Pre-Service Teacher Preparation in Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: A Review of State Competencies

ABSTRACT

Trauma-informed pedagogy recognizes childhood trauma and its influence on students’ behavior, health, and ability to learn. By utilizing trauma-informed pedagogy, teachers can help children who have experienced trauma build resiliency. To determine if pre-service teachers are being trained in trauma-informed pedagogy, a systematic review of state-level teacher competency policies from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. was conducted. These teacher competencies were coded for the presence of elements of trauma-informed pedagogy. The review has shown that five states require teacher training in trauma-informed pedagogy and far more require training in individual elements, including social-emotional learning and cultural responsiveness.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Since the category of identify and assess trauma was further broken down into two sub-categories, identify Adverse Childhood Experiences and child abuse reporting, eight total elements are reported.