Trauma Informed Teaching Through Play Art Narrative (PAN) [1 ed.] 9789004432734, 9789004432727

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Trauma Informed Teaching through Play Art Narrative (PAN)

Trauma Informed Teaching through Play Art Narrative (PAN) By

Karen O. Wallace and Patrick J. Lewis

leiden | boston

All chapters in this book have undergone peer review. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wallace, Karen O., author. | Lewis, Patrick J. (Patrick John), 1958author. Title: Trauma informed teaching through play art narrative (PAN) / Karen O. Wallace and Patrick J. Lewis. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill Sense, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020019001 (print) | LCCN 2020019002 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004432710 (paperback) | ISBN 9789004432727 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004432734 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Mentally ill children--Education. | Post-traumatic stress disorder in children--Treatment. | Art therapy. | Play therapy. Classification: LCC LC4165 .W35 2020 (print) | LCC LC4165 (ebook) | DDC 371.9--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019001 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020019002

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. isbn 978-90-04-43271-0 (paperback) isbn 978-90-04-43272-7 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-43273-4 (e-book) Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents List of Figures and Tables ix Introduction x

PART 1 What is PAN: Play Art Narrative? Introduction to Part 1 3 1 Play 4 1 Beliefs and Theories about Play 4 2 Functions of Play 7 3 Play and Development: An Overview 8 4 Play & Empathy and Play & Therapy 16 5 So, How Important Is Play? 21 2 Art 25 1 Art Drawing and Child Development 26 2 Art and Literacy Learning 30 3 Therapeutic Aspects of the Arts 32 4 So How Important Is Art? 40 3 Narrative 42 1 Narrative and Identity 43 2 Oral Narratives and Literacy Learning 45 3 Narrative and Empathy 50 4 Narrative and Therapy 52 5 So How Important Is Narrative? 57

PART 2 Childhood Trauma and School Introduction to Part 2 63 4 Trauma Informed Schools and Teaching 64 1 Social Justice 65 2 Decolonising Trauma Informed Practice 67 3 Trauma Informed Teaching and Schools 68

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4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) 69 What Are Flight, Fight, Freeze Responses? 72 Epigenetics 76 Attachment Styles and Close Relationships: Attachment Cues 78 Sensory Processing Disorder 82 Self-Regulation 83 Resiliency 85 How Traumas Afffect Children’s Ability to Learn 86 Principles That Guide Trauma Informed Education 87

5 Teachers Self-Care and Resiliency 95 1 Educator Self-Care 95 2 Talking to Children about Racism 105 3 LGBTQ+2 Children and Youth 107 4 Anger 108 5 Resiliency 113 6 Self-Assessment for Becoming a Trauma Informed Teacher 116

PART 3 Using PAN in Trauma Informed Teaching Introduction to Part 3 121 6 Trauma Informed Art and Play Environments 123 1 Exercises for Emotional Self-Control and Self-Regulation 125 2 Playing Self-Regulation Games 137 3 Self-Esteem 139 4 Relationship Skills 149 5 Anger Control 154 6 Social Skills 159 7 Attention and Focus 163 8 Summary 169 7 Mindfulness Activities for Children and Teachers 170 1 Mindfulness and Meditation Strategies 171 2 Teaching Focusing to Children 177 3 Working with Children Using Focusing and Art Therapy 178 4 Art Exercises for Children in Focused Centred Art Therapy 178 5 Resources 182

Contents

8 Trauma Resolution Workbook 184 1 What Is Trauma? 184 2 Fight/Flight/Freeze 188 3 Trauma Response: Fight/Flight/Freeze 191 Index 209

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Figures and Tables Figures I.1 6.1 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22

PAN triad. xii Blank body outline. 156 Draw your safe place. 184 Draw your power animal. 185 Draw your tree visualisation. 186 Draw your circle of support. 187 Draw a picture of how you are feeling. 189 Draw a picture of how you are feeling. 190 Draw a picture of how you are feeling. 191 Where do you feel it in your body. 192 Trauma response: Turtle freeze. 193 Trauma response: Deer flight. 194 Trauma response: Lion attack. 195 Body wisdom. 196 Draw the flashback. 198 Draw the star that watches over you. 199 Draw your upstairs and downstairs brain. 200 Body outline to show how you feel safe. 201 Eyes: Draw more eyes. 202 Feeling, thoughts, worry balloons. 204 Draw an image of how to be a good friend. 205 Focusing body scan. 206 Draw your self-symbol. 207 Grateful thoughts. 208

Tables 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1

Trauma Adversity increases risk of negative health. 70 The effects of trauma. 78 Autonomic nervous system: Behavioural states. 84 Symptoms of burnout. 98 What helps reverse burnout? 99 Self-care on the go (partly based on Bard, 2019). 102 Helping addiction test. 109 Suggested ideas for supplies. 124

Introduction Play Art Narrative (PAN) is a pedagogical practice that has evolved from the research, teaching and expressive art therapy work of Karen Wallace and Patrick Lewis. The three elements of PAN are often theorised, researched, practiced and/or taught separately whether in early childhood context or otherwise. We found in our work over the past 30 years with children, youth, and adults that the three are in fact not separate, they are in a tripartite reciprocity, a three-way symbiosis that works together in the journeyed experience of becoming human. PAN is the title of the Early Childhood Education Summer Institute that we guide each year over a three-week integrated graduate education experience. This book is born from that experience and our ongoing evolution of our praxis which draws upon the plethora of play, art, and narrative research that continues to augment the importance of play, art, and narrative in the lives of children, youth, and adults. Although we introduce and discuss play, art, and narrative (PAN) in separate chapters at the outset of this book, the three actually form an integrated triad (see Figure I.1). The three rarely exist in isolation given both their intransitivity and transitivity in the lives of humans. Consequently, it is very important to keep in mind that play, art, and narrative work together both inside and outside of the classroom through a myriad of ways that we often give little attention or thought because it is so taken for granted. However, nothing could be further from the truth; play, art, and narrative are fundamental to human development. As Brian Boyd (2009) in On the Origins of Stories suggests, the myriad of things we attribute to culture and its development, like the arts and stories actually emerge together with and through play. Play does not happen without some kind of narrative and artistic process nor does narrative imagining exist without some art process or some kind of play process or playfulness, just as the art process does not exist without some form of play and narrative imagining. Children move through their inquiry of the world with this attitude and perception, it is the lens of childhood. Growing through childhood, adolescents and adulthood we become so deeply engaged with play, art, narrative that it recedes far into the background of our consciousness we no longer easily notice or attend to them; they are just there, like the air. As Fagan (1981) commented “play taunts us with its inaccessibility, we feel that something is behind it all, but we do not know, or have forgotten how to see it” (p. 493). Similarly, narrative imagining simply becomes the principal mode of human thinking as we develop and grow as outlined in Chapter 3. Stories are simply the way we make sense of experience and the world, it is the way we think and play the world and we tend not to give it much thought because it is so

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ubiquitous. Likewise, the art process travels with play and narrative as we explore and inquire into our experiences. As adults, we need to remind ourselves of the importance of this stance not just for the children we live alongside in school but for ourselves as we explore with children through play, art and narrative. Play art and narrative are fundamental ways of being and knowing for human creatures so it would make sense to take up this process with children to ensure they are successful learners as they travel through school curricula. Play, art and narrative are in a three way-symbiosis, making it almost impossible for one to exist in isolation from the others because they feed and grow from each other simultaneously. This three-way symbiosis seems to develop “…spontaneously and without training in childhood in the form of pretend play” (Boyd, 2009, p. 189), that is to say that play initiates the process of development. PAN in early childhood is integral to children’s growth and learning through a process orientation springing from childhood’s inquiring mind, but more importantly PAN is central to development and growth of Theory of Mind (ToM). Theory of mind is to be able to see mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, motives, feelings—in others as well as in oneself and to understand that others have mental states that are different from one’s own. This is the beginning of developing and learning empathy and compassion, the bedrock of humanity, the heart and soul of being human and from which notions of care, kindness, and love are born. What we suggest is that “we ought to approach children’s play and narrative as closely intertwined, and often overlapping, forms of socially situated symbolic action—and that one source of valuable theoretical resources for grasping the interplay between the two is Vygotsky’s sociocultural analysis of children’s play” (Nicolopoulou, 2005, p. 496). Vygotsky theorised that play is imagination in an externalised form in early childhood and that over time children’s outward play also moves inward through narrative creations; “imagination begins to develop through play… before play there is no imagination” (Vygotsky (1933), cited in El’konin, 2005, p. 14). He saw play as “a transitional stage” of the child’s perception of reality. Vygotsky referred to play as the leading activity—leading a child’s development. Teachers need to recall that children do not consciously separate forms of the arts, they are all one and the same in early childhood, just as play, art and narrative for children are all entwined. Vygotsky (2003) saw play and art as central to imagination development in children and that it is narrative imagination in the present that prepares children for the future. Vygotsky posited that imagination was the essence of all creativity regardless of it being artistic, scientific or technical, “the entire world of human culture, as distinct from the world of nature, all this is the product of human imagination and of creation based on this imagination” (Vygotsky, 2003, p. 10).

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figure I.1 PAN triad

We have heard of Play based curriculum or Arts based curriculum or even a blend of the two. Not to take anything away from these approaches we propose that a Play Art Narrative approach takes up the best of both those approaches and much more. We delineate the importance and benefits of play, art and narrative in the first three chapters of this book. In the later chapters, we describe how a PAN approach facilitates trauma informed teaching and can ensure successful learning by all students. We show how to utilise play art and narrative in the classroom and the school to help all children learn, grow and develop. We also show how play art and narrative can be used to help children realise curricular learning outcomes while they are becoming creative and curious inquirers in their journey through school and life. However, we will also show how taking up the stance and attitude of PAN helps teachers in their well-being and practice. Reviews of research have established and continue to support the benefits of play, the arts, and narrative to the development and learning of children. The book delineates the theoretical underpinnings, research evidence and practical implementation of PAN with children and practitioners. The work showcases the importance of this approach to the holistic development and learning of children both in early childhood and beyond. We draw upon recent brain research, life span psychology, ToM, narrative research, play research, pedagogical research, and research in the expressive art therapies to demonstrate how PAN facilitates and nurtures the development and learning of children. But the book does more than that, it is a clarion call to parents, teachers, all adults to re-centre play, art and narrative in children’s lives both in and outside of school. Over the past generation there has been a growing perception, concern of an erosion of play, the arts and narrative in the lives of children both in the school setting and outside it (Lewis, 2007, 2017; Hewes, 2006, 2010).

