Influence of Vicarious Trauma and/or Post Traumatic Stress upon K-12 Educators

Vicarious trauma (VT) includes the harmful changes in the views of professionals, such as K-12 educators, of themselves, the world, and others, due to exposure to traumatic material or graphic of their clients or students. Post-traumatic stress (PTS) is a set of psychological symptoms acquired through exposure to individuals exhibiting the impacts of trauma. K-12 educators who work with students exposed to trauma are susceptible to indirect traumatization due to hearing about the experiences of their students and witnessing the negative influence of VT or PTS in them. Distress associated with PTS results from hearing traumatic stories, seeing distress at high levels post a traumatic event, retelling a victim’s story, and/or viewing trauma-related images. Personal trauma history, supervision experiences evidence, and perceived coping style evidence are predictors for vicarious trauma. Personal trauma history and exposure to trauma material with reasonable evidence are precursors for PTS. K-12 educators’ stressors can force then to eventually leave the professions. Managing educators’ stressors is key to meeting students’ academic success and retaining teachers.
Educators are among the first professionals who interact with kids during crisis. As a result, they are vulnerable to experiencing negative reactions due to interactions with kids who have experienced trauma. A classroom setting presents children with different emotional needs, putting heightened demands on the education and the educator. Therefore, educators require enough knowledge and skills to proactively satisfy the needs of students. K-12 educators working with traumatized students experience burn out feelings with disillusionment of a more demanding role and less support provided. Educators worry about students’ home situations and if their families meet their basic social, survival, and emotional needs. Educators should identify their personal stressors and use effective mechanisms to cope and alleviate and/or eliminate the identified stressors. There is need to create awareness about work-related stressors for educators and how exposure to students’ emotional pain can affect them.
Working with traumatized students has adverse effects on educators. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include intrusive, negative thoughts and images associated with students’ traumatic stories; heightened anxiety and concern about safety; numbness or detachment feelings from students; fatigue and physical complaints; reduced concentration and decision-making impairment; feeling hopeless and powerless about work and students; and desire to emotionally or physically withdraw from situations or people who trigger difficult emotions and thoughts. Other symptoms of PTS on K-12 educators include emotional drain, self-destructive impulses, aggression, bodily pains, social withdrawal, trust issues, hopelessness, cynicism, and despair. Children with a history of trauma, abuse, neglect or violence go to school angry, something that is interfering with their education. Lack of administrative support, overcrowded classrooms, time constraints, day-to-day concerns about teaching, educator fatigue resulting from trying to solve students’ behavioral challenges and emotional needs, and lack of resources are beyond educators’ control, heighten their stress levels and contribute to their reduced job satisfaction levels. Educators’ stress reduces the quality of teacher-student interactions. Nightmares or dreams about their experience, unusual preoccupation with a specific student and their scenarios, or a sudden fear related to a student’s traumatic experience are signs of PTS in k-12 educators. Consistent hearing of traumatized material from students negatively influences educators’ general well-being and quality of life despite their importance in the children’s social, academic, and emotional development.
Educators who are new in the profession, more empathetic to students, with a personal history unresolved trauma, and high exposure to traumatized children are more susceptible to PTS. Caring, empathetic, and concerned educators are more vulnerable to PTS. Trauma influences students, educators, families, education institutions, and communities. Educators receive little to no training on how to recognize traumatic symptoms, and deal with its effect on them. A caring K-12 educator can easily become overly-engaged with a student who has experienced trauma and showing signs of PTS.
An informed educator knows how to balance empathy display with strong emotional control. Experiencing a student’s pain as an educator’s own reduces the teacher’s effectiveness in the life of the learner. This can harm both the student and the educator. Striking a balance between empathy and over-identification with a student’s traumatic experiences is beneficial to the educator’s general well-being and health, including self-awareness and self-care. K-12 educators exposed to students with PTS are vulnerable to effects of trauma such as compassion fatigue, “vicarious trauma” or stress, and burn out. They’re vulnerable to mental, physical, or emotional worn out and/or being overwhelmed by students’ traumatic experiences.
Bibliography
Alschuler, Alfred S. Teacher Burnout. , 1980. Print.
Lipsky, Laura D, and Connie Burk. Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others. , 2009. Internet resource.
Saigh, Philip A, and J D. Bremner. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Comprehensive Text. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. Print.