Extensive scientific research has demonstrated that there is a “very strong and relevant” correlation between trauma and low academic achievement (Oehlberg, 2008, p.12). As educators, it is important to recognize that students who have been affected by trauma approach their learning in a manner that is radically different from those who have not. “Effectively teaching today’s students requires alternative techniques and school policies in order … to meet academic expectations” (Oehlberg, 2008, p. 12).

Putting Us in Their Shoes

“The chronic stress of family or community violence or abuse will have the most lasting effect on the … brain” (Oehlberg, 2008, p. 13). “Students with traumatic stress pay particular attention to teachers or school personnel who are beginning to lose control, indicated by a change in breathing pattern, facial expression, and tone of voice” (Oehlberg, 2008, p. 13).

“At the other end of the behavioral spectrum, traumatized students may present dissociation and appear very numb, passive, and frequent daydreaming in class” (Oehlberg, 2008, p. 13).

Research into neurobiology has shown that those who are traumatized have “learned to associate adults with negative emotions” (Bath, 2008, p. 20). “The prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain primarily responsible for the development of executive functions, has been shown to be adversely affected by trauma” (Cole et al., 2005, p. 31).

How Can This Impact Learning?

According to Bruce D. Perry, “these students hear about half the words spoken by their teachers, causing them to fall behind year after year” (Oehlberg, 2008, p. 13).

Traumatized students are unable to problem-solve or participate in their own safety after they have downshifted out of their neo-cortex when threatened. Regretfully, this sense of helplessness can prompt some teens to be more afraid of life than death, making them exceedingly difficult to motivate in the classroom. (Oehlberg, 2008, p. 13)