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In this text, the authors present a theoretical and practical framework for recentring play, art and narrative in the learning and development of children and repair of trauma that many children bring to school. Although most Pre-k to 3 school jurisdictions operate within a standardised outcome based structure, this book offers some avenues to pursue with PAN that meet and/or exceed many of the learning outcomes delineated in education curricula guides.

1

Shape of the Chapters

The book is laid out in three parts, the first two parts explain and guide practitioners and parents toward centring PAN in children’s daily experiences, both adult orchestrated and child initiated. The third part has three chapters, one describes how to set up a trauma informed art and play environment, another is a guide filled with a series of exercises that are integrated with Mindfulness practice and Art Therapy, and the final chapter is a Trauma Resolution workbook full of exercises for working through trauma repair. Part 1 begins with a chapter about Play, the theories, research and importance of the ludic form in the development and learning of a child’s “being and becoming” (Sturrock, 2007). Play is something easily recognised, assumed to be universal, considered predominantly the domain of children everywhere, and often taken for granted by adults. But play is actually rather complicated, not easily defined, abstract and fluid, and full of consequence in the journey of life; we just know it when we see it, however, when pressed to contemplate the ludic form we are often at a loss usually resorting to a play ethos we have learned from our particular socially constructed environment. Play is indeed universal; however, its representation, interpretation and appreciation are as varied as the cultural landscape of human being. As Johan Huizinga (1950) said, “all play means something. If we call the active principle that makes up the essence of play, ‘instinct,’ we explain nothing; if we call it ‘mind’ or ‘will’ we say too much” (p. 1). Almost anything in human activity could be play, it all depends upon the frame we bring to it, that is if we bring a play frame to it. Consequently, play has far reaching importance in the early life experiences of all humans and as we age. The second chapter takes up the arts, in particular looking at the research, theories and practices of expressive arts. The arts—visual, music, dance, drama all garner space in school curricula including early childhood education. However, the actual weekly recommended times in curriculum documents is surprisingly low; on average 200 minutes per week for grades one to five (Saskatchewan Ministry of Education) and that is split evenly between the four areas. Because each area only receives 50 minutes a week more often than

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not it is the arts that tend to have their allotted times eroded by scheduling events and the perceived need to emphasise literacy and numeracy learning in the early years of schooling (Pre-k to 3). “The exploration of imagination through the arts and story are not perceived to be at the heart of schooling. They are perceived as fringe elements played at if there is time after the real business of education…” (Lewis, 2007, p. 42). Yet, research literature suggests the arts should be at the centre of early schooling experience because, like play there are developmental and learning benefits children derive from engagement with the arts. But it goes well beyond that modernist view of children’s art making that speaks to line, shape, colour, fine motor development, movement, voice etc. as some recipe or list aimed at a developmental learning trajectory. Rather imagination, creativity and mental well-being all work together through the art process given there is a supportive environment that facilitates play and exploration in the arts. The 4 year old artist begins with an idea as she takes up the medium of paint, clay, dance, music, or drama and sinks into an artistic inquiry without much thought to the end product. She is doing naturally what Shaun McNiff (1998) urges in Trust the Process, in that she is immersed in a process orientation wherein the ultimate goal of the creative process is the enlargement of imagination. What McNiff referred to as a “sensate orientation”—the place where the child artist begins and the adult artist strives to return. Chapter 3 travels through the narrative process of being human and human being. We are storied creatures in that the narrative imagination both informs and forms our experience, both real and imagined otherwise. “Story and storytelling are simultaneously cognitive processes and products of cognition. Story is both art and quotidian, centripetal and centrifugal, running deep and wide through the human psyche” (Lewis, 2011, p. 505). Every civilisation throughout human existence begins and ends with story, we think and live the world through narrative. Narrative is perhaps the basic principal of mind, which is to say, “there is an abiding recognition that existence is inherently storied. Life is pregnant with stories” (Kearney, 2002, p. 130). Narrative understanding develops very early in human life with the rudimentary, yet complex knowledge of basic story structure existing in human infancy—beginning—middle—end. By age two or three years children are capable of creating what philosophers and psychologist call counterfactuals—imagining other possible realities, that is stories (Gopnik, 2009). Herein lies the importance of storytelling in helping children’s cognitive, social, emotional and spiritual development. Story is both phenomenon and process, “counterfactuals let us change the future. Because we can consider alternative ways the world might be, we can actually act on the world and intervene to turn it into one or the other of these possibilities”

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(p. 23). Children play cognitively and materially with stories to explore and experience counterfactuals to imagine possibilities. “Of all our cognitive capacities, imagination is the one that permits us to give credence to alternative realities. It allows us to break with the taken for granted, to set aside familiar distinctions and definitions” (Greene, 1995, p. 3). We do not have to remain who we have been. The fourth chapter takes a turn into the idea of Trauma and how many children and adults are holding an often invisible disorder throughout their everyday lives. It explores the many forms and causes of trauma that often go undiagnosed or overlooked because the symptoms are misunderstood or not noticed. Trauma is not an event, but rather a person’s response to a dangerous experience that results in negative impacts emotionally, psychologically and/ or physically. This chapter helps explain the complex nature of trauma and how it is held in different ways by people. The discussion also notes how it benefits everyone in the classroom when educators have the skills to provide support, safety, and empathy while creating environments for children to learn, emotionally regulate, and adjust their behaviours. When a traumatised child feels trust, acceptance, and safety, they can move towards academic success. Trauma affects every aspect of a child’s life: brain development, physiology, social skills, self-esteem, and ability to function as a healthy person in the world. In Chapter 5 the authors take up the importance of teacher self-care and resiliency. If teachers and administrators are not aware of their own stress or trauma it will make it very difficult or nearly impossible to help children work through their trauma repair. This is integral for teachers to do so that they avoid succumbing to what Craig (2016) calls “compassion fatigue,” wherein professionals begin to feel helpless and that nothing they do will help or make a difference in the life of the children in their care. This chapter provides a framework and exercises/ideas for ensuring that teachers are grounded and self-aware as they move through the day-to-day practice of teaching alongside children. The sixth chapter outlines through numerous examples how to be trauma informed through play art and narrative environments and practices. Many of these ideas are easy to facilitate in small and large groups. Furthermore, they should help teachers and others begin to build on the exercises and examples provided throughout the chapter. Chapter 7 is a short chapter explaining mindfulness, how to integrate it in the classroom, and a long list of ways to teach and practice mindfulness with your children and for yourself. And finally, in Chapter 8 the authors set out a workbook for trauma resolution. It is a chapter full of ideas and exercises that can be worked through in small and large groups or one-to-one settings.

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References Boyd, B. (2009). On the origin of stories: Evolution, cognition and fiction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Craig, S. (2016). Trauma-sensitive schools: Learning communities transforming children’s lives, K-5. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. El’konin, D. B. (2005). The psychology of play. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43(1), 11–97. Fagen, R. (1981). Animal behavior. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Gopnik, A. (2009). The philosophical baby: What children’s minds tell us about truth. love and the meaning of life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Hewes, J. (2006). Let the children play: Nature’s answer to early learning. Early Childhood Learning Knowledge Centre. Canada Council on Learning. Retrieved from http://www.cclcca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning Hewes, J. (2010). Voices from the field learning through play: A view from the field (Published online February 3, 2010). Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/en-ca/child-play/perspectives.html?cid= 168&rid=CA Huizinga, J. (1950). Homo ludens: A study of the play-element in culture. London, UK: Roy Publishers. Kearney, R. (2002). On stories: Thinking in action. New York, NY: Routledge. Lewis, P. J. (2007). How we think, but not in school: A storied approach to teaching. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Lewis, P. J. (2011). Storytelling as research/research as storytelling. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(6), 505–510. Lewis, P. J. (2017). The erosion of play. International Journal of Play, 6(1), 10–23. McNiff, S. (1998). Trust the process. Boston, MA: Shambhala Press. Nicolopoulou, A. (2005). Play and narrative in the process of development: Commonalities, differences, and interrelations. Cognitive Development, 20, 495–502. Nicolopoulou, A., & Ilgaz, H. (2013). What do we know about pretend. Play and narrative development? A response…. American Journal of Play, 6(1), 55–81. Sutton-Smith, B. (2001). The ambiguity of play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, Vol. 1. Problems of general psychology (R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton, Eds.). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

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Vygotsky, L. S. (2002). Play and its role in the mental development of the child (C. Mulholland, Trans.). Psychology and Marxism internet archive. Retrieved May 24, 2006, from http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/1933/play.htm (Original work published 1933) Vygotsky, L. S. (2003). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.

PART 1 What is PAN: Play Art Narrative?

∵

Introduction to Part 1 In this part the three chapters delineate the theoretical and practical understandings and implications of PAN. The first chapter explicates the notion of play and its many benefits in the development and well being of children, but also the importance of play across the life span. The second chapter thoughtfully unpacks the value of the expressive arts and not just the cultural value of the arts, but how they actually benefit the emotional and intellectual development of children and adults. The third chapter in this part shows how important narrative imagination is to being human. Story is integral to human understanding; we are storied creatures using narrative as our fundamental process of making sense of all lived experience. Stories just don’t inform us they have a hand in forming us.

