EDU/HSP 417T:Trauma, Resiliency and Learning
Dr. Kenneth Fox, Mount Vernon High School,
Dr. Ray Wolpow, Miller 306B Phone: 360-650-3337,
Mondays 4:00 – 7:00pm
EDU 417T CRN 23138, Room MH158 HSP 417T CRN 23137 MH 162
Dr. Fox and Dr. Wolpow will be available for office hours after class.
Dr. Wolpow also available in his office Wednesdays from 2:00 – 4:00pm and
Thursdays by appt only from 1:00 – 3:00pm
Conceptual Framework Statement: Study of trauma, resiliency and learning to enable participants to become thoughtful, knowledgeable and effective educators for a diverse society.
Description: Study of the effect of trauma on the cognitive, emotional, neurological, and language development of children. Heuristics of complex trauma, resiliency, coping skills, compassion fatigue, and trauma-sensitive education as applied to classroom and community settings. 1 hour lab per week. 4 credits. Pre-requisite: undergraduate coursework in developmental psychology.
Course Goals/Objectives:
1. To introduce the literature of complex trauma, childhood resiliency, coping skills, compassion fatigue and trauma-sensitive education so as to help practitioners learn to identify and assess the impact of trauma on the cognitive, emotional, neurological, and language development of children.
2. To identify classroom and community approaches that deal effectively with children and families impacted by trauma.
3. To recognize the impacts of working with traumatized children and their families on educators and human service professionals and to identify effective coping strategies needed to reduce compassion fatigue.
We Care! We hope that, if at any time you are uncomfortable with the requirements or procedures of this class or have a question as to the utility of what you are learning, you will let us know. Feel free to visit during our office hours, talk with us before or after class, via the Internet, or by telephone. If you leave a message for one of us, please include, as part of your message, instructions as to the best time to get back to you.
Required Texts:
Herman, J. (1992) Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books
Benard, B. (2004). Resiliency: What we have learned. San Francisco: WestEd Regional Educational Laboratory.
Cole, S.F., O’Brien, J.G., Gadd, M. G., Ristuccia, J., Wallace, D. L., and Gregory, M. (2005). Helping traumatized children learn: Supportive school environments. Boston: Massachusetts Advocates for Children. May be downloaded w/o charge as a pdf file from:
Wolpow, R., Johnson, M., Hertel, R. & Kincaid, S. (in press) The heart of learning and teaching: Trauma, resiliency and academic success. Olympia: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Chapters 1 and 2 available as document files on the Blackboard site.
One copy of the Herman and Benard books are on reserve in the library under Dr. Wolpow’s name. A number of other readings will be available as PDF files at the Blackboard site for this course.
Reasonable Accommodation Policy
It is the policy of WesternWashingtonUniversity to provide reasonable accommodation to the known physical, sensory, or mental limitations of qualified individuals except where such accommodation would impose undue hardship on the institution. To request accommodation, students must contact WWU Disability Resources for Students at 360-650-3844 or
Academic Dishonesty Policy
WesternWashingtonUniversity students are responsible for reading, understanding and upholding the standards of academic dishonesty as set forth in the WWU Academic Dishonesty Policy and Procedure (see Appendix D of the University Bulletin).
Standards For Teacher Certification Addressed in this Course:
Woodring TEP Standards / WA State Certification Standard V RequirementsStandard 3: Understands Difference. The professional educator understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners. / Standard 5.2B: Intentionally Planned. All students benefit from standards-based planning that is personalized
Standard 5.3A: Learner Centered. All students engage in a variety of culturally responsive, developmentally and age appropriate strategies.
Standard 4: Designs Multiple Instructional Strategies. The professional educator understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage student development of reading, writing, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. / Standard 5.2C: Influenced by Multiple Strategies. All students benefit from personalized instruction that addresses their ability levels and cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Standard 8: Evaluates. The professional educator understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner. / Standard 5.2A: Informed by Standards-based Assessment. All students benefit from learning that is systematically analyzed using multiple formative, summative and self-assessment strategies.
Standard 9: Reflects. The professional educator is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his or her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally. / Standard 5.3C and D: Student learning is informed by collaboration with families and neighborhoods. All students are prepared to be responsible citizens for an environmentally sustainable, globally interconnected and diverse society.
