What is Trauma-Integrated Education?
At Kuleana Education, we KNOW that it's relationships that matter!
👉We are trauma-integrated, which means that we are trauma-informed, but we go beyond that, and we are sure to INTEGRATE what we know into everything we do, everyday!
Why trauma-integrated education?
👉We know that what works for students with trauma works for ALL students, so it is a win-win for everyone.
So what is trauma-informed?
👉We focus on relationships first!
👉We connect before we correct. We ask what is going on with a child to understand behavior.
👉We co-regulate first and then help the student repair harm as needed and learn from their mistakes.
👉We know that students' basics needs must be met before they can learn... this includes hunger, thirst, love, safety, health, belonging, self esteem... we help students meet these needs so they are in a place to learn!
👉We know that behind behavior, there is a feeling and behind that a need. When we meet the need, the behavior changes. We work to meet the needs of our students to support their behaviors.
👉We believe in every one of our students!
👉We teach our students. We do not punish them. To discipline is to teach. A disciple is a student, not a recipient of behavioral consequences. Not every situation requires a consequence, and every situation is handled uniquely. There are not one size fits all solutions, as every child is different. We believe in teaching behavior, logical consequences, restorative discipline, and repairing harm.
👉We know when a child is melting down, they do not have access to cognitive function or logic. We help them regulate! We know children do not choose the meltdown. It is a byproduct of a lacking skill, and we TEACH students self-regulation skills to help give them skills to prevent dysregulation.
👉We KNOW that research shows that social-emotional learning and mindfulness education support student self-regulation, communication, and relationship skills! All students take social-emotional learning classes and mindfulness classes every week.
👉We know recess is a regulation tool for students! We follow a Finland model of recess in which students have recess 15 minutes of every hour.
👉We know there is no such thing as a bad child. There may be bad choices, bad moments, or bad situations, but all children are good, and all children do well when they can.
👉We know there is no magic one size fits all answer for students. We are here to support students in being successful. This looks different for every student.
👉We know that a struggling student is not giving us a hard time; they are having a hard time.
👉We know the story of each of our students. We take the time to get to know them. The difference between empathy and judgement is always whether we know the story.
👉We don't believe in timeouts, detentions, suspensions, etc. because we know that challenging behavior is caused by lacking skills and unsolved problems and those punishments (and any punishments) don't teach lacking skills or solve problems.
👉We love each and every student, and we make sure they know they are loved. We never give up on them. It really comes down to our relationships with our students.
👉We are trauma-integrated, which means that we are trauma-informed, but we go beyond that, and we are sure to INTEGRATE what we know into everything we do, everyday!
Why trauma-integrated education?
👉We know that what works for students with trauma works for ALL students, so it is a win-win for everyone.
So what is trauma-informed?
👉We focus on relationships first!
👉We connect before we correct. We ask what is going on with a child to understand behavior.
👉We co-regulate first and then help the student repair harm as needed and learn from their mistakes.
👉We know that students' basics needs must be met before they can learn... this includes hunger, thirst, love, safety, health, belonging, self esteem... we help students meet these needs so they are in a place to learn!
👉We know that behind behavior, there is a feeling and behind that a need. When we meet the need, the behavior changes. We work to meet the needs of our students to support their behaviors.
👉We believe in every one of our students!
👉We teach our students. We do not punish them. To discipline is to teach. A disciple is a student, not a recipient of behavioral consequences. Not every situation requires a consequence, and every situation is handled uniquely. There are not one size fits all solutions, as every child is different. We believe in teaching behavior, logical consequences, restorative discipline, and repairing harm.
👉We know when a child is melting down, they do not have access to cognitive function or logic. We help them regulate! We know children do not choose the meltdown. It is a byproduct of a lacking skill, and we TEACH students self-regulation skills to help give them skills to prevent dysregulation.
👉We KNOW that research shows that social-emotional learning and mindfulness education support student self-regulation, communication, and relationship skills! All students take social-emotional learning classes and mindfulness classes every week.
👉We know recess is a regulation tool for students! We follow a Finland model of recess in which students have recess 15 minutes of every hour.
👉We know there is no such thing as a bad child. There may be bad choices, bad moments, or bad situations, but all children are good, and all children do well when they can.
👉We know there is no magic one size fits all answer for students. We are here to support students in being successful. This looks different for every student.
👉We know that a struggling student is not giving us a hard time; they are having a hard time.
👉We know the story of each of our students. We take the time to get to know them. The difference between empathy and judgement is always whether we know the story.
👉We don't believe in timeouts, detentions, suspensions, etc. because we know that challenging behavior is caused by lacking skills and unsolved problems and those punishments (and any punishments) don't teach lacking skills or solve problems.
👉We love each and every student, and we make sure they know they are loved. We never give up on them. It really comes down to our relationships with our students.