© koninklijke brill nv, leideN, 2020 | DOI: 10.1163/9789004432734_001

CHAPTER 1

Play Play is the signature of childhood. It’s a living, visible manifestation of imagination and learning in action. alison gopnik (2009, p. 14)

∵ 1

Beliefs and Theories about Play

Play, the ludic form is often a contested area of research and understanding. There is some divergence from what defines play to what purpose or benefits derive from play. This has resulted in a great deal of theorising and research into play not only in early childhood development and learning, but across disciplines and across species. Consequently, there is a significant and growing body of research literature on play that generally supports the importance of play in the lives of young children, but also across the life span. In trying to define play we find as Nagel (2002) said that, “Play is an elusive term which defies all conceptualization, in part because we are already so familiar with it” (p. 1). We see play everywhere and tend not to give it much thought; ‘those children are playing; those adults are playing chess; and those youths are playing soccer.’ However, if we stop and think about trying to define play we find as Gwen Gordon (2009) noted, “for a single definition to meet the challenge of encompassing the full trans-rational paradox and variability of play, it must be as protean and flexible as play itself” (p. 3). Although children’s play is often contested, both its definition and its value, there are some generally agreed upon criteria that if present qualify actions/ behaviours/situations as play. Historically researchers have insisted that all the criteria must be present for something to be play. However, more recently play researchers have come to see that by placing play criteria on a continuum that the more criteria present the closer to pure play is the behaviour (Howard, 2014, p. 119). Yet, even this idea has been critiqued to show its own limitations. The criteria approach for play are generally: Is it, voluntary; intrinsically motivated; pleasurable; focused on the process rather than product of play; and showing non-literality/pretence/transformation? The challenge of course with criteria © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi: 10.1163/9789004432734_002

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for determining if play is present is that all of the criteria have to be present and that is not always the case nor is it easy to determine if they are present. But what all this research and argument often overlooks is the child’s perspective of what is defined or experienced as play. Even Vygotsky (1933/2002) warned against not taking into consideration the child’s perspective when he said to, “refuse to approach the problem of play from the standpoint of fulfilment of the child’s needs, his [sic] incentives to act, and his affective aspirations would result in a terrible intellectualization of play.” The few studies that have looked at this idea found that children categorise play differently than adults. Children sort play by activity type; namely role play; construction activities; and outdoor play; the level of control they have of the play; and finally, whether an adult is present or not (Howard, 2014, p. 120). The presence of adults usually means an activity may be less than pure play, however, the exception is when adults join in as co-players and follow the unwritten rules of negotiating the creation of the play. In the world of early childhood education this is knowledge we should all stop and listen to given the prevalent commitment in ECE to what Peter Smith (2010) has called the ‘play ethos’—that is, a belief that play and learning are synonymous—play is learning (p. 28). The belief in the importance of play is not new, it began in the 1920s when early childhood educators and researchers committed to, “a very strong and unquestioned view of the importance of play” (p. 28). Over time, and in particular during the 1970s and 1980s, this play ethos shaped play research (Smith, 2010). Toward the close of the twentieth century the play theorist Brian SuttonSmith (2001) may have articulated the clearest summary of the multiple theories of play through his seven rhetorics (theories) of play. In The Ambiguity of Play he discusses the rhetorics of play in great depth, however he takes care to note, first that “each is called a rhetoric because its ideological values are something that the holders like to persuade others to believe in and live by. Much of the time such values do not even reach a level of conscious awareness” (p. 11). Second, that each rhetoric/ideology “has a historical source, a particular function, a distinctive ludic form, and specialized players and advocates, and is the context for particular academic disciplines. In addition, its advocates and scholars manifest hegemonies both within their own form of play and toward other forms” (p. 214). Of course, over time different rhetorics/ideologies dominate our perceptions with “play as progress” being the most dominant these days as mentioned above with the notion of the play ethos. Brian Sutton-Smith’s Seven Rhetorics of Play 1. Progress: Argues that play is a developmental process of children and animals, but not adults. It has dominated Euro-American thinking more as

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chapter 1

a belief than a demonstrated fact; that children’s play is about development and learning rather than enjoyment. 2. Fate: Is one of the oldest rhetorics, which sees human lives and play controlled by the gods, Fortuna, luck or destiny with only those skillful in magic or reading the stars able to influence things. 3. Power: An ancient rhetoric exemplified through sports, athletics and contests that very much persists today. It is a representation of conflict to consolidate the status of those who control the play or those who are its heroes. It rises out of warfare and the patriarchy and is anathema to modern play theory of progress. 4. Identity: Refers to cultural and community identity when such play in the form of festivals, traditions and celebrations reaffirmed and/or maintained the community’s identity. 5. Imaginary: Argues the importance of play as integral to imagination, flexibility and creativity and is sustained by modern positive attitudes toward creativity and imagination. 6. Self: Emphasises the desirable experiences of players—the fun, enjoyment, pleasure, joy—and the intrinsic or aesthetic satisfactions of the play performances. 7. Frivolous: Historically applied to the trickster or fool characters that were at the heart of carnival, enacting playful protest against the authorities of the day. More recently applied to the idle or foolish, but inverts the ‘work ethic’ view of play, against which all the other rhetorics exist as rhetorics of rebuttal (2001, pp. 9–12). More recently with interest and research across disciplines and across species the landscape of play research has shifted and provided more evidence about play and its functions and value. Gordon Burghardt (2014) offers that, “Play is repeated, seemingly non-functional behavior differing from more adaptive versions structurally, contextually, or developmentally, and initiated when the animal is in a relaxed, unstimulating, or low stress setting” (p. 91). But he admits that even this definition cannot be definitive nor does it consider all the possible nuances. Perhaps Bernard Mergen (1995) captured it best with the difficulty of defining play when he observed that to study play is, “itself a kind of fantasy, one that satisfies the adult desire to explain and pretend to know what play is” (p. 271). Maybe in theorising and researching play we adults are engaged in our own ludic pursuits, a sophisticated cognitive play with complex thought, behaviours, and emotions in trying to understand something that may only be realised through play itself. We would do well to attend to what was mentioned above about children’s ideas of what constitutes play and see where those criteria overlap with adult theorised and researched criteria for play. Consequently, with human play it is generally agreed that a main criterion

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Play

for something to be play is that of non-literality, that is pretence, transformation of spaces into places of play whether role play, construction, or outdoors. Also, accompanying that must be another “core feature of play [which] is its intrinsic motivation” (Bateson, 2014, p. 110) which by consequence means the players have some measure of control.

2

Functions of Play

In trying to answer the question, what is play for? We are confronted with a plethora of responses and none of them are mutually exclusive; however, they range from there is minimal benefit to be derived from play to play practically being a panacea. Part of this wide ranging view stems from a similarity to the difficulty of defining play in that “the function of play is elusive” (Pellegrini, 2009, p. 85). But, it would be wise to keep in mind that humans and animals have been playing for a very long time; long before civilisations emerged humans have been playing. It would be naïve to think that there are no functions of play and some kind of benefits. Also, it is important to keep in mind that, “If any general theory of play function is emerging, the role of play in regulating emotion and stress may be very promising, as it can be involved in many diverse types of play and various contexts” (Burghart, 2014, p. 95). As mentioned there is a large and growing body of research literature that supports a cross-section of benefits of play as well as possible functions of play that emerges from across disciplines and species. Bateson (2014) suggests that the question of the purpose of play “is not directed at the individual’s motivation. It is concerned with how the various aspects of play increase the individual’s chances of survival and reproducing itself” (p. 104). Inherent in that idea are a plethora of benefits to be derived from play. In a brief survey of recent research literature on play we can summarise some of the many benefits of play in early childhood: – Play contributes to brain development in the most basic and most complex ways. – Play benefits cognitive development of children, in particular play improves executive functions, the development of theory of mind (ToM), creativity, problem solving, imagination, and language and literacy development. – Play benefits social development, children learn to navigate interpersonal interactions, socialisation, and social understanding. – Play benefits physical development, gross and fine motor skills, spatial awareness, strengths and limitations awareness, and health and well-being. – Play benefits emotional development of children, particularly through pretend play and rough and tumble play.

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Interestingly, the most far reaching and important research claim may be that, “Play has features that are likely to make it especially suitable for finding the best way forward in a world of conflicting demands” (Bateson, 2014, p. 104).

3

Play and Development: An Overview

The link between play and development has long been studied and researched in early childhood development. There is a symbiotic relationship between play and development; play is served by development and development is seen in play. Beginning from the moment of birth play is at work within the new born infant in the form of what is described as motor play, what Piaget described as the sensorimotor stage of development (0–2 years). The infant engages with developing mastery of their own physical being and then with external object. This is often termed functional or practice play which consists of repeated patterns of movement or sound, such as sucking, shaking, banging, babbling, and then progresses to games like peekaboo when we see play with objects appearing and disappearing. The infant through this play of physical exploration is learning about her immediate world and all that is available to her in the environment. As this play develops the child begins to explore the effect of their play on the environment and their play begins to become more systematic. However, it is important to keep in mind that development is not a simple linear process that cumulatively adds new behaviours and/or abilities. At the core of a child’s development is transformation; a child’s development refers to qualitative change over time of abilities and more sophisticated play behaviours through greater flexibility, scope, organisation and coordination. There are generally considered to be four broad categories of play: Motor, Object, Symbolic and Social. These four are then organised into hierarchical developmental categories as follows. 3.1 Social and Cognitive Stages of Play 3.1.1 Cognitive Stages – Practice Play (functional play): repetitive movement, running, jumping, leaping, marching. – Constructive Play: using materials to construct something (e.g. blocks, sand, paints, clay). – Dramatic Play/Symbolic Play: role play (e.g. pretending to be a firefighter) or make-believe (e.g. pretending to drive a plane and holding make believe steering wheel).

