TRAUMA & CONDITIONS FOR LEARNING AND WELLBEING

David Osher, Ph.D. Vice President & Institute Fellow

Agenda and Main Points

Conditions for

Learning & Equity

Implications of, SoLD

Trauma How & Where to Intervene

Implementing

Conditions for Robust Equity– Equity With Wellbeing and Excellence

My Grounding

A Grounding Example : North Lawndale College Preparatory School, Chicago

•  Strong academic press; strong social support

•  Supports academic risk taking: “teachers are like another set of parents”

•  Fellow students “like brothers, sisters, cousins”

Returning to our Grounding Example: North Lawndale College Preparatory School, Chicago

•  “This is not about graduating from high school; it is about graduating from college”

• Money for counselors, not metal detectors and security staff

• One counselor stays with same students grades 9-13; another one follows up 14-16

Importance of Both Competencies and Conditions to Learning

Teaching Learning

Improved Capacity

Com

pete

ncie

s

Conditions

Social & Emotional

Organizational

Pedagogical

Safety Connection Support Care & Respect Challenge

Appropriate Pedagogies & Curricula Differentiated Instruction & Support Personalization

Student Support Environments Opportunities To Learn Cultural Competence Organizational Efficacy Leadership Relational Trust

Conditions for Learning

Social Emotional Conditions for Learning & Engagement

Students are safe

Physically safe Emotionally and socially safe Treated fairly and equitably School is safe and orderly

Students are supported

Meaningful connection to adults Strong bonds to school

Positive peer relationships Effective and available support

Students are challenged

High expectations Strong personal motivation

School is connected to life goals Rigorous academic opportunities

Students are socially capable

Emotionally intelligent and culturally competent

Responsible and persistent Cooperative team players

Avoid risky behaviors Contribute to school and community

Cognitive Emotion Social

Skills/Competencies

E.g., managing & shifting attention, controlling

impulses, planning & goal setting, critical thinking.

E.g., emotion knowledge and expression, emotion & behavioral regulation,

empathy

E.g., understanding social cues, social perspective

taking, prosocial behavior, conflict resolution, social

problem solving

Social and Emotional Skills/Competencies

Slides by Stephanie Jones

Cognitive Emotion Social

Beliefs/ Knowledge

of Self & Identity

Character/Values Personality

Skills/Competencies Belief Ecology (attitudes, habits of mind)

E.g., self-efficacy, growth mindset, agency, self-

esteem, self-knowledge, purpose

E.g., ethical, performance, intellectual, and civic

values

E.g., optimism, gratitude, openness, enthusiasm/

zest

Social and Emotional Dispositions

Adapted from slide by Stephanie Jones

Social & Emotional Competencies Can Be Developed: Evidence of Success with SEL

•  23% increase in social and emotional skills •  9% improvement in attitudes about self,

others, and school

•  9% improvement in prosocial behavior •  9% reduction in problem behaviors •  10% reduction in emotional distress •  11% increase in standardized achievement test scores (in math and

reading)

Source: Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions, Child Development, 82, 405-432.

Thriving Not Just Surviving

The Implications of the Science of Learning and Development

Science of Learning & Development: Some Takeaways: Malleability and Plasticity

•  Genetics are not destiny; epigenetics matter. •  Malleability and neural plasticity are core to human

development. •  Social and emotional competencies can be developed. •  Resilience and thriving are possible. •  Address the interconnectivity of children’s cognitive,

social, and emotional development

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Science of Learning and Development: Some Takeaways: Mechanisms

•  Experiences and their processing drive, growth and change. •  Context matters: contextual influence and ecology cannot be ignored. •  Relational context is particularly salient.

•  Adversity can affect development, mental and physical health, and learning.

•  The ability of adults to attune with children, buffer stress, and support their cognitive, social, and emotional development is key to the personalization of learning and healthy development.

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Experiences and their processing drive, growth and • Context matters: contextual influence and ecology c • Relational context is particularly salient.• Adversity can affect development, mental and physi

learning.• The ability of adults to attune with children, buffer s

their cognitive, social, and emotional development i personalization of learning and healthy developmen

The Science of Learning and Development: Relationships

•  The human relationship is the primary process through which biological and and contextual factors mutually reinforce each other.

