Oklahoma Trauma Summit provides hope, but teachers need funding
On Feb. 17, nearly 10,000 Oklahoma educators gathered in the Cox Convention Center to hear Dr. Bruce Perry’s keynote address at the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s 2020 Trauma Summit.
In his two-hour presentation, Perry, a psychiatrist, explained how children who face adversity at home can bring anxiety to school, where they disrupt class when feeling threatened, or shut down, losing opportunities to learn. Educators need to understand how to help these students regulate their emotions.
Perry discussed an approach he helped develop, called “The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics,” which emphasizes the therapeutic effect of small, accumulated positive experiences. Perry said, “Many of these moments are produced in school, where children have the opportunity to build relationships and develop a sense of regularity.” For instance, greeting a student in the hall, remembering her name, makes “a therapeutic moment.” And, “hundreds of these therapeutic moments can change a child whose life is wrought with dysfunction.”
Echoing Perry, Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said, “Having an understanding teacher, having a teacher equipped and ready to build that relationship, it can be done. And it can be done in small ways that have profound and big impacts on learning.”
It doesn’t take a brain scientist to understand that trusting and loving relationships are the key to education success, and I’m confident that the educators in attendance will benefit from the scientific background and professional development offered at the CONTINUE READING: Oklahoma Trauma Summit provides hope, but teachers need funding