Exploring The Perspectives Of Private High School Students With Adverse Childhood Experiences On Trauma-Based Approaches
Nearly 75% of high school students reported having at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) (Anderson et al., 2022). The effects of trauma include hindrances to skill acquisition and task completion because of how one’s executive functioning is inhibited (Cohen & Barron, 2021; Hubel et al., 2020; McClain, 2021). Students with trauma may experience “emotional, relational, behavioral and cognitive levels that will significantly impair their psychosocial functioning” (Milot et al., 2010, p. 232). This study used a qualitative phenomenological approach to capture the essence of the lived experiences of the participants (Creswell & Poth, 2017). The purpose of this study is to explore how private high school students, age 18 or older, who have at least one ACE, perceive trauma-based approaches used in the classroom. The specific problem that this study addresses is the lapse in research on trauma-based approaches used by private school teachers. This study used students with ACEs as participants to solicit their insights into the trauma-based approaches they believed positively impacted their academics and functioning in learning. The research's findings revealed that a trauma-based approach in this study is a three-pronged approach that includes a holistic teacher, a holistic learning environment, and responsive instructional methods used by the teacher. The findings of this research also revealed that a trauma-based approach can lead to pervasive academic achievement and cultivate self-reflection in students while also nurturing a student’s identity and repairing their attachment.
academic performance; adverse childhood experience (ACE); attachment; developmental trauma; functional performance; neurobiological changes; physiological response; teacher-student relationship; trauma-based approach; trauma-based intervention, Education, Educational Methods, Student Counseling and Personnel Services, Teacher Education and Professional Development
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