Becoming a Trauma-informed Restorative Educator: Practical Skills to Change Culture and Behavior

by Joe Brummer, Margaret Thorsborne

Maybe you have heard the terms 'trauma-informed' and 'restorative' - but how do you go about becoming a trauma-informed, restorative educator?

This practical book outlines the values, ideas and neuroscience behind trauma-informed restorative practice and its proven effectiveness. It clearly explains key theories relating to shame, trauma and your autonomic nervous system, and explains how to apply this knowledge in practice. Examples and stories of restorative practice feature throughout to inspire and emulate, as do practical protocols, tools and systems to develop your skills as a trauma-informed educator. Critically, it also explains the personal and professional qualities you need to nurture to truly engage in trauma-informed, restorative practice, with reflection points to aid learning and self-development.

Read this book and take your first steps to creating a trauma-informed, restorative classroom - even if your school isn't doing it!

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2024

Reviews

[Tracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becoming a Trauma-informed Restorative Educator: Practical Skills to Change Culture and Behavior brings together important concepts from experts in the field all in one place for any person supporting youth in our schools. Reviewing historical paradigms of behavior and moving into the new lens in which to frame human behavior and emotions, this book creates and easy and accessible space for all to learn. It takes high level concepts such as Dr. Bruce Perry's model and breaks it down into accessible parts and quick takeaways that can be immediately implemented. The reflection questions at the end of each chapter make an east way to check in with yourself and a handy addition to the book itself. No matter your role in the school system, nor your time of service, this book is a useful tool to have in your tool belt. #BecomingaTraumainformedRestorativeEducator #NetGalley

[WhatFrizRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a primary/early years educator, I was really interested in how this book could improve my practice. It's skillfully written in that it doesn't bamboozle you or give you endless theories. The book is based on science which is well explained and then supported with pedagogical experiences or examples. It's easy to read and follow, the appendices at the end made for really interesting reading as they're contributed by restorative practitioners. There were parts I was able to utilise in my practice straight away and things I've jotted down to discuss with colleagues however I have only given it a 4 star review as I felt it was geared more towards American/Australian education and would be more useful for secondary school teachers- that's not to say I didn't get a lot from reading it and I would still recommend it to my primary colleagues for the pointers I've found useful.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I'm not an educator, I have a strong interest in restorative justice so was very interested in this book.
I found it engaging, thorough, and really interesting. It covered all the necessary background information in an understandable way, e.g. the brain biology chapter was very readable and not full of jargon.
I did think there was a bit too much reliance on a small number of sources - some parts felt like a rehashing of other people's work, or too many quotes from the same people.
However overall I thought this was a great book, and society would hugely benefit from reading it and learning from it. The summaries and questions at the end of each chapter were really great too,.
Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy.

[Brittany]

disclaimer: I don’t often give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I thought this was so informative and loved the way it was structured, with areas for reflection at the end of each chapter. Even if you are not in education, I think there are plenty of transferable best practices that you can carry over into your own profession, or your personal lives.

This book presents the information in an accessible way, and it doesn’t read as dry or academic, so I appreciate that & recommend it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting outline of the problems with current behaviorist based methods of school discipline and incentives in contrast to a trauma informed restorative approach. If you are new to these terms the book will likely be helpful in displaying the differences and giving you som e solid ideas about how to move away from "carrot" based approaches and be more in tune with the needs of y our students. Because trauma informed pedagogy is something I have been interested in for a while there was not much new here for me, but rather a good reminder and some good examples. I very much appreciated the reminder that students require a feeling of safety and trust.in order to learn and be at all vulnerable in the classroom. I also appreciated the reminder that a regulated classroom begins with a regulated instructor. Self care and being aware of my own frame of mind is not selfish, but key to any success in helping others. Still, there is a lot that is practically quite difficult to do within the public school institutions we have today that are governed by compliance and standardized testing. Hopefully we can accept soon that these policies actually do more harm than good and move away from them to better meet the needs of students at all levels.

[Kira K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I picked it up as someone who spent time studying trauma as part of my degree to further deepen my knowledge base (to hopefully use it going into postgrad) and this book was great. It incorporates many of the bits I already learned and more with ways to apply it to education and references provided and collated well at the end.

[Jessica Hembree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to receive a copy of this to read and review. I’ve been in education for a decade, but I am always looking for ways to improve the experience in the classroom. This book is a wealth of information. I enjoyed how many of the chapters end with a summary of key points and review questions to encourage further thought. I’m looking forward to being able to apply this knowledge.

[Laura Scherbing · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from a Professional Development, and it has been a great read on how to deal with students that have been through trauma.

[Sarah Poling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a parent of gifted and autistic children, as well as a former kinship care parent for five years to a child from a hard place ages 5-10. I've become very knowledgeable in trauma, exceptionalities, and building connected relationships formed with love and trust as the foundation. I have seen the power of unconditional love and trust developed with a child whose brain was rewired so that his neurons fired together much more strongly, and he was more able to meet his iep goal of being safe, respectful, and responsible while in our home.

The steps that neurologists and brain researchers have made toward knowing how human beings learn and grow are unbelievable. Our practices as caring, nurturing adults MUST be reframed to encourage growth and build interconnectivity in children's brains- and at the very least to NOT unwire a brain by using old-school punitive practices to manage behavior.

This is a great tool to help improve and prevent trauma in the classroom.