a wide variety of personal challenges, keeping them from academic success. Before reacting correctively, think about your relationship with the student, and what trust has been built or not built. Will the very first communication you have with the student be to address a missing assignment? If that seems likely, where in your course can you create opportunities for relationship building prior to the first assignment due date? Planning such opportunities helps you and your students connect as people, and that connection will make it easier to find out why a student is failing at a course-related task.

Foster connectedness in the classroom

In stressful times, strong interpersonal connections have the potential to help students (and instructors) persist through difficult situations. No instructor will have the capacity to support all student needs, so it’s also a good idea to create opportunities for student to student interaction; by including these, instructors can help students build a supportive social network within the class. One way to intentionally facilitate peer support in your course is to include group work. Before starting a group assignment, plan time for group members to introduce themselves or complete a team building activity. Discussion-based learning environments that allow all participants to voice their perspective also promote a sense of community. If you pursue this method, be sure to develop discussion norms or guidelines, to ensure class discussions are as safe as possible for all learners. In larger courses, providing Backchannel chat tools like MS Teams or Slack are a great way to provide opportunities for student to student connection. Guidelines will help here, too, as will designating a GSI or a student volunteer to monitor the chat.

Students also feel more connected to the instructor when power is shared. Some ways you can do this are to offer students choice on assignments. When designing groups, allow group members to self select their group roles based on their personal interests or strength areas. When outside circumstances like changing university policies necessitate a change to stated course requirements, invite student input on a discussion board (possibly anonymously) to ensure student needs are known and addressed if possible. A simple reminder that you are willing to work with students if/when challenging experiences arise can reassure students affected by trauma. Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that while it is important for students to communicate their needs, one instructor does not have the capacity to address all student needs. Being ready to connect students with university resources will serve your own stress levels better. You might also consider including a Basic Needs Security Statement in your syllabus, directing students to College resources such as the Newnan Center. 

For additional support using trauma-informed approaches in your teaching, you can explore the additional resources available at the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, access the trauma-informed toolkit for professors, or reach out to the LSA Learning and Teaching Consultants. We’re always happy to help you think through your teaching activities! Remember also that, just as CAPS is there for the students, FASCCO is there for faculty and staff, and that many of these measures (consistent schedules, compassion with errors, strong social networks) can help instructors just as much as students.

More Resources

CRLT blog post on returning to in-person teaching

CRLT presentation on trauma-informed pedagogy