Standard 5.4A, B and C: All students benefit from a collegial and professional school setting. All students benefit from the professional growth of their teachers. All students benefit from a safe and respectful environment.
CSHSE National Standards Addressed in this Course:
Standard 12: The curriculum shall include knowledge and theory of human systems including individual, interpersonal, group, family, organizational, community and societal and their interactions.Standard 13: The curriculum shall address the conditions that promote or limit human functioning.
Standard 20: The program shall provide experiences and support to enable students to develop awareness of their own values, personalities, reaction patterns, interpersonal styles, and limitations.
Professional Growth Plan Standards
Upon graduation those of you enrolled in a Woodring College teacher certification program will be eligible for a Washington State Residency Certificate. Attainment of the Professional Level Certificate will require that you articulate and complete, within five years of graduation, a personal Professional Growth Plan. Our coursework will help you to lay the foundation for this plan. The following Professional Growth Plan Standards will be introduced in this course:
Effective Teaching 1b) Using Assessment to monitor and improve instruction
Professional Development 2c) Remaining current in subject area(s), theories, practice, research and ethical practice
Tasks and Requirements:
a) Quizzes and QRQs b) Competencies and c) Professionalism
Participants in this class will demonstrate mastery of the learning objectives by completing the following tasks and requirements.
Note: There is no “zero” option. All assignments must be completed at a passing level in order to pass the class.
Activity / Assessment / Percentage of GradeLectures,readings and discussions / Short quizzes/QRQs / 25
Personal/Professional Development Project (self-care, addictions, supplemental reading analysis applied) / Assessment grounded in the concept of using heuristics as self-evaluation. You will design your own – may include personal journals, rubrics and/or grids. / 25
Lab Reports From Field Work / Rubric / 25
Take home Final Exam- Summative Essays / Essay Exam / 25
Professionalism / Instructor Observation/Interaction / See below
A. Series of Short Quizzes and/or QRQs(100points total)
Several short ten-minute quizzes will be administered at the beginning of class sessions with questions focused upon the content in the readings assigned for that class. They will usually be composed of ten multiple choice/true false/short answer/recall diagram questions. Most, but not all quizzes will be closed book. Given the simple nature of the questions, the following scoring rubric shall be applied: (9-10 correct = 10 points, 7-8 correct = 5 points, 5-6 correct = 3 points)
Another form of assessment that will also be used to facilitate group discussion will be the “Quotation-Response-Question” or QRQ. After reading each chapter, you shall be asked to select a quotation from that chapter and write a brief response to that quotation based upon information gleaned in the reading. Then, you must come up with at least two questions that may be used to prompt an in-class discussion. QRQs will be due at the beginning of each class session in which a chapter has been assigned. The following scoring convention shall be applied: (√+ = 10 points, √ = 7 points, √− = 4 points) (See the example of a QRQ on the last page of this syllabus.)
B. Competencies
To demonstrate competencies (application, synthesis and evaluation levels) in the course material, several tasks and related assignments will be given. There is no “zero option” for any of the following assignments.
B1) Personal/Professional Development Project (100 points)
We recommend, but do not require, that for this project you focus on some aspect of self-care required to prevent vicarious (secondary) trauma. Other development projects which formalize an invitation of hope for your clients/students and yourself will also be considered (e.g., psycho-physiology or socio-cultural studies of trauma and resiliency).
Pick an area in your personal/professional life where you know you need pragmatic, practicable and intellectual growth (e.g., assertiveness, emotions management, affective communication, physical well-being such as sleep, nutrition, fitness) and:
a) establish an intrapersonal objective; (We highly recommend you communicatewith an instructor to formatively assess this objective before you proceed with this assignment.)
b) develop a systemic strategy which includes reading/writing/discussion; (We highly recommend you communicatewith an instructor to formatively assess this strategy before you proceed with this assignment.) and
c) Create an evaluation rubric/grid to assess your progress. (Once again, we highly recommend you communicatewith an instructor to formatively assess this grid before you use it.)
Summarize and present your findings at a scheduled time with class and instructor. Your rubric/grid will be used to score your work.
B2) Lab Report from Field Work (100 points)
Woodring requires students who work in the schools to have fingerprint clearance and sexual harassment prevention training.
