ERIC Number: EJ1477687
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1941-5257
EISSN: EISSN-1941-5265
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Teacher Understanding of Trauma in the Classroom and Their Professional Learning Experiences: Every Little Bit Counts
Professional Development in Education, v51 n4 p570-584 2025
Recent studies have identified a growing need for educators to be trauma-informed. However, there is limited understanding of teacher trauma literacy or their professional learning and teaching experience. This study reports a new measure of teacher trauma literacy and is the first known study to assess the trauma and mental health literacy alongside the professional learning and self-efficacy of primary school teachers. The study examines teacher professional learning and teacher self-efficacy as potential factors influencing teacher trauma literacy. Participants were 139 Australian primary (elementary) school teachers. Results show that fewer than half of all teachers had received any trauma-related professional learning, while around half had received mental health-related professional learning. Teacher trauma literacy was significantly lower than teacher mental health literacy, while total hours of trauma professional learning were lower than mental health learning hours. Even at these low levels, the experience of trauma professional learning predicted higher teacher trauma literacy scores, along with their self-efficacy and experience teaching children with trauma and mental health conditions. The implications of teacher professional learning for teacher understanding of trauma and opportunities for building positive self-efficacy are discussed.
Descriptors: Faculty Development, Teacher Student Relationship, Trauma, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Mental Health, Elementary School Teachers, Self Efficacy, Teacher Attitudes, Mental Disorders, Foreign Countries, Prediction
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia