Grounded in Teachers’ Reality: A Collective Case Study on Middle School Teachers’ Self-Efficacy for Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Educational Practices

The current body of literature clearly demonstrates the high prevalence of student trauma and the significant impact of trauma on adolescents\u27 well-being and academic outcomes. Middle school teachers are uniquely positioned to support adolescents experiencing trauma using trauma-informed educational practices (TIEP), however, more work is needed to understand their self-efficacy beliefs for using TIEP. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative collective case study is to explore middle-school teachers\u27 self-efficacy (TSE) beliefs for trauma-informed educational practices particularly as they relate to centering equity, and what factors impact those beliefs. Specifically, my study asks the following research questions, (1) How do middle school teachers describe their self-efficacy beliefs towards trauma-informed educational practices? (2) How do middle school teachers describe their self-efficacy beliefs as they relate to centering equity in trauma-informed educational practices? (3) How do middle school teachers describe factors that impact their self-efficacy beliefs towards trauma-informed educational practices? (3a) How do middle school teachers describe COVID-19 and its consequences impacting their self-efficacy towards trauma-informed educational practices? And (3b) How do middle school teachers describe the continued displays of racial and social injustice and responses to them as impacting their self-efficacy as they relate to centering equity in trauma-informed educational practices? Four middle school teachers from an urban faith-based independent school were included as cases in this study. Multiple sources of evidence (demographic questionnaire, semi-structured individual interview, follow-up in-depth member checking interview, teacher beliefs questionnaire) were collected to provide a comprehensive understanding of each case. Within– and cross-case analyses were conducted to identify similarities and differences across cases. Findings indicate that these teachers hold high self-efficacy beliefs for TIEP, specifically in terms of empowering and connecting with students. Participants also reported high levels of TSE for equity-centered TIEP, particularly on an individual level. Further, teachers were mixed in their level of self-efficacy towards preventing trauma. Teachers largely pointed to their prior knowledge and experience as well as the broader school, community, and state level context as impacting their self-efficacy beliefs. Teachers shared the impact of COVID-19 and public displays of continued social and racial injustices on their students and their self-efficacy, including increased perceived importance of TIEP and higher TSE for facilitating conversations around race and equity. Implications for theory include using the proposed conceptual framework to further examine TSE for TIEP, particularly as those beliefs relate to equity in TIEP. Pre-service and in-service training for educators should work to better prepare teachers to respond to and prevent trauma as aspects of TIEP. Further, teachers should be supported in their understanding of trauma as situated within broader systems that perpetuate trauma (Goldin et al., 2023) and promote responding to student behavior with TIEP rather than discipline. School leadership should promote collaborative school environments and implement policies and practices that support consistent teacher implementation of TIEP

Vicky

Vicky figures she knows something about being a lady. In fact, she prides herself on knowing quite a bit about it. But last summer she discovered that there were a good many things that a fashion model can teach a girl about poise

Some Thoughts on the Laboratory Cage Design Process

A block to progress in the design of cages and other restricted environments for animals has been the notion that animal and human needs are necessarily in conflict. The design process should list the established and suspected animal needs separately from human needs- husbandry and experimental. Comparison of the two lists will often show more compatible needs than expected, and design features can be worked out to fulfill them. Adjustments may be made where needs are less compatible until sufficient compatibility is achieved. An innovative design for a mouse cage is described to show that this process can lead to harmony, new observations on animal needs, and unforeseen benefits to both animals and humans

Some Thoughts on the Laboratory Cage Design Process

A block to progress in the design of cages and other restricted environments for animals has been the notion that animal and human needs are necessarily in conflict. The process of design should list the established and suspected animal needs separately from a list of human needs- husbandry and experimental. Comparison of the two lists will often show up more compatible needs than expected, and design features can be worked out to fulfill them. Adjustments may then be made where needs are less compatible until sufficient compatibility is achieved. An innovative design for a mouse cage is described, to show that this process can lead to harmony, new observations on animal needs, and to unforeseen benefits to both animals and humans