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– Game Play: accepting and abiding by rules of the game (e.g. tag, checkers, kickball, four squares, mother may I). 3.1.2 Social Stages – Independent Play: child is playing alone no other children within a metre. – Parallel Play: child is playing beside another child but there is no interaction between the two. – Cooperative Play: children playing together, planning and negotiating roles and structure together. – Unoccupied behaviour: child is not engaged in any activity. – Observer: child is not engaged in any activity but is watching others play. – Non-play: teacher assigned activities that may or may not be academic in nature. These stages are based upon the research work of Mildred Parten (1933), Sara Smilansky (1968), and Peter Smith and Anthony Pellegrini (2013). But recall above, these categories have been created by folks who study play and there is always already the needs and desires of children vis-à-vis their play that are rarely figured into these categories. So, of course there are limitations to categories and hierarchical levels of play both in cognitive and social terms of play behaviours. A child and her play do not ever neatly fit into adult created categorical levels. Nor does a child ever enter play with the idea of trying to contribute to her development or learn something! These categories are more useful if viewed as guidelines when thinking about play and child development just as the stages of child development as generally described by developmental psychology do not neatly fit each child. The most important thing to bear in mind about play and development is that play can provide a glimpse into a child’s development suggesting her level of growth and change; play also may act as an arena and means to a child’s development; and play can be the developmental change of the child. Generally speaking, we can expect that infants engage in solitary play that is also functional/practice play, but also remember that care givers are also involved with infants and their play to a greater or lesser degree depending upon the environment and cultural practices of the care givers. Toddlers will engage in forms of parallel play that will also be functional/practice play. Preschool children generally begin to engage in cooperative/group play, constructive play and dramatic play. And kindergarteners will engage in cooperative-constructive play, socio-dramatic play and begin to play games with rules. Children in grades one through 3 will continue to engage in group play, dramatic play and more and more games with rules as well as creating their own games with rules. Development in play, that is the change in a child’s play then

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integrates the previous levels of play. So that moving to constructive play sees the child integrate functional play taking the play to a higher level, not just manipulating the materials (e.g. blocks) but using them in innovative or creative ways of construction. It is more than just a lineal adding up of functional play action. Comparably, constructive play becomes integrated in dramatic play where children may be seen using functional play and constructive play with the blocks to imagine and create a castle which then becomes the setting for pretend play of royalty and dragons. Consequently, it is important to understand that in any play episode all or only one of the levels of play may be present, however, that does not always determine the developmental level of the children at play. Play has both short term and long term developmental impact. 3.2 Play and Imagination and Creativity Play in the child’s life is the leading activity said Vygotsky. In his articulation and understanding of his concept of the zone of proximal development (zpd), it is play that creates the zpd and by consequence makes play the most important activity for young children. “Action in the imaginative sphere, in an imaginary situation, the creation of voluntary intentions and the formation of real-life plans and volitional motives—all appear in play and make it the highest level of preschool development” (1933/2002). That is to say, a child only develops through play and it is in this sense that Vygotsky asserted that play is the leading activity—leading a child’s development. Play leads to imagination, what Vygotsky called, perezhivanie—the integration of affect and intellect; the mastering of imagination through play. Piaget saw imagination as subconscious, undirected, passive or spontaneous. But, Vygotsky posits that imagination is an active, consciously directed process woven through the development of cultural cognitive tools, specifically language—narrative. As Vygotsky said, …consider the domain of artistic creativity in this connection. This domain of activity is accessible to the child at a young age. If we consider the products of this creativity in drawing or storytelling, it quickly becomes apparent that this imagination has a directed nature. It is not a subconscious activity. (Vygotsky, 1987, p. 346) If play is the leading activity in a child’s development and play leads to the development of imagination and imagination is central to creative activity, including learning because to learn is in fact to create, then play ought to figure centrally in the lives of children.

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3.2.1 The Re-Factor According to McNiff the re-factor is “the most fundamental skill of the creative person is the ability to constantly re-vision the world. Everything is subject to reconstruction and renewal. The “re” factor is the basis of resurrecting, reshaping, regenerating, reviving, and rejuvenating. Creative persons live in a state of constant search and exploration” (McNiff, 1998, p. 69). One of the most powerful gifts resulting from play is the ability to re-work, re-frame, and re-visit the self and our beliefs. To redo something in play often takes several attempts, like learning a new skill or learning a new game. The children who come to Karen’s art therapy studio already have ingrained habitual emotional responses, survival beliefs, and fears that limit their ability to live life fully. These may be defences that once kept them safe, however now limit their ability to enjoy life, or beliefs that negatively affect their self-identity. Vignette One little boy had grown up in a house that had gang members. He often played with the dollhouse in the art & play studio and he would hide all the children in the bathroom and then he would bring in bad guys who would try to storm down the bathroom door. In talking to his grandmother, I learned that this was exactly what he did in his home as a very young child. He hid his sisters in the bathroom when men came over to party with his mother. Then one day he found all the superhero figures and decided that they would save the children. This reframe allowed him to be a child again. He didn’t have to be in the bathroom with his sisters, because a bigger guardian, the superhero did the protection job that he as a four year old was not equipped to do. Because he would not talk about what happened at his mom’s house, he played it out. This reframe allowed him to let go of his parentified role of protector and go back to being a child who then moved into playing different games in the sand tray such as minions, creating animal worlds, and many other scenarios mostly with happy endings. I watched him become more playful, happier and less anxious once he had replayed and reworked this part of his past trauma.

In the classroom, the trauma informed teacher will identify this kind of play due to learning to know which children may have a traumatic past. Children’s reactive behaviours from trauma can often be misdiagnosed as symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). That is because children and youth who are dealing with trauma may be impulsive, angry or display other

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intense emotional behaviour. This is very common with trauma—these children struggle with regulating behaviours and emotions, consequently a lot of children and youth then find themselves in trouble in school. Demonstrating kind regard, empathy, and providing containment for children who may need and feel safe enough to play out and reframe their trauma stories requires one to hold the space, make time to talk with the child. Teachers also need to create the right environment and have toys and materials that support this kind of reparative play. Vignette Another use of the ‘re’ factor is replaying fears if the child is ready to do so. A boy that I worked with had to get weekly needles. He developed an aversion to them and became afraid. In the therapy studio, I had him play out what he had to go through with his mother to his favourite stuffy with him acting as the needle giver. First, he calmed down the stuffy with some deep breathing, next he asked him to think of his favourite place to be. This is called resourcing. It helps the child feel safe and secure to imagine themselves in a favourite place. The body relaxes, and takes on the feelings that a person experiences when situated in that place. Next, he explained to his stuffy that he was going to give him his needle. Then the stuffy got to watch a favourite show while he administered the needle. I asked him to do this again while his mother gave him his needle on the weekend.

The ‘re’ factor of the patient becoming the doctor helped him overcome his beginning fear and phobia of needles. Replaying differently a problem, fear or perceived phobia in the classroom or therapy room helps a child shift in their position of feeling like a failure or victim to re-perceiving themselves as strong, resilient and successful. The technique of replay to lower anxieties, fears and phobias has been used for a long time in therapy. The therapist first re-enacts a portion of the experience that triggers fears in the child using dolls, puppets, and role play, including a playful version of the child’s intense emotional responses. To encourage strong positive affect in the child during the replays the therapist uses such fun strategies as humorous exaggeration and characters with silly voices. Once the child is happily engaged in the therapy, the therapist gradually increases the degree of exposure to the real-life stressor, while modeling more adaptive coping strategies to use in the play and subsequently in real life.

Play

13 So, the replay technique is a step-by-step in vivo desensitization process. (Van Hollander, 2014, p. 124)

The trauma informed classroom teacher could use this process in many different situations with the children in their care. Similar to how children are trained to respond to an earthquake or fire drill, the children can learn to desensitise to stressful or fearful situations. A first aid play protocol helps children de-stress and ground. We use an ABC focusing technique with children drawn from Focusing (Cornell, 2005) and Helene Brenner’s (2003) work: The A is to Acknowledge your feelings, the B is to Be with your feelings, and C is to have Compassion for your feelings. Help children acknowledge how they are feeling inside, to accept it and not judge it as good or bad, to just see it and recognise it as it is in that moment; to not think about changing it or denying it, but to just sit with it. Then help children just be with their feelings by guiding them to imagine the parts of themselves that are hurt, sad, happy, angry, alone or in pain as if those feelings were like another person that they can listen to and talk with as they experience those feelings. Finally, help children to have compassion for themselves and all those parts of themselves that are holding those feelings. Without having compassion for the self and our feelings it is difficult to transform things. By having compassion towards the hurt parts of self then a child, or anyone can begin to feel calm, present and find peace (Brenner, 2003, pp. 50–53). For example, if some of the children in the class were stressed by an upcoming quiz, the teacher could do a reframe. First, the teacher would ask the children to do some deep breathing, resourcing, and then the ABCs. Now they have the children imagine the last time they felt successful and proud of something they had done. Once they have that picture she would ask them where they felt it in the body, what the feeling is, and if there was a colour associated with it. While holding on to this positive feeling, the teacher would have them visualise doing really well on the test and then ending the exercise with a power stance. The more time children spend imagining themselves capable and successful, the more likely they will be. According to A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957), Leon Festinger (1957) thought that humans needed internal psychological consistency, and when a child or adult experiences inconsistency then they become stressed. It follows that we can’t hold two conflicting thoughts about ourselves at the same time. So, we are reframing a negative thought that we do badly on exams, to believing that we can do well, it has to be repeated and reinforced until we physically, mentally, and emotionally embody the belief. Reframing is changing cognitive thinking from limiting beliefs to empowering ones and it needs to be reinforced and practiced to move the child into

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a new cognitive framework. Visualisation has been used for a long time in sports psychology. The belief is that the athlete’s performance matches the play they are envisioning in their heads. Coaches ask players to practice ten minutes a day, every day. By programing the brain to think positively it will help align us in the right direction. Adding the senses: taste, smell, sight and feel to the goal or reframe helps increase the effectiveness of the visualisation. We can use the same techniques with children who want to feel happier, more empowered and experience higher self-esteem. This is a powerful example of cognitive play. 3.3 Play and Language & Literacy Evidence suggests that play processes—the language, symbolic representations, and narratives/stories used in play—are closely linked with the development and learning of beginning literacy skills (Christie & Roskos, 2013). Most pretend play has a central narrative running through it from its beginnings, through negotiations and revisions right through to process and end of the session; it is in this kind of play that children develop, refine and practice their narrative competence, that is to say their understanding of language and story. Consequently, “both play and storytelling should be viewed as complementary expressions of children’s symbolic imagination that draw from and reflect back upon the inter-related domains of emotional, intellectual, and social life” (Nicolopoulou, 2005, p. 496). In children’s dramatic play there are two forms that researchers observe and refer to as what is, and what if pretend play. What is play, is pretend play that re-enacts or creates new acts imitating the everyday world that children see and are part of e.g. when they play store, house, or doctor. The symbolic play seen in what is play may be a child using a construction of Lego blocks as a telephone to answer in the playing store setting. Whereas ‘what if’ play sees children transcending the quotidian and the known usually involving the fantastical or magical in which the Lego blocks might become the magic potion to defeat the dragon. However, “both in play and in narrative, children oscillate between the what is and the what if domains of experience. Such oscillation is as psychologically important as the construction of the narrative worlds themselves” (Engel, 2005, p. 516). Susan Engel’s (2005) research notes that children’s play worlds are much more sophisticated than adults seem to appreciate, it is not simply a binary of real and not real when it comes to dramatic/pretend play. She shows that it is more helpful and informative to see a child’s experience of pretend play across a set of spheres where other players, behaviours, and materials are construed in particular ways (p. 523). Children learn to move easily and seamlessly in and out of these worlds while interacting with other players and adults during

