We're piloting trauma-informed care in the St. Paul Public Schools and collecting various types of data, but I'm wondering if anyone has surveyed teacher attitudes pre-TIC training and post-TIC training?
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Hi Kris, I have a staff survey that I give shortly after I have trained a school how to implement trauma-informed strategies into their daily practice. It's a simple tool that I use to measure growth. I give the same survey towards the end of the school year to give me a perspective where the staff is on the implementation process. It allows me to see where there are gaps that need additional support or it shows me what's really going well with the implementation. It's a tool for measurement only and I use survey monkey to allow for anonymity so the staff feel comfortable with their feedback.
I have been teaching an online course called Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students. I use my book by the same name as well as multiple other sources of information.
The evaluations that I receive at the end of the course are very positive.
I also do about 24 speeches a year on treating ODD and Conduct disorder from a trauma informed perspective. many teachers attend this seminar and give very good evaluations.
As far as serious data you might try contacting Ron Hertel with Washington state who does a lot of training in this area as well as Margaret Blaustein in Massachusetts.
Ron Hertel, Program Supervisor
Readiness to Learn, Compassionate Schools, Mental Health, Foster Care
Learning and Teaching Support
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
P.O. Box 47200
Olympia, WA 98504
Phone: (360) 725-4968
Fax: (360) 664-3575
Margaret E. Blaustein, Ph.D.
Director of Training and Education
The Trauma Center at JRI
1269 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446
617-232-1303, ext. 214
617-232-1280 (Fax)
No, I haven't but as we prepare to start a new school year, I would be very interested in seeing what kind of tool others would be using or in working with others to develop a tool.
Thanks for putting this question out there.I will keep watching responses.
Nellie
Hi Jim,
I'd love to see the survey you are using.
Thanks!
Leslie
I am interested in a list of surveys that elicit teacher attitudes as well. Please share.
Does your survey consider teacher self-care from the trauma experienced via workplace bullying in education? Does your district have a workplace bullying policy? A year ago, the AFT and Badass Teachers Association conducted an unscientific, national survey ("Quality of Work life Survey") which indicated teachers were deeply stressed... That survey lef to an amendment in ESSA (co-authored by Senators Booker and Baker) so that school district communities can apply for Title II funding in order to conduct its own local schoo life/work life survey and report transparently to community.
Speaking as a long-time teacher (and one of many who was retaliated against for speaking out re: endemic problems in education) I would strongly suggest that if a school district has not soberly and collaboratively examined the traumas it may be unwittingly perpetrating, any survey of teachers will be tainted by the degree of disaffection/antipathy felt by its rank and file employees re: the traumas they experience in that very environment.
These are but a sample of the narratives taken from the 'Quality of Work life Survey' I worked on it...
"Sample Narratives re: Impact of Bullying
Just an example of our district: there is a bullying phone line, but only for texts. Also, a student told me that the number didn't even work. I told the office and it was changed. The problem is that nobody seemed even to know it wasn't working, but …
We have been told that if we want a job next year in our school we will have to teach additional preps with less planning time. If we disagree then work somewhere else. Our budget has decreased again resulting in a loss of positions and we already are…
I've taught through four gun related shootings. Bullying is repeated abuse. No one should have to live through one gun related lockdown. I've lived through four. FOUR. Teachers are not given the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…
Teachers have been physically assaulted in my district by parents and students with no security present. There is a possibility that teachers will now be fearful of each and every interaction had…
We often get bullied by parents, and our school board always has very disparaging remarks to make about teachers, especially to the union president. Teachers have been bullied by administrators- I know one teacher who stood up to the bullying and ended …
Being bullied by the Supervisor totally destroyed the esprit d'corps of the faculty. An atmosphere of tattling, suspicion, and distrust developed due to the mistreatment we all were subjected to. No one could do anything about it because the perpetrator …
Having my car keyed for supporting a teacher who was racially harassed by a parent (by the same parent) cost me $500 and caused me to fear being at work. There were no consequences for this parent…
Teachers live with the fear of what a student may do to harm them. They also live with the fear of what parents may do. I have had students threaten to harm me/my family. I have had parents lose control when told that their child was caught cheating..
We are threatened with termination often, forced to dance during faculty meetings, receive comments on our legs, accused of being homosexual, harassed about our religious beliefs and these things sometimes happen in front of students.
I know of teachers that are targets of parents' frustrations over common core. The teachers are taking the hardest hits from angry parents. We are trying to do everything expected of us, keep our students a priority, and avoid being ridiculed by parents..
Teachers are bullied indirectly by challenging their instructional strategies, lesson plans, etc. In my job I have watched teachers become bullies as they "yell" at students because they must keep the room quiet, etc. Hmm...
Last year I, and several of my co-workers, were harassed constantly about everything we did. We were told we were "too old" and/or called "crip" to our faces. I am overweight. I have been most of my adult life. I had several remarks aimed toward me at staff…
Bullying is not always confrontational. Some bullying happens quietly as certain workers form private groups or cliches. They talk about others and situations. They spend more time watching what others do than working. They report what they've snooped
I am one of approximately 4-6 Black professionals in my current school district, which is in a predominantly Anglo suburb. I am most often the only Black American in the schools where I work. Racial micro aggressions are common in my daily work life. …
One teacher bullies by spreading rumors and causing a lot of drama amongst teachers. She is a chronic liar but the principal cannot do anything about it. She is a source of major stress.
