One of the main roles as an Educational Field Agent is to provide intervention and build strong, meaningful relationships with the students. Listening to the children speak of their own lives and their struggles are something that one could expect to do daily. There are times that educators may focus on the struggles instead of embracing the positive. Students are not their trauma, that is only part of their story.
Their trauma is part of the reason they have become resilient and full of passion to be better. Through the strong foundation of positive relationships, students will begin to feel heard and understood. Listening to our students’ stories makes clear not only the many ways they have been victimized and abused, but also the many ways they have struggled and are resilient, full of intelligence, determination, and creativity. And so, we must be compassionate listeners, good at attending to, and learning from and with our students. (Goodman, 2018, pg. 130).
Although the school climate is not as intense as those in Goodman’s text, there is a unique dynamic at schools that greatly differs from the rest of the community. The trauma that the children face daily is greater than those from around the community. Most struggle with poverty, hunger, and homelessness.
Most of the families reside in neighborhoods, apartments, and mobile home parks. Unfortunately, the children all live so close together, that it is hard to hide your trauma and toxic stress from the rest of the community. For example, if there was a domestic violence incident at one child’s home, this information will spread around the community and everyone will soon know what happened.
The child is not only dealing with the trauma firsthand but also dealing with the judgment that comes from what happened. Although it is highly likely that the child cannot control the environment around them, they are still victim to the aftermath of the incident.
When considering an action to take to ensure that the school climate is trauma-sensitive and healing, one must consider the ultimate stakeholder, which is the students. The strategic plan that is being developed to implement will focus on the children and there are two parts to it. The first part will focus on the entire school. The second part will be promoted with inclusive groups in order to “build healing and solidarity as students see they are not alone,” (Goodman, 2018, pg. 130).
The first part of the strategic plan involves implementing a monthly statewide assembly. This assembly will take place in two different sections. The first one being catered to students in kindergarten through fifth grade, and the other will cater to students in sixth through twelfth grade. During these assemblies, leadership will focus their efforts on character education, community outreach, and resiliency. Each school will be responsible for teaching to the group a character trait through some sort of performance. It could be a play, a song, a poem, a game show, etc.
The community outreach portion will be led by the leadership team to inform and promote events that they are volunteering at that would be easy for the rest of the student body to attend. The third portion of the assembly will be focused around resiliency and how one can overcome their struggles and use that as motivation to succeed. School leadership will bring in individuals from the community to speak on behalf of their own stories and struggles. Students need to connect their lives to their learning across the school day. Seeing and hearing from other students who may look like them and have experiences like theirs inspire our students to reflect on their lives and tell their own stories. (Goodman, 2018, pg. 130).
Once the community member was able to speak, students will be preselected to ask questions to the interviewee. Teachers and students will work together to come up with questions that will foster a deeper understanding of trauma and toxic stress and how it can impact one’s life. After the assembly is over, students will return to their classrooms for reflection. Teachers can promote this through verbal discussions or journaling. Not everyone will want to share their feelings aloud, however, there may be some who are having strong feelings about the interview and would like to record their thinking on paper.
The second part of this action plan is the implementation of two inclusive support groups. One is for boys that are called HIKE and the other group is catered for girls that are called Girls on the Run. Both groups focus on building character through meaningful lessons, community involvement, and physical activity. This is done by creating a safe environment for students to share their life experiences and to give their own thoughts and opinions on life topics. This gives the children a chance to be listened to and understood amongst their peers (YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, 2019).
Over the course of ten weeks, students will engage in activities that promote self-reflection, determination, and character education. At the end of those ten weeks, students will participate in running a 2k. This embodies the concept of never giving up, and when things get too hard, one must push through and persevere.
With the guidance of coaches and encouragement of one’s peers, students will begin to feel successful and they will get a taste of what it feels like to overcome challenges. They will also gain a sense of worth and purpose through the volunteer opportunities within the community. No matter how big or small, they will get a first-hand look at success and that they can make a difference (Goodman, 2018).
One must understand that by implementing this strategic plan to better the lives of students, it does not take away the pain and trauma that may continue to manifest in the child’s life. The focus must be on what one can control. This mindset goes for the child as well. Children will participate in these activities while gaining the understanding that there are things that may happen to them that is out of their control, but it is important to understand how to overcome those struggles and become stronger from it.
