Theater Arts as a Beneficial and Educational Venue in Identifying and Providing Therapeutic Coping Skills for Early Childhood Adversities: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Elementary Teachers Experiences with Trauma-Informed Practice

“…When that happens, it affects brain development and is linked to a variety of difficulties with memory, language, attention, impulse control, and learning (McConnico et al, 2016;Perry & Daniels, 2016;Thomas et al, 2019). Trauma can also lead to aggression, difficulty with trust, and difficulty in social relationships (McConnico et al, 2016;Schnyder et al, 2021). Children who have experienced trauma tend to have more behavior problems, lower achievement, lower GPA, and higher risk of dropout (Crosby, 2015;Yohannan & Carlson, 2019).…”

“…The goal of TIP is to enable trauma-impacted children to have access to the school curriculum (McConnico et al, 2015). This requires increasing teacher understanding of the trauma children face and its effects on student behavior, development, and school performance; providing teachers with strategies and interventions for dealing with behavior difficulties; making students feel safe, empowered, and trusting (Carello & Butler, 2015;McConnico et al, 2015;Schnyder et al, 2021). TIP includes a range of activities and skills, such as teachers being attuned to children's states and knowing when they need a break, providing such breaks, building good relationships with and showing positive regard for all children, helping children to control their actions and emotions when they act out rather than punishing them, developing self-regulation skills, helping students develop relationships with other children, and providing a calm environment with a predictable structure (Crosby, 2015;Thomas et al, 2019;Von der Embse et al, 2019).…”

“…Most teachers want good relationships with students, but not all teachers have the skills to develop them (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). SEL curricula and other practices consistent with TIP have been found to provide teachers with motivation and guidance for developing better teacher-student relationships (Ablon & Pollastri, 2018;Jennings & Greenberg, 2009;Keown et al, 2020;Noyes, 2020;Schnyder et al, 2021). In turn, enhanced relationships with students, especially with trauma-impacted students, may provide rewards for teachers that mitigate the challenges of dealing with the difficult behaviors of trauma-impacted students in the classroom.…”