When a bill became law in August 2023, requiring teacher institutes to provide instruction on trauma-informed practices for in-service and preservice teachers, the College of Education was ready.

In fact, the College was ahead of the game.

It was already deep in the planning stages last summer for rolling out two new online programs centered on trauma-informed practices: one a master’s program, the other a graduate certificate.

Lynn Burdick, director of Trauma-Informed Education in Curriculum and Instruction, and Catherine Corr, associate professor in Special Education, have been instrumental in getting those programs out—and in helping to shape the future of trauma-informed education throughout Illinois.

Trauma-Informed Recommendations

Burdick and Corr serve on a committee that was charged last year by the Illinois State Board of Education to come up with initial and renewal licensure recommendations.

“Our committee will be making recommendations based on ISBE’s goals, including demonstrated proficiency in adverse childhood experiences, trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and creating trauma-responsive learning environments,” says Burdick. “We’re looking to create something that is manageable for schools, higher education, and ISBE.”

The recommendations are due to ISBE by October 1.

“This type of licensure change represents work that supports families and communities in practical and meaningful ways, says Jill Donnel, executive director of the Council on Teacher Education. “I’m hopeful that preservice and in-service teachers will enter their classrooms better prepared to support all learners, meeting the students where they are on their learning journey.”

Increased Interest in Trauma-Informed Education

Corr notes that current and aspiring teachers have shown a real thirst in recent years for trauma-informed education.

“A lot of Lynn’s and my work over the past five or six years has been helping soon-to-be teachers and practicing teachers think about how trauma impacts child development, child behavior, and socioemotional development,” Corr says. “Over that time, we’ve seen a real increase in people’s interest in learning more about trauma and how to holistically support students. A lot of that shift happened as we went through the pandemic, which was a really hard time for both adults and kids.”

Trauma Impacts are Brain-Based

That shift, Corr adds, is also due to research being shared about trauma and changes that trauma causes in the brain.

“Trauma impacts academics, it impacts children’s emotions and ability to attach, to form relationships, and it impacts their behavior,” Burdick says. “And all these impacts are brain-based. It’s called state-based functioning[TH1] . When kids experience trauma, it messes with those neural pathways, and then they struggle to attach and learn and regulate.”

It's important for teachers to understand, Burdick continues, that “kids aren’t choosing this. It isn’t that something is wrong with them. They’ve had an experience that alters how their brain functions. So, our job is to rebuild those neural pathways by creating safe environments, by establishing positive relationships.

“We have kids who are being diagnosed as ‘failure to thrive,’ and it’s actually trauma-related.”

Creating Safe Learning Environments

Burdick says that the committee’s recommendations will have nothing to do with teachers diagnosing trauma.

“We don’t feel it’s necessary for teachers to even know there is trauma in a child’s background,” she says. “Setting up a trauma-informed classroom helps everybody, but for kids who have experienced trauma, it’s essential.”

A trauma-informed classroom, Burdick says, is one where positive relationships are built and the teacher creates a learning environment that is safe psychologically, physically, and identity-wise. “That means everyone is welcome, everyone is honored,” she says. “A trauma-informed classroom provides a very broad support that is critical for everyone, and particularly for students who have experienced trauma.”

Giving Teachers More Tools

Research shows that teachers who use trauma-informed practices experience reduced classroom management challenges and higher student achievement. And, Corr says, it helps to retain teachers.

“Teachers who leave the field or are at their wit’s end frequently complain about behavior that often stems from trauma,” she says. “A trauma-informed approach can help teachers have more tools in their toolbox to feel more confident about supporting kids in the classroom and maybe feel a little less stressed about why these behaviors are happening. Sometimes, teachers internalize that they’re not effective or that a student doesn’t like them,” but that’s not always the case. Many times, the child is acting out of the stress brought on by trauma. Trauma-informed education can help teachers discern this.

Creating Manageable and Meaningful Content

Corr says that the legislation and the resulting committee recommendations will provide teachers with much-needed content, resources, and support.

“There’s not a lot of trauma-informed programs or supports out there yet,” she says. “The committee is looking into what’s out there and what possible options could be. It’s thinking about what’s reasonable when people are already in existing programs, about how we get teachers these courses in a reasonable and manageable way, how we make it doable so teachers get these skills and feel supported.”

Speaking not from the committee’s point of view, but from the College of Education’s perspective, Burdick says the focus is to make it not only manageable, but meaningful.

“The College is not going to have a checklist where you check off that you did a module,” she says. “We want this to be meaningfully and effectively integrated into a curriculum, because it’s critical. We’re not just tacking on a trauma class to our teacher prep program. In the College, we’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about where there are open opportunities for us to embed trauma content.”

Providing More Opportunities for Teachers

Their charge from ISBE to come up with trauma-informed education recommendations shows the seriousness of both ISBE and the state on the matter, Corr notes.

“I hope that signals in the future that there will be more development opportunities for teachers to participate in trauma-informed learning fairly easily,” she says. “We want to make it very easy for teachers to get the kind of content they want and need.”

Research Supports Trauma-Informed Education

Science, Corr adds, strongly supports the benefits of trauma-informed education for both teachers and students. “It’s a no-brainer to us now,” she says. “We’ve gotten better at understanding what kind of classroom practices would be helpful in a trauma-informed setting instead of some of our old traditional standby practices.”

Burdick can speak firsthand to some of those traditional practices. “I was trained to carry a clipboard and say ‘Johnny, go sit down, that’s your first checkmark,’ she says. “Which is wholly bad! My teacher prep program taught a sort of discipline which is counter to all trauma-informed practices.

“We believe it’s really important—and as a land-grant institution, it’s even more important—to get the word out about trauma-informed education.”