The master thesis deals with recognizing trauma, teachers’ responses, and their role in helping children with traumatic experience. Trauma represents a widespread problem in nowadays society since a substantial portion of the population deals with it. Consequences of traumatic experiences can have a significant impact on an individual´s life. By recognizing traumatic experiences and with adequate responses, schools and teachers can support children and significantly contribute to mitigating the consequences. The aim of this master thesis is to raise the awareness among teachers and the public about the importance of recognizing trauma and mitigating its consequences.
In the theoretical part I defined the concept of trauma, and I also described the most common responses and phases of response to a traumatic event. I presented individual differences and protective factors that influence coping with traumatic experience. I also discussed the effects of trauma on learning and behaviour at school. Then I outlined general principles and recommendations for providing support to a traumatised student and supportive responses to the child’s behaviour. Furthermore, I presented the role of schools as an important protective factor and the role of teachers in students with traumatic experience. Moreover, I defined a trauma-informed approach. Finally, I described the qualifications of teachers and their competences in this area.
In the empirical part I evaluated the recognition of trauma and adequacy of teachers´ responses based on the descriptions of students with a traumatic experience. I was also interested in how teachers perceive their role and how competent they feel in helping students with traumatic experiences, and teacher’s opinion on how they could improve their competences. The research was based on individual interviews with eight teachers from the same primary school in Koroška region. The results indicate that teachers are most likely to look elsewhere for the causes of a child’s behavior that may be a result of trauma, while they are mostly aware of the potential impact of trauma on the individual only after this is mentioned to them. Teachers are aware that trauma is a serious event or distress, but they do not define it as trauma. However, their responses are mostly appropriate. Teachers are aware that they have a significant role in identifying and helping traumatised students. They feel competent based on their personal qualities, while they admit they lack expertise in this area and would like to gain more knowledge about this subject.
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