What They Don't Teach You During Teacher Training: Part 3 - Vulnerable Children

• Part 1: Time Management

• Part 2: Parents

• Part 3: Vulnerable Children 

• Part 4: Bullying 

• Part 5: Motivation 

• Part 6: Colleagues

This series of blog posts covers areas that I feel are often missing from the PGCE year and teacher training in general. That's not a criticism - there simply isn't time to cover everything but I have been using my extra pandemic time with the university library and the World Wide Web at my finger tips to search for answers to questions that have been perplexing me for some time. It turns out that many people have thought about these things a lot more than me so I'm excited to be sharing the insights that resonated the most.

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Today I want to write about vulnerable children and how to help them as a teacher. This was quite a tricky topic to research because children can be vulnerable for many reasons and school and national policies vary widely. I have never once received any training on child protection or safeguarding in Italian schools. In the UK teachers have a duty to report any suspicions of child abuse to the authorities so it goes without saying that wherever you are, you'll need to act in accordance with the local laws and your school's policy (if it has one).

In my experience, children who are experiencing or who have experienced mental illness, trauma, abuse or neglect cannot be categorised by wealth or social standing, so it felt like a really important topic to read up on. Vulnerable children that I have taught have included children who:

• are going through a family breakdown, especially if acrimonious;
• have experienced trauma and subsequently been adopted;
• have experienced mild neglect (e.g. coming to school dirty and without snacks);
• have had parents with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse;
• have had an immense amount of pressure placed on them due to an unusual talent;
• have learning difficulties or language difficulties (multiple blog posts could be written on this topic!);
• have been bullied at home or at school;
• have seriously ill family members or been seriously ill themselves; or
• have been bereaved

but the risk factors that lead to children being especially vulnerable are practically endless.

The question I wanted to ask and answer was:

How can we help them be resilient despite their tough life circumstances when at school and in the classroom?

I started with the book Developing Emotional Intelligence in the Primary School by S. Colverd and B. Hodgkin which I really rated. Not only does it have plenty of ideas for ways to help children grow in emotional development but it has a really good overview of the difficulties vulnerable and traumatised children might face at school. I also read Mental Health Matters by P. Nagel because I felt that the two topics have a great deal of overlap.

It's an intimidating topic so let's start by looking at things that teachers can do which benefit vulnerable children but can help all children in their classroom.

1. Maintain emotional constancy. This could be a whole blog post on its own because it is so much easier said than done. Be warm. Keep your facial expression pleasant. Smile often and teach with joy as much possible.
2. Be firm. Be fair. Be clear. Keep public corrections anonymous and use private corrections whenever you can. 
3. Use routines and make them visible.
4. Create a culture of tolerance and normalise making mistakes. Make it easy and OK to ask for help.
5. Help everybody feel like a valued member of the group. Give them jobs to do and let them feel useful. Laugh together.
6. Do not let the clock dictate the lesson. Work at the pace of the slowest.
7. During discussions to give children plenty of time to think and talk. Listen to them.
8. Build resilience and self-esteem. Praise wisely (see the post on motivation).
9. Teach emotions and empathy through cross curricular activities e.g. creative writing, positional drama, experiential play, team building games and classroom delivery and discussion.
10. Make children feel safe. For younger children, discuss the upcoming day including snacks, lunch break, home time and when they can take toilet breaks. Always introduce new adults. Make it clear you do not tolerate bullying.
11. Try to give everyone their own little bit of space (their own chair/desk/peg/drawer/locker).

In order to do all of the above you'll need to take care of yourself. Keep an eye on and look after your mental and physical health. If you feel like you can't cope with a child then seek help and fresh ideas from colleagues and the SLT.

Now let's think about vulnerable children and the range of specific problems they might present with. 

One thing that the teacher may notice is that the child may come across as unempathetic, aggressive and invade other children's space. This is because children who have experienced neglect or whose primary parent has had serious mental illnesses may find reading other people's expressions and signals very difficult. Often vulnerable children may have low self esteem and appear unresponsive and unmotivated to learn or earn praise. In short, vulnerable children may not be easily likeable but it's important to try to understand them.

Trauma in particular can lead to some extreme behaviours caused by the Fight, Flight or Freeze response. Some very stressed children may seem hyper alert and watchful. For example, they might jump at loud noises, want to be near you as much as possible, have difficulty focussing on  and processing information, avoid being singled out even for praise and act in a way that is not appropriate for their age. If they are triggered (and a trigger could be literally anything that reminds them of a trauma event, even a colour) they may enter a state of hyper arousal and soil or wet themselves, breathe fast, shake, pale or flush, be unable to perceive you and your voice, and lash out or seek to escape.

In these cases it is important that you:

• Get to know the child and their story. Although it can be hard to hear it's important to know what triggers them and what they are trying to overcome.
• Negotiate expectations with the child separately to the rest of the class and as a team and agree what will happen if they cannot sustain the behaviour necessary for class time.
• Show them that you understand that they have trouble regulating their feelings and behaviour. 
• Give the child a way of getting your attention that is not obvious.
• If they are triggered treat them in the way you would a scared wild animal, taking them somewhere quiet and calmly reassuring them.
• Carry out consequences with the aim of helping them learn to regulate their own behaviour.
• Help them name their emotions in their own words.
• Reintegrate them into the lesson when they are ready and reaffirm that you didn't like the behaviour but you do like them.
• Make sure they are safe at playtime.
• Allow them to sit with their back to the wall.

Children with chaotic home environments may dislike unfamiliar calm and seek to create chaos at school. Since they often act out, teachers are not normally in danger of missing their distress signals and will work hard to reduce the disruption with routines and building relationships with the family. 

However a child who has experienced trauma might also present quite differently and become an "invisible" child. Children who dissociate from their trauma may become numb, disengaged, have amnesia of traumatic events or have depersonalised events. These children can find it hard to make friends and ask for help. They will not push themselves forward, find it hard to experience joy and may avoid any kind of attention, including praise. Parents or guardians of 'invisible' children often complain that teachers praise their excellent behaviour but fail to engage them in lessons. Teachers need to make a conscious effort to:

• Get to know the child and their story. Although it can be hard to hear it's important to know what triggers them and what they are trying to overcome.
• Encourage them to socialise, even if it is unsuccessful. At play time suggest they try extra curricular activities if they are available.
• Make a special effort to get them to participate in lessons and activities.
• Encourage them to come to you if they have a panic attack, are triggered or in trouble.
• If you do need to correct them do it privately and be careful not to mistake intense fear and shame for 'dumb insolence'.

Finally, some of your students may not come to you with a back story, but instead experience mental health difficulties during the school year. You may notice changes in behaviour and appearance, the creation of rituals, less concentration and aversion to school, friends or play. If this is the case discuss the changes with your colleagues and their parents to find out what the problem is and how you can help them.

Nagel suggests a 5 Step Assessment in these cases. Ask yourselves:

1. What can we see?
2. What have we tried?
3. What do we know from parents and specialists.
4. What is the mental health message?
5. What can we do for this child?

If that sounds like a lot of responsibility, that's because it is. For many children school is their only taste of normality. But remember to stay realistic. You can't cure the child, become their parents' therapist or resolve or remove the child's problems! We can only try to build our students' resilience and self-esteem.