Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies for Every Classroom

It's second period and one of your students has said no to everything. No to opening the book, no to moving seats, no to the worksheet. You've heard things are hard at home, but you don't know the details. You're left wondering what you're meant to do with a student whose story you can't see.

So what are trauma informed teaching strategies? They're everyday ways of running your classroom that help students feel safe with you, so their brains can get back to learning. You use them with the whole class, so every student benefits, whether or not you know their story. Start with relationships that are consistent, predictable and reliable. Keep your expectations high and your support high too. Then share some control through small, safe choices. Every student in the room benefits, and the students who need it most benefit the most.

These ideas come from Megan Corcoran, Founder of The Wagtail Institute. Megan has nearly 20 years as an educator, including a long stretch in alternative education and time as a school leader, and she now partners with schools and youth services. Her course makes one thing clear early on: "You do not need to be a therapist to be trauma informed."

The ideas

1. Apply it to the whole class.Megan's approach builds trauma informed practice into the way you run your classroom, for everyone. The same strategies support the whole group, you included, so you can start using them without knowing every student's history.
2. Treat it as ongoing work.Megan chose the word "becoming" for her course on purpose. Being trauma informed is something you keep reflecting on and refining, well beyond a one-off PD session.
3. Focus on the impact.In Megan's words, "trauma is that impact of experiences." Two people can live through the same distressing event and respond in very different ways, so what counts in your classroom is how a student is affected now.
4. Give your relationships CPR.Megan shares an acronym she credits to Bruce Perry: be consistent, predictable and reliable. Each day you show up this way sends a student another message that adults can be safe.
5. Keep expectations high and support high."We're not trying to lower our expectations of young people because of their experiences of trauma," Megan says. Hold high and reasonable expectations, then ask how you can support each student to get there.
6. Share control in small, safe ways.Students who have had power taken from them often push hard to get some back. Offer choices, give warning before something ends, and keep the final structure in your hands.

Becoming a Trauma Informed EducatorStart this course

Why consistency matters so much

When a student has learnt that adults aren't always safe, a classroom can feel like a risky place to walk into. Megan describes how that student scans the room as they arrive, checks whether the adult is safe, and looks for a seat that feels okay. All of that scanning leaves less room for learning.

Your relationship is how that changes, one day at a time. Megan points out that a full-time teacher works directly with students on about 180 to 190 days a year. "That is 180 opportunities to have a positive interaction with each of those students," she says. Every one of those days is a chance to show a student that this adult is safe.

Here's what CPR looks like in a classroom.

Megan is firm on that last row. A broken promise tells a student, once again, that adults can't be relied on. When you're unsure how you're going, she suggests checking in with yourself: "Am I being consistent? Do we have those predictable rhythms and rituals? And am I being reliable?"

CPR has a lighter side too. Megan encourages teachers to play, be silly, give compliments, greet students at the door and use their names. For some students, hearing their name in the morning is a small moment of connection they don't get anywhere else.

Sharing control without handing it over

Trauma often involves having no control over something overwhelming. So it makes sense that some students grab for power wherever they can find it. Megan's answer is shared control: you give students a real say, inside limits that keep the classroom safe for everyone.

Start with choice, and keep it small. "Two options is definitely the recommended amount," Megan says. Try one task with two ways to complete it, or two tasks with the student choosing which comes first.

Next, give warning before you take something away. If the iPads are packed away in five minutes, say so now. Megan's tip is to let a timer hold the line: "Using a timer can be a really great way to not be the bad guy at the end." When a student pushes back and asks for seven minutes, meet them in the middle at six. Then let them know there's something meaningful and important happening at the end.

How to use this in your classroom this week

• At the door: greet every student by name as they come in, after recess and after lunch.
• When a student digs in: offer two options for how or when they do the task, and let them choose.
• Before your next transition: give a five-minute warning and set a timer everyone can see.
• If you're worried about a student's safety or wellbeing: follow your school's child protection and wellbeing procedures, and talk to your wellbeing team or school counsellor. These strategies work alongside that support.
• Before you make a promise: check you can keep it. If you can't, don't make it yet.
• If you're a relief teacher: ask the class to teach you their norms. If they don't have any, suggest three values-based norms, let them pick two, and put them on the board for the day.

Take it further with Megan

This is where every educator can start. In Becoming a Trauma Informed Educator, Megan goes much further into how trauma shapes learning, behaviour and relationships. Inside the course, you'll find:

• how stress shows up in the body and brain, including fight, flight, freeze and fawn
• regulation and co-regulation strategies you can use for yourself and with your students
• why patterned, repetitive, rhythmic activities help students feel safe so quickly
• how routines let students stop scanning for threat
• grounding and check-in activities you can run with any class
• Megan's answers to teachers' toughest questions, from absconding and work refusal to explosive behaviour and students living through trauma right now
• why your own wellbeing sits at the centre of trauma informed practice

When things go wrong and relationships need repairing, Exploring Restorative Practices is a good next step. If you move between schools, you'll find more courses for you in casual relief teacher PD.

Every greeting, every kept promise and every small choice adds up. As Megan puts it, "We want to help them wire back for connection."

HBWritten by Helen Bryant, Director of Education, ClassCover Learn. Helen has been teaching for over twelve years in both government and independent schools, across all stages from K-6.