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play sessions. But what is most important in relation to literacy development and learning is the process of oral language use and development in pretend play. Narrative language, first as an accompaniment to play, and then in spoken stories, provides children with a means for delineating the worlds of what if and what is, creating scenarios within those boundaries and exploring the boundaries themselves. The language that children use to accompany their pretend play during their second and third years is a precursor to the purely verbal stories they tell beginning in their third year. Those stories often come to replace the earlier pretend play and often serve the same psychological functions. (Engels, 2005, p. 524) By their fourth and fifth year children who have had the opportunities and environment to engage in this kind of dramatic/pretend play tend to have greater development of early literacy skills. Namely, the well-developed narrative understanding of basic story structure with all the accompany parts such as setting, plot, conflict/problem, theme and resolution in very rudimentary forms. As Anthony Pellegrini (2009) noted, the reason this is seen as early literacy development is because of the literate language that children develop in this pretend play which is congruent with notions of beginning literacy learning (pp. 202–204). Consequently, the “pretend play of pre-schoolers and the oral language surrounding it are relatively good predictors of reading related measures of literacy in kindergarten” (p. 206). A corollary to this of course is that literacy enriched play environments lead to enhanced literacy learning experiences for children (Christie & Roskos, 2013) so that print rich play centres only augment a child’s early literacy development and learning. General background knowledge and narrative integration are congruent with so-called school readiness. Play then does have a significant influence on children’s literacy development and learning, specifically reading and writing. However, it is important to note that it is not just the pretend play itself but also the navigation and negotiations mediated through oral language that children take up in their pretend play processes that also contributes to early literacy learning. Pellegrini (2009) shows research that suggests what is augmenting pretend play with respect to literacy development is children’s engagement with meta language. Pretend play also becomes a context within which children must work through disagreements and conflict about how the play narrative will unfold. Consequently, they have to use language to talk about language and story because at its core pretend play is ambiguous and therefore requires oral negotiation. This part of

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the play moves out of the what if realm and requires meta language skills to resolve before seamlessly slipping back into the pretend play realm (p. 209). There is also research evidence from Play Pedagogy or Playworlds which utilises pretend play that shows how adult co-players engaged with children impact children’s literacy learning positively. This form of adult-child pretend play was initially developed by Gunilla Lindqvist (1995, 2001, 2003) and further developed and refined by others (Baumer et al., 2005; Hakkaraninen, 2004; Marjanovic-Shane et al., 2011). Play pedagogy/playworlds is when adults and children in a classroom setting take up the exploration and study of a story or stories as co-players in the reciprocal negotiation that is pretend play. The story or parts of the story are introduced to the children, then they are provided with some materials to take up an exploration of the story through pretend play in reenacting and/or reimagining the story with the adults as fully engaged players/actors. Lindqvist, through her re-interpreting of Vygotsky’s theory of play suggests there are “two aesthetical forms of play. One is connected to music, poetry, and rhythmic movement….The second form is connected to literary forms and originates from the basic pattern in folktales. This form can be found in children’s play and stories from the age of 3 but also in children’s literature” (Nilsson, 2009, p. 18). Approaching play from this theoretical framework may enable teachers to have the play be congruent with children’s own views/criteria of what is play, namely role play and their level of control as mentioned above. Research of play pedagogy shows “children who participated in the playworld practice show significant improvements in narrative length, coherence, and comprehension” (Baumer et al., 2005). Pretend play, ‘what is’ and ‘what if’ and all that it entails with meta language and literate language use throughout the whole play process seems to contribute to the play literacy development connection. The research seems to suggest that much of the oral language development both in the play itself and in the talk about the play amongst the players contributes to literacy development. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that in the preschool and primary grades (1–3) adults engaged in co-playing with children around literacy activities can greatly enhance children’s literacy development and learning.

4

Play & Empathy and Play & Therapy

Play also has therapeutic aspects that run through it whether in a therapy setting or a classroom setting. Play requires children and adults to work together to solve problems, invent, create, collaborate, understand each other’s perspective, develop critical thinking skills and results in developing many

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social-emotional skills. One of the skills that comes from eye-to eye contact, face to face play is empathy. Being empathetic means that a child can sense, feel and understand another child’s or adult’s feelings. If a child is empathetic they will not grow up self-absorbed, to be a bully, and will develop lasting caring relationships with others. Playing a board game, outside chasing game, building blocks or pretend house with another naturally provides opportunities for all players to connect emotionally, share experiences, help build strong relationships, develop kindness, and care for each other. “If kids spend just one hour a day working in groups,” Aronson said, “they develop empathy for people they would otherwise have had nothing to do with because of their appearance” (Gilbert, as cited in Borba, 2016, p. 151). Having empathy is one of the most important things that educators can teach and foster in children and is not necessarily something that we are born with—we in fact learn it. Consequently, empathy is integral to our children’s development, success, relationship building, mental well-being, and basic happiness. The ability to empathise creates happiness, lowers stress levels, and makes children more resilience. As the world witnesses a rise in narcissism, peer cruelty and bullying, depression and stress in young children, we can feel relieved to learn that promoting and teaching empathy in the classroom helps children be healthier, happier and more emotionally regulated. Michelle Borba (2016) posits nine essential habits that children must develop to become, practice, and live empathetic lives and to inspire them to help others. They are emotional literacy, which is being able to notice and understand another person’s feelings as well as their own; moral identity, which is developing the values of care and integrity; perspective taking, which of course is helping children to be able to see another person’s view; and moral imagination, which is the use of stories (oral, print, film, etc.) to foster the ability to imagine and feel the experiences of others. When children have developed these skills, they must next begin to practice self-regulation, practicing kindness with others, and learn to collaborate. Finally, Borba states that children then need to live empathetically once empathy has been established as part of their personality and daily habits through moral courage of acting to help others and altruistic leadership of taking action to make a difference no matter how small the issue (pp. xix–xx). It is through PAN that children can begin to develop and practice these empathetic skills and habits. 4.1 How Might One Teach Empathy with Children? Using Focusing (Gendlin, 1978; Cornel, 2005) we see a fast and effective way to help them learn how to read and understand their own feelings first, then they can understand and read other children’s feelings. Focusing is a psychotherapy

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modality that can be used in any kind of therapeutic situation. It is utilised to help a person become clear about their feelings or wants, to acquire new insights about one’s circumstance, and to help foster change. In part, it focusses in on feelings that are felt and not yet in words. In the art therapy studio Karen uses a simple blank outline of a body. She asks the child when was the last time she felt happy, sad, angry, excited, curious, etc., where she felt it her body, and what colour she imagined it to be. The child remembers the last time she felt happiness, describes the memory in as much detail as she wants and Karen helps her embody it by using the four senses and asking did this memory have any sounds, smells, images, and or sensations? Once the child knows where she feels each emotion in her body, Karen has them fill in the body outline or an alternate way is to have the child fill it in as they go through the process. This practice helps children identify emotions, know how and where they feel things in their body, and helps them be able to dis-identify from their feelings. Dis-identification means teaching children that they are not their feelings, they have feelings but they can step back and observe their feelings while staying in control of their body. Ann Wisner Cornell (2005) talks about being ‘with’ your emotions not in them. A well- regulated person is with their emotions, knows what they are feeling, can notice the sensations that they are experiencing in their body associated with the feeling and can keep it company as a mother would keep a small child company if they were upset. Being ‘in’ your emotions means acting out of them with no regulation or distance such as yelling, throwing things and letting the emotion take over your whole awareness and stopping you from regulating. Using art therapy to express the feelings on the body scan is another step to help children self-regulate and build empathy for themselves and others. In the classroom teachers and support staff can have feeling pictures posted, read books that talk about feelings, show videos that portray strong emotions, play feeling charades, or make up feeling dances. The habit and skills of emotional literacy must be nurtured. Teaching children an emotional vocabulary, talking about emotions, sharing feelings, and tuning in to others are vital for raising empathetic UnSeflies. Tuning in to feelings is what sensitizes kids to other people’s feelings and helps them take on another person’s perspective. The Empathy Advantage of teaching this habit is huge: kids who are adept at recognizing, understanding, and expressing their emotions are healthier, more resilient, and more popular; they do better in school; and they are more apt to help others. (Borba, 2016, p. 24)

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Empathy starts at a young age if the child is in a loving nurturing relationship with an adult. Babies react emotionally if they are bonded to their caregiver and witness their caregivers as upset or hurt. Parents provide the emotional interpretation and expression of events for children and children reflect this back. If parents regulate their own emotions in a positive and appropriate way, children will mirror this back. Parents become models for healthy and unhealthy embodiment of emotions. …a variety of studies show that peer interaction skills and acceptance by your peers are associated with higher levels of functioning both in school and in later life. Believe it or not, the extent to which kindergarteners make new friends and are accepted by their classmates predicts how much they will participate in the classroom activities and even how independently they will work at more academic tasks. This means that the more social children are also the more independent learners. As kindergarteners forge new friendships, they also seem to integrate themselves better into the learning environment in ways that foster academic competence. (Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, & Eyer 2004, pp. 182–183) Vignette I worked with a five year old boy who lived on a reserve in Northern Saskatchewan. He was diagnosed with FASD and he was grieving the loss of his baby brother who died at home. He was depressed, bullying other children, not respecting or listening to his grandparents whom he lived with and totally uncooperative and dis-engaged in school. His teacher could not find anything he liked doing and everyday he ran from the classroom. I was asked if I would work with him in Art and Play Therapy to see if it would help him. When he first came, he was a shy, small boy who said everything I showed him was “boring.” My play and art studios have every game, toy and art supply you can think of and the usual problem is getting children to leave the space when their time is up, not reject all the play and art possibilities as ‘boring ‘at the outset. I soon learned that he had two brothers in a local gang, his mother was often missing in the city although she did visit him on the reserve once and a while, and that he had no friends. He said the only thing he liked doing was playing video games, which were violent and that his brothers had told him that all FASD kids were fighters. He had gotten in trouble for hurting other children on the bus and in his classroom. He told me that hurting other kids was funny and he was