There is no regular way to report abuses by supervisors. There is also very little oversight of principals.
It destroys hopes and dreams. It makes good teachers leave the field of teaching
Administrators bully teachers who do not volunteer their services for free
Too many and too frequent to list them all, and of those that have been reported to the union or to human resources nothing has ever been done only empowering the behavior to continue and become more intensified, even to the point of direct retaliation …
While we have a strict bullying policy, it seems that the administration is loath to actually put it into practice. For example, when we've witnessed classic bullying situations (which we've been extensively trained to identify), the assistant principal
It does not do any good to have a bullying policy, when the superintendent and the board president are both bullies
A teacher was arrested based on false claims- he was falsely been charged with bullying, when it was the reverse. The principal relied upon two students witnesses without any investigation of the claim. This was very stressful for me, I could not go back
Was bullied and harassed by other teachers and it gave me PTSD.
This is every day in upper administration in this district. They believe that teachers must agree with everything that comes down from upper administration...no discussion...or they will hurt you. They will make life so awful that teachers quit…
I think the bullying incidents are the worse part of teaching. Parents bully teachers because the school district allows them to run the classroom. Administrators know that coworkers bully other coworkers and choose to ignore it. I have set in meeting
On a personal level, i makes me feel like no matter what I do - all that will be recognized is what my dept chair (aka my bully) highlights to the administrators. Making me feel completely impotent and at times almost like I'm causing more harm than good
My job has been threatened as my supervisor has asked me to do things I know are illegal (not report suspected child abuse), and in our district we can be summarily dismissed for not obeying a supervisor, regardless of cause. Further, principals use their…
The work load that is expected and the extra meetings, tutoring, and nonnegotiable conferences with superior staff members force all the work I need to do( correcting student work, preparing lesson plans, data analysis, parent conferences) to be on my …
Bullying makes it tremendously difficult to focus energies on students and the process of teaching. It diminishes us in ways that lower our capacity for empathy toward one another and keeps us from being able to work as a team. It also begins to eat away…
Our special education director will put pressure on evaluators to come up with a particular special ed eligibility. He also keeps track of "who owes him a favor" when he needs someone to re-assess a student that didn't come out with the eligibility he…
Some have been bullied about not pressing charges against students who have assaulted them. There is an undercurrent of racial inequality toward non-African Americans. The administrators have yelled at teachers. Phrases like "We're all tired but we …
The substitutes are directed to take every 20th day off, because they're entitled to a pay increase on the 20th day of continuous service. They take the day off because they feel intimidated by the admin.
4th grade students left 13 messages on my home phone including a threat against another student. I contacted my principal who told me to contact the police, which I did. The superintendent was involved. We found out who the student were. There was no..l
school board meeting revealed that of the 1500 or so bullying reports over a few month time period resulted in only a small fraction of redresses--the others were thrown out. This county covers up the meanness and protects those in power.
The principal targeted older female teachers, including myself, by moving us to grade levels that were extreme moves. For example, a 12 year first grade teacher was moved to 5th grade. After 18 years in Kindergarten, I was moved to 3rd grade. Older teacher...
I've been bullied into changing my grade book to pass students who shouldn't pass because of the need for a higher graduation rate
A parent threatened another teacher and told her she was not afraid of going back to jail.
The Principal, Mark XXXXX bullied and harassed me because of my disability and sexual orientation. I have received job action threats in the former of progressive discipline, growth plan, Peer Assistance, Laudermill and removal from classroom,
I had my entire room rearranged by the principal. She did not let me know , and so when I came in--I was shocked. I had the room arranged according to my teaching style. When I explained to her, this was the type of thing that makes someone want to qui
A few years ago I was on a campus where certain teachers were bullied daily by administrators. Many of them became sick - one passed out during the work day and another went on medical leave. The environment was unhealthy. Fear and stress were used to …
I feel bullied by the school district. Knowing that any claim made by a parent is enough to land me in "teacher jail" whether I am guilty or not is quite intimidating. I had a parent accuse me of something horrible this year, and they took it to the di
At one point, I filed a claim with the EEOC against the district where I worked because I wanted accommodations for a health reason (that I was entitled to) and the district simply wanted me to take FMLA. How I was treated during this process was bad …"
Can one create a trauma-informed school without looking at the trauma that may exist within the school's own fabric?
Jim Sporleder posted:Hi Kris, I have a staff survey that I give shortly after I have trained a school how to implement trauma-informed strategies into their daily practice. It's a simple tool that I use to measure growth. I give the same survey towards the end of the school year to give me a perspective where the staff is on the implementation process. It allows me to see where there are gaps that need additional support or it shows me what's really going well with the implementation. It's a tool for measurement only and I use survey monkey to allow for anonymity so the staff feel comfortable with their feedback.
Jim - Is this a tool you can share? I'm training 3 districts with the ACE Interface next week, and it might be handy for them to use for self-reflection or for follow up work.
Yes, if the tool can be shared, I would very much like to see it, too, please. Thank you, Jim.
Summer