Traumatic experiences across the lifespan can impact an individual’s physical, social and emotional health, cognitive development and overall well-being. The effects of childhood trauma are present in the educational environment. Trauma impacts the functions necessary to learn and achieve academic goals. Setting goals, developing, and carrying out a plan are difficult for those impacted by an adverse childhood event (ACE) (Wolpow, Johnson, Hertel, & Kincaid, 2016). Learning also requires systematic steps that are difficult for children impacted by an ACE. There is an inability to organize, memorize, store new information and problem solve, which negatively impacts academic success.
There has been an increased focus on trauma informed initiatives in various public and healthcare sectors, but these initiatives are lacking in higher education. A trauma-informed environment positively impacts the achievement of academic outcomes (Crosby, 2015). The same trauma-informed approach and practices utilized in primary and secondary education are applicable in higher education. A trauma-informed higher education institution can provide a safe, supportive, respectful environment where students are empowered and share leadership (Hoch et al., 2015). Students provided with a trauma-informed environment feel connected and supported, and this connection has shown to positively impact academic success (Blum, 2004).
Purpose of Research
The purpose of this mixed method study was to evaluate the perceptions of higher education nursing and criminal justice faculty related to their knowledge of trauma-informed care (TIC) and trauma informed educational strategies (TIES). This study also sought to evaluate if a trauma-informed professional development session (TIPD) influenced the faculty’s perception of TIC and their ability to support students affected by trauma.
Methodology
This study utilized a mixed method design. Faculty participated in a trauma-informed professional development session that provided education on trauma and its impact on learning, introduced TIES, and provided recommendations to better support students potentially impacted by trauma. The participants were a purposive sample of nursing and criminal justice faculty (n=30). The TIPD was developed in accordance with SAMHSA’s trauma-informed framework and principles of safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment and cultural issues (SAMHSA, 2014).
The quantitative data were obtained from a pre-and-post survey, Knowledge of Trauma-Informed Care in a Community College Survey (TIC-CCS), created by the researcher. This survey sought to evaluate nursing and criminal justice faculty’s understanding of trauma, trauma’s impact on learning, trauma-informed educational practices, and their perceived ability to support students impacted by trauma. The survey was piloted by nursing faculty at two local four-year universities. Cronbach’s alpha was utilized to establish reliability of the survey questions, Cronbach’s alpha test for this survey yielded a .899 for the pre-survey and a .960 for the post-survey.
The qualitative data were obtained from personal interviews with several of the faculty who attended the TIC PD session. Interview reliability and validity was achieved through the same pilot design as the survey. The interview questions were designed to further explore the participant’s knowledge of TIC, their perceptions related to TIC and its impact on learning, and their perceived ability to support students.
Results
The survey data in this study were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The survey questions were categorized for analysis. Three categories were assigned, recognition of trauma, effects of trauma, and student support. The results of the post-survey demonstrated an improvement in knowledge and recognition of trauma, and the effects on learning and academic success (p 0.000). There was also a significant increase in those who were comfortable in their ability to support students (p 0.000). Pre-survey, 53% of respondents were unaware of how they may inadvertently re-traumatize students, 46% were not comfortable in their ability to support students, and 50% were unaware of available resource for students. Post-survey, 100% of the participants agreed that they could recognize triggers, were familiar with best practices to avoid these triggers, and were knowledgeable regarding available resources.
Themed qualitative data demonstrated an improved awareness of triggers and recognition of students impacted by trauma; improved ability to support students; improved communication with students potentially impacted by trauma.
Discussion
Significant findings were found in relation to the faculty’s perceived knowledge of the effects of trauma on learning, student behaviors, academic success and use of TIES. While the faculty were familiar with the forms of trauma and the term TIC, they were not familiar with TIES, TIC in an educational setting, and best practices to support students in an educational environment. This recognition is necessary in cultivating a trauma sensitive culture. Part of this cultivation requires the use of a trauma lens. A trauma lens is a metaphor for the use of an insightful and knowledgeable approach to supporting students and helping create a trauma-informed culture (California Community Colleges, n.d.; Cole et al., 2013). While the TIPD provided an introduction and overview of TIC and TIES, it provided foundational knowledge for the integration of these practices in learning environments and student interactions.
Conclusion
This study sought to evaluate the impact of a TIPD on faculty’s knowledge and ability to support students potentially impacted by trauma. The results support the positive impact a TIPD has on knowledge and best practices of TIC and TIES. The integration of a trauma-sensitive culture is a slow progression. It begins with the introduction of information and progresses to an awareness of trauma’s impact on learning, behavior and academic challenges (Cole et al., 2013).
As recently as February 2018, the federal government passed a bill that recognized the importance and need of trauma-informed care (H.R. Con. Res. 443, 2018). With the statistics and research to support the negative impact of trauma on learning and student success, higher education must become part of the solution and begin a culture change. This study provides a strong foundation for the beginning steps in the integration of TIC and TIES. Further research is necessary to evaluate the integration of TIC and outcomes of the implementation of TIES.