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going to be a gang member like his brothers when he grew up. So, we were a long way from developing empathy. He eventually tried painting, doing crafts but he never really liked it. I have a play studio which is equipped with a Lego section, miniature games, a large space where children can do spray painting, water table, areas for floor play using trains, cars and other moving toys; marble mazes, dart games, and interactive games of all kinds. There was nothing there that he would try or wanted to play with. He had never experienced play with his caregivers and was not willing to try it with me. Slowly, he did move around the room and tried a few of the play possibilities but usually said that it was ‘boring,’ ‘I’m not good at this’ or ‘this is stupid.’ Then one day he discovered the miniature pool table and we played. For the next four months that was the only thing we played and he was getting good at it. He was finally engaged in play and we could finally develop a relationship. Better yet, he developed a skill he could take with him. An uncle had a full sized table and he asked if he could play one night while he was visiting. All the men were impressed with his skill level and he came back to art & play therapy beaming about how much praise he got. This child was never praised for anything, he was perceived as a problem, not someone of value. He was happier, kinder, and getting into less trouble at school. Then his mother who had been living with him at his grandparents left again around the anniversary of the death of his brother. She used drugs to cope with her grief and pain and the little boy went back into depression. But a shift had happened and his behaviour at school continued to stabilise and he bullied less and started to be kinder to his peers.

We learn to be social and empathetic by moving through an ever-widening set of relationships. In art and play therapy he learned that he could be good at something, that play was fun and that being with and interacting with another in a positive way made him feel better about himself. He was starting to build resilience, empathy and trust of another. We don’t know much about why school massacres occur, but we do know a few facts. Although profiles of bullies and shooters vary greatly, what all have had in common is that they suffered from anxiety, depression and withdrawal from appropriate peer social activity. And many had been ostracised, made fun of and picked on by kids their own age. We also know that anxiety, depression and withdrawal are often symptoms of unresolved trauma. It is also well known that children who feel powerless at home will often find an outlet for their rage either with their younger brother or sister, the neighbourhood kids or on the school playground (Levine & Kline, 2008, pp. 122–123).

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5

So, How Important Is Play?

Neuroscience, psychology, biology, anthropology and sociology have come to see that Play is a fundamental drive in not just humans but many species of animals. There is evidence to suggest that a fundamental brain system amongst mammals is responsible for the Play drive (Panksepp & Biven, 2012, p. 386). Research has come to the conclusion that the “ancient subcortical regions of mammalian brains contain at least seven basic affective systems: …SEEKING (expectancy), FEAR (anxiety), RAGE (anger), LUST (sexual excitement), CARE (nurturance), PANIC/GRIEF (sadness), and PLAY (social joy)” (p. xi) Although there may be some contestation with respect to the benefits of play there is good evidence to show what the effects can be for children who are deprived of play. “Among the suggested costs for human children are poor socialization, poor physical fitness, poor mental health and poor creativity” (Bateson, 2014, p. 105). Animals play, humans are animals and we play, not just in childhood, but across the life span, but it is in early childhood that the greatest consequence of play seems to lay because without play at that time in life there are far reaching detrimental impacts on development and learning, mental health and socialisation. So often people set play in a binary with work or misconstrue Maria Montessori’s often quoted notion that play is children’s work. But it is far more accurate to look at what Brian Sutton-Smith (2001) said years ago when he noted that it is not work or seriousness that is the opposite of play, rather it is depression (p. 198). This idea has been borne out in research that provides evidence that play deprivation has an enormous detrimental effect on the mental health and well being of people both in their childhood and into adult life. More research points toward the negative effects of play deprivation thereby supporting the importance of play in children’s lives (Bateson, 2014; Brown, 2014; Burghardt, 2014; Panksepp & Biven, 2012). As summarised by two researchers, children deprived of play are at a far greater risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and of growing into adulthood with a significantly higher probability of becoming a potential danger to society (Panksepp & Biven, 2012, p. 386). It is important to note here that those authors show that the majority of children “diagnosed with ADHD have no clinically relevant brain disorders. Many of these children merely have problems with social compliance when their urges to play are thwarted” (p. 386–387). Given the current curriculum, practices of schools in the preschool to grade three setting, so called societal norms, one can begin to understand the alarming increase in the number of children being diagnosed with ADHD. Setting aside the ethical considerations about medicating young children in order to achieve compliance, perhaps what we really need to focus on is the possible cause, that

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these authors and others suggest, which is the absence of play or limited play in many children’s lives. Play lays the foundation and facilitates prosocial goals of social competence, emotional regulation and independence, development of theory of mind (ToM), and empathy, all of which contribute to positive maturation. Consequently, as Panksepp and Biven (2012) suggest, “it may be wise for society to help create the conditions under which all our children can really play throughout their childhood years” (p. 386) otherwise we will continue to see an increase in the number of children diagnosed with mental health issues and/ or disorders not to mention interpersonal relationship difficulties.

References Bateson, P. (2014). Play, playfulness, creativity and innovation. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 1(2), 99–112. doi:10.12966/abc.05.02.2014 Baumer, S., Ferholt, B., & Lecusay, R. (2005). Promoting narrative competence through adult–child joint pretense: Lessons from the Scandinavian educational practice of playworld. Cognitive Development, 20, 576–590. Borba, M. (2016). Unselfie: Why empathetic kids succeed in our all-about me world. New York, NY: Touchstone. Brenner, H. (2003). I know I’m in there somewhere: A woman’s guide to finding her inner voice and living a life of authenticity. New York, NY: Penguin. Brown, S. (2014). Consequences of play deprivation. Retrieved from http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Consequences_of_Play_Deprivation Burghardt, G. M. (2014). A brief glimpse at the long evolutionary history of play. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 1(2), 90–98. doi:10.12966/abc.05.01.2014 Christie, J. F., & Roskos, K. A. (2013). Play’s potential in early literacy development. In R. E. Tremblay, M. Boivin, & RDeV Peters (Eds.), Encyclopedia on early childhood development. Retrieved from www.child-encyclopedia.com/.../plays-potential-inearly-literacy-development.pdf Cornell, A. W. (2005). The radical acceptance of everything: Living a focusing life. New York, NY: Calluna Press. Engel, S. (2005). The narrative worlds of what is and what if. Cognitive Development, 20, 514–525. Gendlin, E. T. (1978). Focusing. New York, NY: Bantam Dell. Gopnik, A. (2009). The philosophical baby: What children’s minds tell us about truth, love and the meaning of life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

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Gordon, G. (2009). What is play? In search of a universal definition. In D. Kuschner (Ed.), From children to red hatters: Divers images and issues of play (Play and Cultures Studies, Vol. 8, pp. 1–13). Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc. Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R., & Eyer, D. (2004). Einstein never used flash cards: How our children really learn – and why they need to play more and memorize less. New York, NY: Rodale Inc. Howard, J. (2014). Play and development in early childhood. In T. Maynard & S. Powell (Eds.), Early childhood studies (pp. 115–126). London, UK: Sage. Levine, P., & Kline, M. (2008). Trauma-proofing your kids: A parents’ guide for instilling confidence, joy and resilience. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. McNiff, S. (1998). Trust the process: An artist’s guide to letting go. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications Inc. Mergen, B. (1995). Past play: Relics, memory, and history. In A. D. Pellegrini (Ed.), The future of play theory: A multidisciplinary inquiry into the contributions of Brian Sutton-Smith (pp. 257–274). Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Nagel, M. (2002). Masking the abject: A genealogy of play. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Nicolopoulou, A. (2005). Play and narrative in the process of development: Commonalities, differences, and interrelations. Cognitive Development, 20, 495–502. Piaget, J. (1971). Science of education and the psychology of the child (D. Coltman, Trans.). London, UK: Longman. Panksepp, J., & Biven, L. (2012). The archaeology of the mind: Neuroevolutionary origins of human emotions. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. Parten, M. B. (1932). Social participation among preschool children. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 27(3), 243–269. doi:10.1037/h0074524 Pellegrini, A. (2009). The role of play in human development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Roskos, K., & Christie, J. (2007). Play in the context of the new preschool basics. In K. Roskos & J. Christie (Eds.), Play and literacy in early childhood: Research from multiple perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 83–100). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Smilansky, S. (1968). The effects of sociodramatic play on disadvantaged preschool children. New York, NY: Wiley. Smith, K. (2010). Children and play. Meldon, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Smith, P. K., & Pellegrini, A. (2013). Learning through play. In R. E. Tremblay, M. Boivin, & R. Peters (Eds.), Encyclopaedia on early childhood development. Retrieved from http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/play/according-experts/learning-throughplay

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Sutton-Smith, B. (2001). The ambiguity of play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Van Hollander, T. (2014). Countering conditioning fears. In C. Schaefer & A. Drewes (Eds.), The therapeutic powers of play: 20 core agents of change (pp. 121–130). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). The collected works of L. S. Vygotsky, vol. 1: Problems of general psychology (R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton, Eds.). New York, NY: Plenum Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (2002). Play and its role in the mental development of the child (C. Mulholland, Trans). Psychology and Marxism Internet Archive 2002. Retrieved May 24, 2006, from http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/ works/1933/play.htm (Original work published 1933) Vygotsky, L. S. (2003). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.

