# @edutopia on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CPPMZz4LVOh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20303798-edutopia-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/e89d115610.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-05-24T01:33:25.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Edutopia (@edutopia) — https://gondola.cc/edutopia

## Caption

Research shows that childhood trauma is both pervasive and often invisible. Teachers can help students who have experienced trauma, writes Alex Shevrin Venet, an expert in trauma-informed education, by emphasizing social and emotional learning (SEL) for all students because SEL practices “boost academic success, decrease disruptive behavior, and reduce emotional distress in the long term.”

To help teachers approach this work, Venet describes three important points she gathered from teachers from around the country.

1. Recognize signs of trauma: “With so much pain in the classroom,” Venet notes, “educators should be mindful that traumatic life experiences can sometimes emerge as behaviors that we might otherwise label as challenging.” Whether students are acting out or retreating, their trauma-induced behaviors can interfere with academic success. When teachers know the various signs of trauma, they’re armed to meet students’ emotional and academic needs—and marshal the help of others.

2. Tap the school community: One-to-one relationship-building in the classroom is critical, but Venet says that “the impact of the work is amplified and reinforced only when it occurs within the broader contexts of the school and community,” so SEL is most successful when it has explicit support from the administration and school board. Teachers and staff can meet in small groups to reinforce SEL as a mindset rather than a task, and can increase buy-in by recognizing the SEL work that teachers already do in showing empathy and compassion for students.

3. Foster SEL among teachers: “Educators who see the value of [SEL] practice in their own lives are more likely to be passionate advocates, and the learning ecosystem is only truly healthy when all members of the community are thriving,” Venet writes. Authentic support for teacher well-being can also reduce secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma. And “helping teachers feel emotionally grounded and supported is helping students, too,” Venet notes.

#MentalHealth #SEL #SocialEmotionalLearning #TeacherWellness #SchoolCulture

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## Tags

teacherwellness, socialemotionallearning, schoolculture, mentalhealth, sel

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