Kristin Souers - Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom

As a school counselor for the last 20 years, I am so grateful for this book! Kristin has served trauma-impacted children and families throughout her career and has incredibly effective ways of sharing all that she has learned. I am a stronger counselor and more effective leader in my building due to her influence. I am so excited that through this book, more people will be inspired to learn and grow in the important work of serving kids and families affected by trauma.
Laurie Curran, elementary school counselor

The effects of chronic stress and adversity on childrens learning, devel- opment, and behavior have been well documented in the literature over the past two decades. Kristin Souers not only is an expert and innovator in the field but also has a knack for translating the research into effective practice for children and adults alike. Fostering Resilient Learners is an excellent, practical resource for all adults working with and inside education systems, and I highly recommend it to better understand the needs of the whole child and to create the foundation for all students learning and success.
Natalie Turner, Assistant Director, Child and Family Research Unit, Washington State University

As a client, I have benefited firsthand from the strategies Kristin teaches in creating a safe and secure learning environment. This book is worth every minute because these are relevant principles that work!
E. W., parent

The information, strategies, and support that this book offers are what we need in our profession to truly leave no children behind. In imple- menting these strategies, you will shift your focus from reacting to negative student behavior to explaining and preventing negative stu- dent behavior. Once you can prevent getting sucked into Oz, you can achieve all your goals for staff and students.
Shannon Lawson, building principal

To my children, Katlynn and Quade: you are the light of my life, and I learn from you every day. Thank you for being the amazing children you are. I am so blessed to be your mom!
Kristin Souers

To Sienna, and to all the Siennas out there who need us to be at our very best every precious moment.
Pete Hall

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This is a book about opportunity and hope for addressing some of the wicked problems educators are asked to deal with every day. It reaffirms educators' current best practices while translating new science into sensible day-to-day educational practice. Grounded in years of lessons from the authors' experiences, this book offers a new way of thinking about student needs and the art of teaching.

I have had the privilege of being Kristin Souers's colleague for many years. Together, over the course of 10 years, we have developed and delivered a trauma-informed schools model. Kristin's commitment to the success of students, educators, and schools imbues our work, and she has enriched my own understanding of trauma and how to transform research into practice. Her passion for what works and for what is true shines throughout this book.

We now know that the piling on of adversity early in life is commonplace. Conservatively, one in three of us grow up with three or more powerful disruptive risks (adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs) to our development as human beings. The toxic stress that results from these ACEs can affect the pace and extent of brain development, the quality of our relationships, and our ability to manage ourselves. Taken together, these changes define what we mean by trauma and the potential for a lifetime of lost opportunities in education, work, relationships, and health.

Teachers were not taught how to identify and address the challenges resulting from trauma, but they face the impact of trauma in their classrooms every day. If it is not your child who has experienced trauma and struggles in school, it is the child sitting next to your child. Not every student has a significant trauma history, but the needs of those who do can define the success of the entire classroom.

Our limitations in recognizing and responding appropriately to trauma are a huge factor in school systems' failure to produce the results they want. For students, trauma interferes with being present with a "learning-ready" brain, contributes to chronic attendance problems, and is a major driver for the behavior problems that exhaust educators and demotivate classmates. For educators, unaddressed student trauma is a major contributor to frustration, low job satisfaction, and burnout.

The good news is that we now know a great deal about how to help children and adults recover from trauma. Risk is not destiny. We know that the brain, particularly in childhood, has an extraordinary ability to adapt and recover. The biggest factor in making these critical repairs to the brain? Relationship. In fact, high-quality relationships are essential not only to children's development but also to our own growth.

In this era of high-stakes testing and accountability, we must start a national conversation about moving relationship to the center of educational practice. This focus on relationship doesn't diminish the role of high-quality curricula and strong pedagogy, but it does mean that your strategies won't succeed if you can't connect meaningfully with students.

As this book goes to press, "trauma-informed" is a big buzzword in education. The challenge is how to translate this relatively recent interest into enduring shifts in policy and practice. Current discussion about trauma is part of a historic period of change in how we think about ourselves and our communities and helping people. Educators can be a great part of the solution and champion the larger conversation we need to have with parents and our communities.

As an educator, you don't have a choice about being in the trauma business. You do have a choice in what you do about it. This book is a practical tool to help you begin to incorporate trauma understanding and management skills into your daily practice. It is a guide to understanding trauma, building the strong relationships needed to reach the academic outcomes you want, perceiving what students need to break the cycle, and scaffolding new learning for all struggling learners. Simply put, this book offers a path to sustainable change.

Despite the sobering evidence of the profound effect trauma has on our schools, this book is about hope and growth. Rather than providing a prescriptive curriculum or a complicated framework, this book will help you use good science to adapt to the needs of students who have experienced and continue to be exposed to trauma. It will show you how your practice is the vehicle for change. Thank you for being part of the conversation.

Christopher Blodgett, Ph.D.
Washington State University
Summer 2015

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This is my favorite section of this book to write because it gives me the opportunity to express my eternal gratitude to all who have given me the knowledge and the means to write this book.

First and foremost, I must thank Pete (along with his terrific family, who gave us time to work together). If it weren't for him, this book wouldn't exist, and I wouldn't have had the opportunity to work with Genny and Miriam at ASCD, both of whom were amazing. Thanks, Pete, for believing in me and for being my teammate. I will forever remember the lunch at Subway that launched this whole process. You have been truly inspirational and motivational. You are a maverick, and I am with you 100 percent!