CHAPTER 2

Art Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. banksy

∵ The arts are often proclaimed to be of the utmost importance in the developmental and educational experience of children and youth; sometimes even to the point of vehement belief in the arts to be a panacea. Of course, there are others who argue that the arts may be of some slight value but they are not integral to the development and education of children and youth or adults. These are two of the more extreme views along a continuum of thought and perceptions by humans around the world with respect to the arts. However, the interesting thing to bear in mind is that the arts, similar to play have been with/in us pretty much since humans have been running around the earth and creating visual art on the walls of caves and other various pieces of art from prehistoric times right up to this digital moment. In his comprehensive work, On the Origin of Stories, Brian Boyd (2009) shows how art and play are integral to understanding human evolutionary cognition. He argues that art is a decidedly human adaptation that provides the species with discernible advantages for our survival, and that art itself derives directly from Play. Play is what brings us to the creative process and consequently art. The social constructivist psychologist Lev Vygotsky took up the idea of art and play long before Boyd articulated his ideas. Vygotsky suggested an entwinement amongst play and art in some of his early and late theoretical works showing how they operate through children’s development of cultural awareness. He suggested that through play imagination is born and by consequence creativity. He saw children as being in the midst of a syncretism of creativity, that is to say, a child is not aware of the separated forms of the arts, they are all one and the same in early childhood. “This syncretism points to the common root that unites all the different branches of children’s art. This common root is the child’s play, which serves as the preparatory stage for his [sic] artistic creation” (Vygotsky, 2003, p. 67). Vygotsky saw play and art as central to imagination development in children and that it is imagination in the present that will © koninklijke brill nv, leideN, 2020 | DOI: 10.1163/9789004432734_003

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prepare children for the future, both immediate and far into their adult lives. Vygotsky posited that imagination was the essence of all creativity regardless of it being artistic, scientific or technical, “absolutely everything around us that was created by the hand of man [sic], the entire world of human culture, as distinct from the world of nature, all this is the product of human imagination and of creation based on this imagination” (Vygotsky, 2003, p. 10).

1

Art Drawing and Child Development

Similar to play, children’s art making is served by development and development is seen in children’s art. It is generally agreed that art making contributes to children’s fine motor skills developing through the basic action of grasping drawing tools such as pencils, crayons, chalk or paintbrushes, also by doing things like delicately cut and paste, sew, sketch, or write. Holding a paintbrush so that it will make the desired marks, practicing origami, drawing with a crayon, or squeezing glue from a bottle in a controlled manner all help develop a child’s fine motor skills and control of materials. These skills help develop better focus, self-regulation and concentration. This kind of motor action provides time and practice to develop and children need an environment for this to happen and be supported in the process. Furthermore, these artmaking activities are a precursor to other more sophisticated fine motor development—printing and writing, buttoning a coat, zippers, or tying shoelaces. Art is shown to contribute to cognitive development in that children engage in and practice with patterning or cause and effect—mixing of primary colours or use of varied levels of force with crayons or chalk to discover lighter and darker markings. Children may also practice planning, reflecting and implementing imagined images or designs when working with a variety of artmaking materials. The implicit introduction and practice with math development skills pervade artmaking for children, particularly in relation to size, shape, comparison, counting and spatial awareness and directions. And of course, artmaking activities contribute to language and literacy development by way of children talking through their artmaking process, sharing what they are doing through talk, and talking about the art product—all of which is narrative imagining, storytelling. There are various models or theories of children’s developmental phases of artmaking that have been proposed over the past century or more. In this writing we will draw upon the idea of four phases of children’s art development—scribbling, pre-symbolism, symbolism, and realism. This model is biased toward the view that the end goal is graphic realism, however, in visual

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arts that is not necessarily de rigueur in the 21st century art world. Also keep in mind that progressing through these phases does not mean the works of artmaking by children in the first or second phase of development are inferior to those in the latter phases. Recall Picasso’s life long aim when he said, “It took me four years to paint like Rafael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” Often the works by children in the earlier phases of development are aesthetically more compelling to viewers than those in the latter phases because the young artist is still in the joyous phase of discovering mark making! It is very important to keep in mind that children are unlikely to realise the realism phase without adult support or instruction. Consequently, bear in mind that development in art is not universal and is directly linked to the environment in which children are supported and educated. It is also important to keep in mind that these phases are fluid and children will also overlap them in their drawings. Also, it is drawing that these phases refer to, drawing with pencils, crayons or markers not painting because using a paint brush is a decidedly more difficult tool to control and manipulate than a pencil. 1.1 The Scribbling Phase Where Art Begins A child’s first encounter with mark making may be a crayon or a pencil moved erratically across a piece of paper creating lines to the delight of the mark maker. In this early phase, it is thought that children between ages 18 months to 30 months are not trying to draw anything rather they are immersed in the somatic pleasure of moving their arms about and producing marks. However, as they age toward the end of this phase children may begin to experiment with representation even though to observers it will still appear as scribbles—the story about the picture extends the representation. Initially in this phase children do not realise that they are controlling the mark making, however, they soon figure that out and over time that has them exert and practice control of their scribbling. In that process, a child may begin to make a series of long lines, or tight together short lines or circular motions, and eventually begin to make loose geometric shapes or objects that resemble block letters. 1.2 The Pre-Symbolism Phase and First Figures Around age three or four children begin to draw the human figure, usually a circle with one or more lines descending from the circle to represent our limbs and are sometimes said to resemble tadpoles. Usually the child will draw them as representing parents, siblings and self. The circles (heads) are generally very large and dominate the image while the lines (legs) are thin and downward. Everything in the drawing is out of proportion and the lack of detail, e.g. eyes, fingers, mouth, nose etc should not be taken as a developmental misstep by the

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art maker, rather it is more accurate to say that children are simply representing the human figure in their own unique way and as they mature and gain more experience and support those details will emerge in their drawings. For teachers and caregivers this is an opportunity to support a child’s learning and development about body awareness through drawing. By the age of four or five children begin to experiment with their figure drawings, still with the very large head but more limbs may be added or details that directly relate to a current experience or interaction with others (e.g. feet because of running or walking, teeth because of dentist visit, or big arm fleshed out because of medial needle). The face is still the largest and central part of the child’s figure drawing and the idea of being more accurate with limbs, torso, digits etc. will not generally occur to a child until about the age of seven or eight. 1.3 The Symbolism Phase This stage of art drawing usually emerges around the age of six to eight with most children. In this phase children generally have many graphic representations for a wide selection of items that they encounter in their everyday being—house, person, car, bus, tree, clouds etc. During this phase these representations become more individualised and personal in detail when compared to other children’s drawings. That is, the artist is developing her own particular style and design based upon her own experiences and environment so that viewers can easily distinguish between different children’s work (whereas in the scribbling phase and the pre-symbolism phase there is more commonality in drawings amongst children). At this phase children will generally repeat the pattern for these things, e.g. the person or tree will not change much. However, over time and with new experiences and information that stimulate imagination, children may begin to revise how they draw the human figure or other objects. What most people have noticed in this phase of children’s drawing is what is referred to as the baseline, which is usually the bottom of the page edge or a line drawn parallel to the bottom of the page. Children use it to ground their drawings and as a reference point for organising the space on the page for what they are planning to create. Initially children have the one baseline, however over time they begin to see that they can have several and it helps them better organise the image to tell the story they have in mind. The use of more than one baseline generally occurs when a child is trying to show distance in a drawing. Children’s perception of their environment and the world evolves toward greater sophistication which results in them wanting to represent that perception more realistically over time so that the baseline disappears from

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their drawings and is replaced by rudimentary attempts toward foreground and background. During this phase children will begin to explore and experiment with trying to represent more action of figures in their drawings and trying to show the passage of time by sectioning the page to show a sequence of actions/activities over a time period. This happens as children become more cognizant of trying to tell a coherent story with their drawings, all of which speaks to the connection of narrative imagining and art (drawing) and play. 1.4 The Phase of Realism Realism emerges with most children around the age of nine or ten years, which sees children becoming more acutely visually aware of their environment and everyone around them. Children draw both objects and figures with much greater attention to detail, e.g. fingernails, detail patterns on clothes. During this phase, many children put great emphasis on trying to capture the image perfectly/realistically and are almost always disappointed with the results because they feel the picture falls short of how they imagine it should look. This is a critical time in a child’s art drawing development and if not provided with the necessary support and instruction this is the time the majority of children become reluctant and/or resistant to trying to draw. Most children are capable of developing the skill and abilities to draw those desired realistic images but only when provided with the necessary instruction and support. Consequently, at this juncture in a child’s life it is imperative that teachers and adults provide them with that support but more important that they show them and provide them with the opportunity to experience the other myriad art forms that are not focused on realism in drawing. Drawing is not a photograph, share imaginative drawings by multiple artists including cartoonists emphasising that drawing is not simply descriptive rather there is a whole world of imaginative drawings. 1.5 In Summary Art making contributes to children’s development and children’s development can be seen in their art making. In art drawing children’s development is usually observed across four phases of development—scribbling, pre-symbolism, symbolism, and realism. However, it cannot be emphasised enough that similar to development psychology’s theoretical stages of child development these phases of art drawing development are not lock step and do not occur at exact ages. Rather think of them as fluid, dynamic and moving in multiple directions simultaneously with children showing behaviours in more than one of the phases and their understanding and abilities developing across time and environments. These phases are only a general guide showing children’s drawing

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development and are heavily dependent upon each child’s experiences and supportive (or not) environment to explore their drawing and art making. These phases are not a clear window into a child’s psychological development. As with all things, teachers will find that the children in their care have a range of experiences and abilities with respect to their art development just as they do with their physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, and social development.