•  The ability of adults to attune with children, buffer stress, and support their cognitive, social, and emotional development is key to learning and healthy development.

We Maximize Individual Benefits When We Personalize

•  We all walk different roads but can realize common outcomes. •  Coinfluences of individual and

environmental factors •  Jaggedness of Learning •  Individual Pathways •  Equifinality

•  See Todd Rose, The End of Average, The End of Average

Pathways and Equifinality: A Heuristic Example

Midpoint Outcomes Realized

The Science of Learning & Development: How We Make Meaning

•  Experience •  Moderating lenses

•  Culture •  Language •  Visibility & Observability (What can and can’t be seen by

whom ) •  Perceptions as moderated by attitudes •  Social networks and reference groups •  Mindsets

BODY-BRAIN-MIND LOOP

Brain & Mind

Body

When School Hurts, Learning is Compromised

•  “Know what embarrasses me and don’t do it”

Brain, Mind, Body, and Relational Contexts Interact in a coinfluential manner

• Complex dynamic feedback loop between the brain, mind and body

•  Effects on: •  Cognition •  Appraisal •  Motivation •  Behavior •  Memory

•  “We feel, therefore we learn.” (Immordino-Yang & Damaiso, 2007)

Fear

• Narrow Focus (tunneling)

• Fight, Freeze or Flight

Stress

Anxiety and Toxic Stress

• Compromised working memory

• Less attention • Limits to creativity

Anxiety and Toxic Stress

• Compromised working memory

• Less attention • Limits to creativity

More Oxytocin, Less Cortisol

•  Teacher Stress and Avoidance of Counter Aggression •  Importance of Adult Mindfulness and Grit •  Executive Function and Stress Management as Conditions for Reflective

Practice •  Cultural Competence, Responsiveness, and Humility • Modeling Social and Emotional Competence

Importance of Teacher & Administrator SEL

The Importance of Cultural Competence and Responsiveness

•  Disparities Across Systems and School Outcomes

•  Impacts of: •  Implicit Bias, •  Fixed Mindsets •  Microaggressions •  Discrimination •  The Experience of Marginalization

•  The Importance of both Cultural Competence and Cultural Responsiveness

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Trauma

Expanded ACEs

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Historical Trauma:

• Relived historical experiences of traumatizing events and experiences •  The past can be present

•  Marginalization •  Cultural Disrespect & Prejudice •  Microaggression •  Segregation and Wealth Accumulation

•  Language as an example •  Boarding Schools for Native Americans and Native Alaskans •  ”Know my name and pronounce it right” •  Stress and 2nd Language Learning in South Africa

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Impact Of Trauma On Students

! Physical symptoms (headaches, stomachaches, and decline in self-care).

!  Intense feelings of fear, anxiety, and concern for safety.

! Difficulty identifying and controlling feelings while at school.

! Angry or aggressive outbursts in the classroom or other school spaces.

! Desire to withdraw from peers and teachers.

! Difficulty paying attention and learning.

!  Trouble building positive relationships with peers and school staff.

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Impact Of Trauma On Student Achievement

!  Increase in student absences

! More suspensions or expulsions

! Higher referral rates to special education

! Poor test scores and an increased risk of failing a grade

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Resilience: A positive, adaptive response to significant adversity.

•  Adaptable, caring, and supportive relationship with an adult

•  A sense of mastery over life circumstances •  Strong executive function and self-regulation skills •  Affirming faith or cultural traditions •  Safe and supportive environments (schools and

communities)

Building Conditions for Learning and Enhancing Social, Emotional, and Academic Competencies

! Connection ! Attachment

! Trust ! Care

! Respect

Social Emotional Learning & Support

Positive Behavioral Approaches & Supports

Learning Supports ! Effective Pedagogy

! Engagement ! Motivation

Supporting Conditions for Learning

Community

School Community Setting

Family Teachers Friends

Classroom

Child Youth

Where to Intervene?

Provide Individualized Intensive Supports Provide coordinated, intensive, sustained, culturally appropriate, child and family focused services and supports.

Intervene Early and Provide Focused Youth Development Activities Implement strategies and provide supports that address risk factors and build protective factors for students at risk for severe academic or behavioral difficulties.