This class requires that you observe children and/or their families in settings in which they are learning cognitive, vocational and/or social skills for a total of no less than 10 hours over a 5 week period. Your lab report mustbe prefaced witha description of the location, the mission or goals of this setting, the student/client’s set, and (your) observer’s set.
The body of the lab report should contain “thick description” showing (as opposed to telling) what you observed as well as ideas, thoughts and feelings that you had before, during, and/or after each observation. Lists of activities that you attended are useful; however, your description should include “…vividness, accuracy, richness, and elegance.”Vividness is the quality that draws readers in creating a feeling of genuineness. Accuracy is the dimension that makes the writing believable, creating a focus that enables readers to see the phenomenon as their own. Richness is the quality that deepens the description through colorful use of language, graphic depiction or shades of meaning, and detail, relaying something or the sensual-aesthetic tones of the phenomenon. Elegance is found in an economical use of words disclosing the essence of the phenomenon through simple expressions that unify the description and give it grace and poignancy” (Polkinghorne, 1983, pp.46-47)
The conclusionidentifies trauma and resiliency in an ecological context including a description of cultural and gender considerations, as well as the strategies employed to foster resiliency. Articulation of the above should be based on the idea that new questions are “infectious” and inspire the action we must take to precipitate resiliency and healing. In so doing this section should examine the “old” questions worthy of rememberingand generating “new” questions that will guide your future study and action.
A rubric will be provided so that you may self-assess your work prior to having it scored.
B3) Take Home Final Exam-Summative Essays(100 points)
This is a summative essay exam. You will be provided with one prompt for each of the learning objectives for this course and asked to discuss what you have learned and how this influences the learning and teaching that you will do as an education professional. These essays will be graded for content, organization, fluency, word choice, and conventions.
C. Professionalism:
1. Attendance is essential. Our class is organized in a workshop setting with many small and large group class activities and assignments taking place during class sessions. Your attendance in class is required for your classmates' and instructor's learning as well as your own. Unexcused absences will result in a lowering of the course grade. Education professionals are required to notify supervisors when they know they will be absent. If you know that you will be absent, please notify the instructor of this course in advance. If a family or personal emergency, or illness results in missing class, does occur, please call or visit the instructor prior to the next class to make sure that you are up to date.
2. Written assignments must model appropriate grammar, spelling, usage and punctuation.
3. Any lateness in the submission of an assignment is to be cleared with the instructor prior to the due date. Penalties for lateness will be reflected in a daily loss of ten percent of the possible grade as well as decrease in your professionalism score.
4. Make sure to include your name and student number on all assignments.
Grading Policy:
We want to work with you to earn good grades, however,we hope we can de-emphasize the grade in this course and prioritize your learning process instead. We do not stamp grades on papers; we find this to be a destructive exercise that can push you to measure and judge your work prematurely and ineffectively. Try to focus instead on improving your work to your own satisfaction (not ours). Writing is an art form, but it is also a discipline that requires practice.
Having said this, we acknowledge that students and professors are part of a system that requires summative grades on assignments and for this course. So grading in this class will be a dialogic process. Take time to work with us. If you want to know how you are doing on an assignment (formatively) get our input while you are working on it. If you want additional input, please make appointment and come and talk to one of us. We will first ask you to evaluate your own work, and then we will offer feedback. We will discuss it. You might not always agree with our assessment, nor will we always agree with yours, but at least we will communicate and thus bring a heightened sense of consciousness to the evaluative process.
If you do not make the effort to receive formative input while you are working on an assignment, do not expect us to respond to post-quarter grade complaints. Come see us during office hours, or e-mail us when you have a concern.
Grading Convention:Total Points Possible: 400
96%+=A
90-95%=A-
87-89%=B+
84-86%=B
80-83%=B-
77-79%=C+
74-76%=C
70-73%=C-
61-69%=D
60-BelowF
Calendar (Subject to Revision)
Week / Topics/Activities / Work to completefor this class session
1
April 6 / Introduction to the Coping Circle Process (e.g., background, dragons, definitions and concerns, strategies that have succeeded and failed-- personal and professional goals for this course.)
Review of syllabus , projects and assignments.
Discussion of final exam, QRQs on assigned readings, field work, circle book selection, class discussion, and personal/professional development project.
2
April 13 / Quiz and QRQ on assigned topics and readings.
