{"id":1518,"date":"2018-11-03T16:25:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T16:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/?p=1518"},"modified":"2019-10-25T17:40:51","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T17:40:51","slug":"compassionate-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fosteringperspectives.org\/?p=1518","title":{"rendered":"Compassionate Schools<\/br>A trauma-informed initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

by John McMahon \u2022<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
David Thompson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trauma is a common experience for American children. According to one study, by age 16, two-thirds of children in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event (Copeland, et al., 2007).<\/p>\n

This is a challenge for schools, because trauma and traumatic stress reactions can disrupt learning not only for the child who experiences the event, but also for peers, teachers, and the school community (NCTSN, 2018).<\/p>\n

Realizing this, some schools are striving to be more trauma-informed. An example in North Carolina is Buncombe County Schools, which has developed and is implementing \u201cCompassionate Schools<\/a>.\u201d This district-wide initiative seeks to keep all students engaged and learning by creating and supporting a healthy climate and culture in each school. To achieve this goal, Compassionate Schools offers strategies schools can choose from to create compassionate classrooms and foster compassionate attitudes among school staff. The idea is to benefit all students, especially those exposed to chronic stress and trauma.<\/p>\n

Implementation with elementary and intermediate schools is underway. Buncombe County Schools plans to expand the initiative to middle and high schools starting in 2018-19.<\/p>\n

To learn more about this initiative we spoke with David Thompson, a leader behind Compassionate Schools and Director of Student Services for Buncombe County Schools.<\/p>\n

* * * * * *<\/span><\/p>\n

Compassionate Schools seems like a shift from the traditional approach schools have taken.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is. For adults working in the schools, the question becomes different. It becomes not, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with the child?\u201d but \u201cWhat happened, and how do we help?\u201d It becomes the job of the adult to figure out \u201cHow can we make this better?\u201d<\/p>\n

We know kids\u2019 brains can heal, that the brain is able to find different pathways to get to a different behavior. We have to help our students get to that point.<\/p>\n

What does Compassionate Schools look like in action?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The beauty of this framework is it will not look the same at every school. But there are certain things every school must do, some non-negotiables.<\/p>\n

One of these is teaching social-emotional skills. We have to teach kids how to be empathetic and how to regulate their emotions. We have to teach them problem-solving skills. And we have to teach them skills for learning or \u201cexecutive function\u201d skills\u2014the paying attention, sustaining their attention on things, deciding what\u2019s relevant information at the time, and being able to respond to the right cues. Those things are the core of the social-emotional learning curriculum, and they\u2019re non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

What does Compassionate Schools offer on top of those non-negotiables?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We support a lot of evidence-based practices that are really shown to have good outcomes. These get very much integrated into a school\u2019s Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports<\/a> (PBIS) and all that they are doing. It becomes part of their culture.<\/p>\n

For example, we use a \u201cmindful schools\u201d model that was created for schools. Mindfulschools.org<\/a> is a great resource. We actually have two master trainers who finished their training through Mindfulschools this summer so they can mentor other counselors. We try to use models where we train trainers, so we can be sustainable over time.<\/p>\n

We also use Community Resiliency Model<\/a> (CRM) skills that work on self-regulation and help us be present in the moment so that we are able to solve our problems.<\/p>\n

Is there overlap between CRM and mindfulness?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is. You don\u2019t have to do both. That\u2019s what we\u2019re saying to schools. You can do one or the other, or you could do both.<\/p>\n

We also use something called Zones of Regulation<\/a>, which is an evidence-based model teachers find really easy to use in the classroom. It uses a color-coding system where you can say to students, \u201cWhere are you in the zone?\u201d and the student\u2019s response helps the teacher know how to respond and helps the student know how to respond because they have skills that are associated with those colors.<\/p>\n

So rather than saying, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with you, what\u2019s going on?\u201d you can say, \u201cWhat are you feeling? Which zone would you put yourself in right now?\u201d and then give them a few minutes before they talk about what\u2019s going on with them. It\u2019s about giving our students the tools they need to be able to get back engaged in learning. It impacts their ability to stay in class and learn.<\/p>\n

What results are you seeing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have measured our K-5 social and emotional learning skills. We do screening at the beginning of the year and then we do some assessment at the end of the year. We are showing growth in social-emotional skills from the beginning to the end of the year. We\u2019re also seeing that growth carry over to the next school year, when we look at the same kids the next year. So they are not losing it during the summer. They\u2019re able to start at a higher level and then build on those skills the following year, which is what you want to see.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also seeing that in many cases schools that had the highest growth in social-emotional skills also had the highest growth academically. Not that I can say it is cause and effect, because there are many other things that are happening around curriculum and other things that impact growth. But it\u2019s always good to see that when you have that strong implementation of social-emotional skills that you are also seeing growth academically.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also seeing some decreases in out-of-school suspensions.<\/p>\n

What would you say to resource parents, who often care for children who\u2019ve experienced trauma?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d say educate. Don\u2019t assume that the teacher understands the child\u2019s behavior. Work with them, connect them to resources where they can also get that training and knowledge and understanding about trauma and its impact.<\/p>\n

Another thing I would say is, let the school know what we need to do. Let us know how we need to support kids. What works? Help us know what to put in place.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t come in and just tell us everything that happened to the child. Because teachers can sometimes get really scared when they hear about all the negative experiences students have had. We might need to know they\u2019ve experienced trauma, but we don\u2019t need to know all the details.<\/p>\n

What we need to know is what works. How do we put a plan in place? What has school looked like for the student in the past? How can we make it better?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to try to have that plan in place up front as much as you can. Just showing up on the day they\u2019re going to start may not be the best plan. Although that often is what happens.<\/p>\n

If the foster parent and the agency ask how they can support the school and tell the school how it can support the child, if we start the conversation there, the other things will come. I think you\u2019ll find schools really open to the conversation.<\/p>\n

John McMahon is editor of Fostering Perspectives.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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