Build a Schoolwide Foundation Universal prevention and youth development approaches, caring school climate, positive and proactive approach to discipline, personalized instruction, cultural competence, student voice, and strong family involvement.

Work at Three Levels

Adjust the Foundation to the Level of Need

• Cannot Identify All Who Are At Risk or Who have Experienced Trauma

• Children Affect Each Other • No Stigma • No Self-fulfilling Prophecies • No Homogenous Grouping • Per Child Cost Is Less

Supporting Readiness For Learning and Wellbeing

Teacher & Student Well-

Being and Awareness

Social, Emotional,

and Cognitive Skill

Development

Effective Conditions for

Learning

Conditions, Capacities, Behaviors: Teachers

Conditions Capacities Behaviors •  Connections, belonging,

caring, and respect •  Emotional and physical

safety •  Motivation and

engagement •  Professional

development •  Consultations and

coaching •  Support for teaming and

collaborating with families •  Organizational efficacy •  Relational trust •  Instructional leadership •  Culturally competent

environment •  Manageable class size

•  Accept responsibility for student learning and outcomes

•  Mastery of the subject matter

•  Accommodate individual student needs

•  Can control and regulate own emotions

•  Collaborate with colleagues and families

•  Continuously improve their own practice

•  Connect with and attune to students

•  Deliver a rigorous and developmentally appropriate curriculum

•  Create a collaborative classroom learning community

•  Provide constructive feedback to students

•  Personalize learning and differentiate instruction

•  Create an engaged, respectful, and inclusive learning environment

Conditions, Capacities, Behaviors: Building & System Administrators

Conditions Capacities Behaviors •  Community and

school board support

•  Access to coaching

•  Authority to manage school budget

•  Authority to hire and fire teachers and staff

•  Accountable to community, families, teachers, students, and staff

•  Safety to experiment (within reasonable limits)

•  Sufficient time to realize change

• Believe schools can be successful for all students • Reliability and consistency • Make expectations clear • Lead with vision, focus, and emotional intelligence • Provide positive support • Facilitate collaboration • Establish mutual accountability • Cultural competence • Analytical thinking

•  Create a collaborative culture that leaves no child behind

•  Provide strategic leadership in the school and community

•  Create a “problem solving culture”

•  Support professional learning and provide constructive feedback to staff

•  Demonstrate empathy and respect for students, staff, and families

•  Respect and respond to the cultures of the school and community

Assess Outputs at an Individual and Contextual Level

Quality of the

Interactions & Support

Individual Contexts

Personal Characteristics

School and Other Environments

•  Evidence and Policy Are Necessary But Not Sufficient • Must Address and Support

•  Readiness •  At an Organizational and Personal Level •  Perceived Need

•  Implementation •  Systemic •  Organizational •  Individual

•  Context •  Setting

•  What Else is Happening

Big Themes

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Policy Implementation Takes Place Within Dynamic Systems •  Implementation must address

the fact that •  Schools are complex systems

•  Interventions coinfluence each other

•  Students, Teachers, Staff, and Families are effected by relational bioecological factors.

UC Davis Arboretum & Public Garden

Readiness can be assessed and developed (Dymnicki, Wandersman, Osher, Grigorescu, & Huang, 2014)

R MC2

Readiness = Motivation x General Capacity x Implementation-Specific Capacity

Support Quality and Improvement

• Continuous Improvement • Common Metrics

•  The intersect of the venn document is the sweet spot

•  Support for •  Individual Change-- CBAM

•  Cognitive and Technical •  Mastery > Facility + Outcomes > Commitment •  Affective

•  System Change

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The Change Process

•  A process, not an event

•  Made by individuals first, then institutions

•  A highly personal experience

•  Entails developmental growth in feelings and skills

Change is:

The Change Process

•  A process, not an event

•  Made by individuals first, then institutions

•  A highly personal experience

•  Entails developmental growth in feelings and skills

Change is:

•  People first •  The innovation second

Supportive actions must be related to:

The Concerns-Based Adoption Model

Innovation Configuration Map

Some Resources

•  Interagency Working Group on Youth.

https://www.youth.gov

•  National Resource Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention

http://www.healthysafechildren.org/ •  National Center on Safe, Supportive, Learning Environments

http://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/

•  National Clearing House on Supportive School Discipline

https://supportiveschooldiscipline.org

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