Discussion from QRQs - How does your quotation resonate with
a)You personally,
b)Your community,
c)Your professional identity and function, and
d)How does this challenge your compassion?
The quality of this discussion is incumbent on the quality of your personal reflection before you come to class.
- We anticipate that this discussion will include conceptual background and definitions for the following terminology: The Nature and Prevalence of Trauma, The ACEs study, Trauma vs. Stress, Medical Definitions-the Neurobiology of Trauma, Behavioral Symptoms Trauma and Language, Cultural and Gender Contexts of Trauma
- Discussion of Possible Participation in Yom Ha Shoah service at Congregation Beth Israel (7:00 – 8:30pm, April 20th.)
- Discussion of Personal/Professional Development Project (Reframing your Identification, Use of Strategies listed in Wolpow, Chapter Two ).
- Discussion on how to complete the ProQOL – IV.
- Wolpow, Chapter 1
- Cole, pp.14-41
- Herman, Introduction – Chapter 2.
3
April 20
Yom
HaShoah /
- Quiz and QRQ on assigned topics and readings. How does your quotation address what it is that makes you vulnerable to secondary trauma?
- Discussion on the following Self-Care and Vicarious (Secondary)Trauma topics: Compassion Satisfaction, Empathy, Cognitive/Emotional/Behavioral Consequences, The Silence Response, Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, Self-care,
- Please bring your - ProQOL, R-IV scores to class for discussion.
- Class will end at 6:30 so that those who wish to attend the Yom Ha Shoah service can arrive on time.
- Herman Chapters 3-6.
- Wolpow Chapter 2
- Complete ProQOL, R-IV
4
April 27 / Quiz and QRQ on topics and readings. How does your quotation address your own personal and professional resiliency? How do you influence and inform your students/clients with the insights you have gained?
- Discussion of Bernard readings
- Debrief from Yom Ha Shoah Visit
- Discussion of progress of Personal/Professional Development projects.
- The Thermometer
- What are you observing in the field? Discussion of Lab Report Assignment.
- Discussion of Book Circle Assignment
- Ellis : How to Deal with Your Most Difficult Client (1983) (On BB)
- Bernard: pp. 1-118
5
May 4
Ray in Boston / Quiz and QRQ on topics and readings. How does your quotation address your understanding of the recovery process with regard to one or more of the following:
a) a healing web,
b) structuring a safe environment,
c) remembrance and morning,
d) reconnection to what?
- Lab Report Discussion: In the field and in the heart: How are you experiencing your work in the field? How is your writing a reflectionof what you are experiencing?
- Pick your book, chapters or collection of journal articles for next week’s book circles. Instructor will make sure that no two participants overlap.
- Herman: Chapters 7-11
- Rough draft of lab report assignment.
- Choose your book circles selection and be prepared to provide the instructor with this information.
6
May 11 / Book Circles: Each participant will be assigned to a discussion group. Every participant in the group will have read a different book or set of readings (chapters or journal articles) from the recommended list that appears at the end of this syllabus. Each group will have 45 minutes for discussion during which time they will be encouraged to fold in what they are learning in their field work and Personal/Professional Development projects. This will be followed by 15 minutes for written reflections that synthesize what they have heard and incorporated into their own thinking. Groups will then be combined for large group debriefing and discussion. At the conclusion of this session participants will be encouraged to write the “preface” to their final exam. /
- Complete your Book Circle Readings:
- Bring your notes to participate in discussions.
7
May 18 / QRQ on assigned topics and readings. How does your quotation address your understanding of the process of facilitating resiliency within your community, classroom or agency?
- Applications:
- Giraffe Talk Exercise, The Vocabulary of Feelings, Diamante Poems
- Case studies: Trauma and Resiliency in classroom and community. Instructors will provide members of the class with several case studies. We will apply what we have learned to make professional recommendations.
- Benard pp. 127-129
- Posted selections of Wolpow: Chapters 4 + 5 if completed by that date
May 25 / No class – Have a wonderful Memorial Day
8
June 1 / Lab Reports and Personal/Professional Development Projects due. Sharing and class discussion of your findings and conclusions.
Distribution of final essay and expectations assigned. / Complete your Personal/Professional Development Projects and Lab Reports
Final
June 8 / Final Essay Due
Affirmations
Course and Instructor Evaluations
Knowledge Base and Reading List: