I’m not as bright as I used to be – pupils’ meaning making of reduced academic performance after trauma

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with temporary, distinct cognitive impairment. This study explores how cognitive impaired academic performance is recognized and explained by young Norwegians who survived the Utøya massacre of July 22, 2011. Qualitative interviewing of 65 students (aged 16–29 years) was conducted 2.5 years after the traumatic event. A total of 25% (n = 16) respondents reported no or no distinct change; only 6% (n = 4) reported some degree of positive change. By contrast, 69% (n = 45) reported negative changes in academic performance, with impaired concentration and feelings of chaos. Previously effective study techniques became less effective or inadequate. Respondents worried about lasting impairment of academic functioning, but reported little or no discussion with teachers. From the characteristics of the changes reported, attribution style, the use of metaphors and narrative structuring, we identify differences in the meaning-making processes of these young people. Some were left with an understanding that negatively affected their help-seeking activity and reduced the willingness to accept adapted education post trauma

“Terror victims are probably not the easiest to follow up”: students’ perception of learning and teaching in the aftermath of trauma

In August 2011, Norwegian schools welcomed survivors of the Utøya massacre to a new school year. Based on interviews with 135 students who went back to school weeks after experiencing extreme trauma, this study investigates their perception of schooling and learning. Sixty percent of the students reported a variety of reduced academic functioning, and they were not prepared for the learning impairments they faced. Their stories indicate that neither were the schools. Rather, schools appeared to be trauma sensitive only to certain aspects of the trauma-induced effects on schooling: A variety of actions aimed at enhancing school well-being were implemented, however few educational measures to assist and restore impaired academic functioning were reported. The students blamed themselves for reduced academic performance, and had few expectations with regard to teachers helping them academically. The findings are discussed in the context of influential pedagogical ideals in Norwegian and Scandinavian schools

Innspill til lærere om å trygge elevene under rettssakenom 22. juli

Students need help understanding what is happening during the trial and information on how they can protect themselves from strong emotions. The schools should plan a pedagogical approach for this.We will be facing a long trial concerning terror and massmurder that will be receiving unprecedented media coverage in Norwegian legal history. We will be receiving more detailed and magnified insight into very grotesque and frightening details. On some level or other, all of us, almost regardless of age, will be involved in what is happening in the courtroom.The reflections we are presenting here are primarily meant as suggestions and inspiration for teachers at the intermediate and lower secondary levelsof education. In the second half of this article, we will present specific suggestions on how we can talk about the trial and prepare the students.Elevene trenger hjelp til å forstå hva som skjer i rettssaken og hvordan de kan beskytte seg mot sterke inntrykk. Dette pedagogiske arbeidet bør skolene planlegge. Vi står foran en langvarig rettssak om terror og massedrap som kommer til å ha en mediedekning uten sidestykke i norsk rettshistorie. Vi vil få et nytt forsterket og forstørret innblikk i de mest groteske og skremmende detaljene. På ett eller annet nivå vil vi alle, så å si på alle alderstrinn, bli involvert i det som skjer i rettssalen. Refleksjonene vi her presenterer er primært ment som innspill og inspirasjon til lærere på mellomtrinnet og ungdomsskolen. I andre halvdel av teksten presenterer vi et konkret forslag til hvordan en kan snakke om rettssaken for og forberede elevene

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Arresting Migrant Families for Deportation. New Policing Practice

An arrest can be a potentially traumatic event for parents and children. In Norway, the National Police Immigration Service (NPIS) has introduced four child-specific principles – safety, understanding, predictability and involvement – to guide a new practice to prevent traumatic stress. We explored how the police understand and practise the new approach when arresting families to be deported. We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with police officers who arrest migrant families. We analysed the levels of understanding, from descriptive to practical and reflective understanding. Analysing the levels of understanding makes it possible to decide where and how to improve the practice and the delivery of instruction. We found that police officers who demonstrate a reflective understanding are capable of reflecting on their own actions and use the principles to reduce stress, thereby operationalizing their “know-how” in practice. We suggest creating institutional activities that promote reflection-on-action to develop the collective institutionalization of the new practice, meeting the pressing challenges of contemporary policing

Krisepedagogikk Innspill til bearbeiding og videre arbeid i skolenetter terror på Utøya og i Oslo, 2011

This manual provides suggestions for how teachers can approach their students at the start of the academic yearr egarding how to prepare for a holistic approach that can provide for processing, understanding and learning, and ensure a return to regular school activities after the terrorist attacks. The manual does not address help to relatives of victims or assistance to survivors. Those directly affected receive help and support through implementation of the local disaster-preparedness plans existing in each municipality and in the affected schools.Denne veilederen gir innspill til hvordan lærere kan møte alle elevene ved skolestart; hvordan en kan tilrettelegge for en samlende tilnærming som gir bearbeiding, forståelse og læring,samt å komme tilbake til vanlig skole etter terroren i Oslo og på Utøya. Veilederen omhandler ikke hjelp til pårørende av drepte personer eller hjelp til overlevende. De berørte får hjelp og støtte gjennom aktivering av lokale kriseplanene som eksisterer i hver enkelt kommune og ved berørte skoler

Measuring promotors of school functioning: Informing school-based psychosocial support for crisis-affected students in Lebanon

The evolving situation in Lebanon is characterized by multiple crises that affect education and can negatively affect a student’s school-functioning and mental health. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education decided in 2019 to further intensify and upscale implementation of school-based psychosocial support. This study is a contextualization and validation of the Student Learning in Emergencies Checklist for use in Lebanon. A 27-item questionnaire was proposed and tested to explore categories for measuring the effect of psychosocial support on academic functioning and academic performance and build evidence for program design. Promotors for school functioning were also explored. The participants (N = 1048) were divided between Lebanese students (N = 573) and non-Lebanese students (N = 520) with a mean age of 11.77 and gender balance. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the combined proposed categories explained 33.7% of the variance of school functioning as opposed to other factors. The new categories for safety and support at school and safety and support at home were found to predict academic functioning alone. Lebanese students reported significantly reduced scores in safety and support at school compared to non-Lebanese students. The need for psychosocial and educational support increased significantly with age, and males reported lower scores than females. Content and strategies for school-based psychosocial support for students are discussed

Better Learning Programme 1: Supporting Students' Recovery in Emergencies

This handbook is for teachers working with children in the demanding conditions of emergencies - war, conflict, natural disasters, and other types of crisis - and their aftermath. Children affected by stress from conflict and crisis situations often have difficulties learning and functioning at school. They experience a sense of chaos, loss of concentration and reduced memory, making it hard to keep up in the classroom or do their homework. Teachers, with the support of parents, have an important role in supporting children to stabilise and recover, so they can learn and thrive. The Better Learning Programme 1 (BLP 1) provides teachers with a simple psychosocial support framework, the “Recovery Box”, which they can use on a daily basis to promote children’s recovery from traumatic experience and stress. BLP 1 also helps teachers and children understand normal reactions to fear and stress, and provides ways to manage these reactions, including easy calming exercises that can be done as part of the regular classroom practice

Terror leaves adolescents behind: Identifying risk and protective factors for high-school completion among survivors of terrorism

Terror exposure increases the risk of somatic and psychological health problems in survivors. Yet, knowledge of how such exposure affects survivors’ ability to stay in school is lacking. This study examined whether exposure to the 2011 Utøya terrorist attack in Norway impacted survivors’ ability to complete high school. Further, it aimed to identify important peri- and posttraumatic risk and protective factors. Interview data from the Utøya study, collected 4–5 months postterror, were linked to individual educational registry data for 265 survivors. Chi-square tests and ordinal logistic regression analyses were used to examine (a) high school completion among younger survivors (n = 185, age range: 13–18 years, 52.4% female) compared to both older survivors (i.e., who had the possibility of completing high school before the terror attacks; n = 80, age range: 19–21 years, 40.0% female) and the national average and (b) associations between high school completion and physical injury, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), somatic symptoms, and social support among younger survivors. Younger survivors were significantly less likely to complete high school on time. Among younger adolescents, physical injury, aOR = 0.36, 95% CI [0.16, 0.81]; higherlevel PTSS, aOR = 0.54, 95% CI [0.33, 0.88]; and somatic symptoms, aOR = 0.51, 95% CI [0.29, 0.91], lowered the likelihood of on-time completion. Terror exposure in adolescence adversely affects long-term educational functioning in young survivors, which can severely hamper their future prospects. These findings reinforce the need for trauma-sensitive teaching and educator-provided support for adolescents exposed to trauma

“Students are bringing the revolution into the classroom!” teachers’ and counselors’ perceptions of the need for psychosocial support in crisis-affected classrooms in Lebanon

The still-evolving situation in Lebanon is characterized by multiple crises that affect students’ mental health and school functioning. This explorative study analyzes educators’ experience of students’ educational and psychosocial needs and their preparedness to deliver psychosocial support. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 public-school teachers and counselors in Lebanon. Educators reported that increased crisis-related stress levels among both Lebanese and Syrian students aged six to fourteen years, contributed to behavioral problems and impaired school functioning. They also noted teaching styles and strategies that were inadequate for dealing with crisis-affected students. Sensitization to psychosocial support has altered educators’ perceptions of their students and encouraged exploration of new teaching roles. Implications for school-based psychosocial support are discussed

Dealing with fear: Managing life-threatening events in different cultural contexts. An empirical study with case design using qualitative interviews and participant observation

Background: Life-threatening events come in various forms, affecting individuals and their societies by evoking fear. Collective dangers such as terrorist attacks, war, conflict, and natural disasters may create societal chaos and suffering. Children in particular appear to be vulnerable as regards dealing with fear from life-threatening events. Although most children and adolescents do not develop psychiatric conditions as a result of their exposure to danger, many do experience levels of distress, subsiding naturally over time. The research presented here explores how children and adolescents deal with reactions of fear, and how protective factors are present in different cultural settings. Methods: Three different cultural contexts and types of experienced life-threatening events were chosen: female genital cutting as experienced in Somalia and in The Gambia, being a child soldier in Northern Uganda and experiencing a massacre in Norway. Discussion and Conclusions: Each of the three cultural contexts has, in its own unique way, influenced and shaped the expression of clinical symptoms and the course of the distress. Such meaning-making is embedded in the cultural belief-system, which provides a cognitive template for assigning meaning when a traumatic event has triggered reactions and a need for explanations. When reactions can be attributed, the cultural belief-system provides a behavioral template for the individual to take action and activate help-seeking behavior, and for society to activate support. This process leads to integration of the traumatic memories, and closure. The disruptive force of the life-threatening event is corrected as the individual returns to a state of a (new) normal. However, when the cultural meaning systems and support systems are distinctive rather than universal, support may become culturally encoded, with its supportive power being stronger within the given culture