Creating a Trauma-informed Classroom

Sarah Lathan is a nurture and additional needs teacher, who has worked with children affected by trauma for her entire career, including pupils with social, emotional, and behavioural needs in residential and day schools. She has a Master’s in Professional Practice in Education, specialising in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), trauma and attachment-informed practice. She is passionate about inclusion and social justice and believes all children should feel safe and secure at school.

What a pleasure to read a book on trauma-informed education that is grounded so thoroughly within the Scottish context. Sarah Lathan offers the reader a multi-layered gift, weaving together not only accessible theory, practice and case studies, but also telling the story of how Scotland has come to find itself in the midst of a dramatic cultural shift... Lathan’s tone throughout the book is reassuring, confident and encouraging. She is in no doubt that relational approaches are possible within the classroom and that embracing their potential is one of teachers’ professional responsibilities. From her very first sentence, Lathan makes clear she holds a vision for Scotland’s teachers, children and policymakers: “I truly believe that all classrooms can and should become trauma-responsive.”Dr Suzanne ZeedykDevelopmental Psychologist, Honorary Fellow, University of Dundee

• Introduction Part 1: Theory 1 Trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) and attachment 2 Trauma-informed practice: current context 3 Brain development and the stress response system Part 2: The trauma-informed teacher 4 Relationships 5 Working with others 6 Self-care Part 3: The trauma-informed classroom 7 Physical environment 8 Pedagogy 9 Curriculum and ethos 10 Supporting emotional regulation 11 Supporting dysregulation References