https://goo.gl/uLxQaa
A teacher gathers her class into a circle in the classroom and leads a discussion on a topic such as their favorite memories. For students with trauma in the class, this relationship building exercise can mean the difference between staying in class and being expelled.
Research has shown that temporarily removing students from school doesn’t work. Students are just as likely to exhibit the same behaviors upon returning to the classroom. And behavioral issues at school, even as early as kindergarten can disrupt learning. That's why new practices such as the relational restorative circle are being implemented in a growing number of classrooms across the nation, including in Battle Creek.
Recent discoveries in neuroscience demonstrate that repeated childhood trauma (or adverse childhood experiences) can disrupt brain development and effect changes both at the biological and psychological level.
For the last few years, many educators and mental health professionals in Southwest Michigan have seen childhood behaviors that seemed clearly related to childhood stress, such as bolting from the classroom, tipping over desks, covering their ears, or verbal and physical conflicts with fellow students and adults.
By 2014, the behaviors were identified as trauma-related by the United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Regions, which began incorporating a trauma-informed approach into all of its early childhood and educational grants and programs.
In the last couple of years, the issue of childhood trauma has gained national attention, but the Battle Creek Public School District has been ahead of the trend.
Since 2014, BCPS has gradually adopted a three-tier system for building community, resolving conflict, and creating resiliency in its students who may have experienced repeated trauma. The district is beginning to experience some success.
Research has shown that temporarily removing students from school doesn’t work. Students are just as likely to exhibit the same behaviors upon returning to the classroom. And behavioral issues at school, even as early as kindergarten can disrupt learning. That's why new practices such as the relational restorative circle are being implemented in a growing number of classrooms across the nation, including in Battle Creek.
Recent discoveries in neuroscience demonstrate that repeated childhood trauma (or adverse childhood experiences) can disrupt brain development and effect changes both at the biological and psychological level.
For the last few years, many educators and mental health professionals in Southwest Michigan have seen childhood behaviors that seemed clearly related to childhood stress, such as bolting from the classroom, tipping over desks, covering their ears, or verbal and physical conflicts with fellow students and adults.
By 2014, the behaviors were identified as trauma-related by the United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Regions, which began incorporating a trauma-informed approach into all of its early childhood and educational grants and programs.
In the last couple of years, the issue of childhood trauma has gained national attention, but the Battle Creek Public School District has been ahead of the trend.
Since 2014, BCPS has gradually adopted a three-tier system for building community, resolving conflict, and creating resiliency in its students who may have experienced repeated trauma. The district is beginning to experience some success.