International experts and Australian educational specialists will meet in Brisbane this week to discuss latest research for teachers to be ‘trauma aware’ in schooling and early childhood settings.
It is estimated one in 32 children, aged from birth to 17 years, received child protection services due to reported or substantiated reports of child maltreatment, a figure contained in new Australian ‘trauma aware education’ guidelines.
A conference to help educators address the issue is being held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 10-11, led by QUT’s Associate Professor Judith Howard.
Associate Professor Howard has extensive experience as a teacher, school counsellor, child, and adolescent behaviour specialist.
Complex trauma can involve physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, chronic neglect, or exposure to ongoing violence.
She was integral to the development of ‘trauma aware’ guidelines, developed last year in partnership with the Australian Childhood Foundation, as well as the subject becoming a requirement of obtaining an education degree at QUT.
“We are the first university in the country to make a unit on trauma aware education mandatory for our students studying Bachelor and Masters’ degrees from next year,” she said.
“There is potentially one child in most classrooms living with the outcomes of complex trauma, and associated challenges with learning, memory, social interaction, and emotional regulation that can lead to behavioural difficulties.
“Many students are affected each year by additional traumatic events, natural disasters, the pandemic, exposure to violence, war, poverty that unfortunately can exacerbate concerns.
“This is supported by our most recent research.”
Published last month in Frontiers in Education, an investigation into trauma-informed teaching found new graduates who had completed explicit training used their training in their first year, underlying the importance of additional early career professional learning.
“A nurturing environment in which a student has ready access to safe adult relationships can re-shape stress-altered neural pathways in the brain and facilitate healing from the effects of adversity,” Assoc Prof Howard said (pictured left).
“If educators, and the systems and settings in which they work, are not trauma-informed, stress-related behaviours by children and young people can be misinterpreted as deliberate and defiant.
“This can lead to further detrimental outcomes for these students including suspension and exclusion.”
She also said not all young learners who have experienced child maltreatment are identified through child protection processes so the known statistics can be considered an underestimate of the actual numbers of trauma-impacted learners in education settings across Australia.
“University-delivered, trauma-informed training for pre-service teachers is an essential part of an education system response,” she said.
The conference has drawn more than 600 registrations from leading educational professionals.
Additionally, a day-long research forum will be held by QUT’s Centre for Child and Family Studies at the Kelvin Grove campus’ Education Precinct on Friday September 9.
Research relating to the development of National Guidelines for Trauma-Aware Education in Australia is published here.
A pdf the journal paper can also be made available to media upon request.
CONTACT: media@qut.edu.au