2

Art and Literacy Learning

Generally, people do not think about children’s drawing and art development as directly connected to their literacy learning—reading and writing. But in fact, children’s drawing from the very beginning phases (scribbling) is indeed entwined with their literacy learning and is integral to their learning to write and read. “Drawing simultaneously involves memory, experience, imagination, and observation. The creation of a drawing demands an integration of these elements. When children draw they become fully engaged with the subject being drawn” (Brooks, 2009, p. 6). Vygotsky saw children’s artistic endeavours, particularly drawing directly linked to literacy learning. In his socio-cultural theory of development, the most important sign system is oral language and children’s drawing is an extension or rather an evolution of that system. Vygotsky found children’s drawings to be “a unique graphic speech, a graphic story about something…more speech than representation” (1997, p. 138). Children’s early writing (and early reading) very much depend upon oral language and narrative imagining, children augment their oral language through drawing representations of their thoughts and ideas. Recall that Vygotsky saw children’s early thoughts and language as separate and it was only later in development that they merged. At that merging thought becomes articulated and speech representational. Here is when a child’s self-talk becomes internalised—inner speech, which for Vygotsky is what promotes cognitive development. Inner speech is not the interior aspect of external speech—it is a function in itself. It still remains speech, i.e., thought connected with words. But while in external speech thought is embodied in words, in inner speech words die as they bring forth thought. Inner speech is to a large extent thinking in pure meanings. (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 149) Vygotsky saw that writing, initially is separate from reading. For Vygotsky writing originates from two child development activities, drawing and

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pretend-play; in both these things a child begins to understand sign and the meaning of the sign. As they learn the alphabet and begin to explore and play with letters extending their sign system they enter into playing with more conventional forms of representing their oral language. But it is drawing and pretend play that begin this long process and must be supported and encouraged if the movement into more conventional forms of representing language and thoughts is to make any sense to the child and have meaning. Consequently, teachers need to “set up so that reading and writing satisfy the child’s need” (Vygotsky, 1997, p. 145) ensuring that it is not direct instruction in copying the alphabet by rote but rather “to teach the child written language” through play and self-initiated drawing. Copying out the alphabet does not help a child learn to explore and express through written language (representing oral language), it begins with drawing and play and is used as a communication to express one’s self with others and self. Vygotsky was critical of the Montessori approach of dictating letters and words and short sentences to children who became proficient at printing out the Directress’ thoughts/oral language in neat formation. Such an approach never allowed, encouraged or supported children to express their own ideas or feelings; written language instruction with young children needed to emphasise its communicative and instrumental functions. Written language was seen by Vygotsky as a “complex cultural activity” (p. 145) that had to be introduced naturally to children so they could come to see that they needed it in order to communicate and express themselves more fully. The Reggio Emilia approach very much takes up this notion of drawing and the arts leading to literacy learning which is often found under the aegis of the approach’s philosophical positioning of “the hundred languages of children.” At the heart of the Reggio approach is the idea that children have a hundred languages that they may express their ideas and thoughts if the environment is provided to them. These hundred languages are symbolic and come to life through the children’s play and exploration through the arts—e.g. drawing, painting, sculpture, drama, music etc. The Reggio Approach’s philosophy and principles are informed in part through Vygotsky’s ideas particularly around language and social cultural constructivism. Like Vygotsky the Reggio approach sees the importance of the arts in the child’s life and how through play and exploration/inquiry using the arts children’s holistic development and learning are nurtured and thrive. Again, drawing often plays a central role in many of Reggio inquiries that children take up. There has been some research into the connections with art and literacy learning, in particular with drawing. However, it is an area that would benefit from more research, in particular action based and arts based research could

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greatly augment the area. Nonetheless, there is existing and growing evidence that continues to support the link between the arts and literacy learning with children. The Reggio Approach as just mentioned has provided enormous data to support this through documentation and formal and informal research. Others have also engaged in this work showing the importance of art in the learning and development of children. Bob Steele spent the latter half of his life researching and promoting the importance of drawing in children’s navigating meaning of experience and thoughts. Through his Drawing Network and publications, Draw Me a Story (1998) and The Drawing Path for Children (2011) he demonstrated how drawing not only contributes to children’s literacy but much more. He found that, drawing is the most important medium children have for articulating, expressing, and communicating their subtlest and most complex perceptions, thoughts and feelings. By ignoring spontaneous drawing we deny children the full benefits of language -intellectual development, mental health, mental healing, increased interest in learning and, as we have stated, enhanced literacy. (2011, p. 9) Wu (2009) in her study with 4 and 5 year olds found strong evidence supporting the importance of drawing for children served as an integral means of transit between pictographic writing and ideographic writing. “In drawing, young children tend to undertake object correspondence by representing physical objects by pictorial representations first and then undertake a higher-order object correspondence by representing the pictorial representation by conventionally written symbols” (p. 76). The study concluded that children’s drawing (pictographic) is instrumental for encouraging exploration and production of conventional written symbols. Many of the children’s drawings demonstrated this transitional activity with blending of pictographic and ideographic symbols particularly when the drawings represented social contextual experiences in time which caused the drawer to strive for both object and context correspondence (e.g. pictures and words) in their drawings (p. 77).

3

Therapeutic Aspects of the Arts

When learning to use art therapeutically, the educator is learning how to use art to contain and regulate what is already being emotionally and psychically expressed in the classroom. You are learning how to use the creative process of art making to guide students toward resolving issues, manage behaviours and feelings, reduce stress, and improve self-esteem and awareness. However,

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as an educator it is important to remember, you are not learning to be an art therapist, but you are learning valuable ways to use art therapeutically. “Art is a universal language that children use to communicate their deepest feelings. Young children often have difficulty finding the words to share experiences and emotions. Art helps traumatised children find their voice and communicate their emotions and reflections on the world” (Sorrels, 2015, p. 221). Art Therapy integrates psychology’s therapeutic theories and practices with an appreciation of the cognitive aspects of the creative process. This work is beyond the classroom and is best carried out in a registered art therapist’s studio. But as a classroom teacher, you can use the arts therapeutically to help children cope in the school setting to be able to learn social and personal coping skills. Having understanding of the importance of play, art and narrative and accompanying strategies and skills will augment the educators teaching tool kit. Learning these skills and strategies will equip you to enable your students to be receptive and ready to learn. Therapeutic art uses the creative process of making art to improve a person’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. What this means is that the focus is not on finished product or what the art looks like, the focus is on expressing a feeling, a sensation or a thought. Art education is often focused on learning skills and techniques that help students draw or paint the world they see around them. Therapeutic art is focused on the student’s inner world of feelings, perceptions and imagination. Most children feel calmer or more centred when they can play with paint, clay or other art materials. It is soothing, calming and regulating for students. Research continues to support this through evidence: [researchers] had at their disposal a similar population of stressed-out undergraduate students, whom they randomly assigned to either an art-making group that simulated the activities of a drop-in campus art center or a control group that merely sat quietly or socialized. No change was found in the level of anxiety for the control group after the session, whereas anxiety in the art-making group dropped significantly. (Kapitan, 2012, p. 49) Therapeutic art is often made in response to invitations as, ‘When she said that to you and you felt shocked can you draw where in your body you feel that, show what it looks like?’ or ‘When you felt angry at your friend can you show me what your anger looked like?’ Whereas cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and other talk therapies have students think about their life situation, movement and art expression allows students to safely enter into their inner worlds to befriend it, understand it, and express it without words. This creates a curiosity, and a sense of agency that students can tolerate, explore and be

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with big feelings and figure out through the use of their whole body what these feelings need in order to become unstuck or released. Words often require the student to grasp for meaning that they don’t yet have about a feeling, whereas a drawing helps them see their feelings and then they can articulate meaning. The student has many tools at their disposal, paints, clay, music and movement to figure out what they need. Other researchers have also argued that, …art making produces a trance-like state of flow. They make the interesting point that whereas ‘cognitive behavioral intervention aims to address anxiety in a ‘top-down’ direction through the mind’ art therapy ‘offers a ‘bottom-up’ approach to anxiety in a nonverbal, tactile, and visual manner’ (p. 72). Likewise, Kimport and Robbins argue that the tactile sensations and malleability of clay are implicated in producing a nonverbal route to emotional expression. (Kapitan, 2012, p. 49) Often when children are talking about overwhelming emotions or big feelings the use of words are inadequate as a means of communication. One of the gifts of art as therapy is the ability for a person to express their feelings through any form of art. As an educator you can use movement, visual arts, dance, writing or music to help children express. Watching for nonverbal symbols and picking up on metaphors and concepts that children use help guide you in understanding the expression. Becoming an art therapist means learning to integrate the therapeutic theories of psychology and its associated practices with an insightful appreciation of the psychological aspects of the creative process. Art Therapy can support development, helps foster coping skills, and augment thinking processes. Art Therapy grew out of work in life span development, multicultural and artistic traditions, family systems, psychology, and art education. What we are showing educators in this book is how to safely work therapeutically through art with traumatised children without having to have the skills and knowledge of an art therapist. You will not be analysing the work and any client who needs more care; you will refer to a specialist. We are guiding you to safely know within the context of classroom what you can use to improve the lives of your students. Educators already use play, art, and narrative in the day-today life that is school. Our hope is that educators will feel comfortable taking this next step of using these important tools therapeutically. Children are already talking about their lives with educators in their journals, through their interactions, and classroom activities. This book is showing educators how to safely guide and work alongside students in a creative way. As it becomes routine to add art check-ins to talk about feelings, relaxations and mindfulness exercises, sensory regulation movement exercises, and group art activities for

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relationship building; the flow of using play, art, and narrative interchangeably for educational and therapeutic goals starts to be natural and holistic. One of the biggest hurdles for children with trauma is to regain trust with others. Forming healthy relationships with peers, respectable and trusting relationships with adults, and befriending self are often beyond the child’s reach after a trauma. Imagine the other…Art therapy encourages engagement with the world as it is and as it could be were it imagined differently. Art transmits and connects feelings with people, bridges multiple realities, and often pierces illusion or self-deception. Art therapists help make visible what is otherwise unseen, pushed to the edges, repressed and rejected. (Kapitan, 2012a, p. 102) Students after experiencing trauma, often feel othered. “To be other not only is to not belong but also is to not be deserving of the same human rights as those who do belong” (Kapitan, 2012a, p. 102). To be othered also comes with projections put upon the other that are unfounded and uninformed. It is too easy to project that same fear on others. Lack of empathy in children is a growing concern. Drawing upon the therapeutic aspects of the arts in the classroom can be the safe container in which to explore topics such as othering to help lead children to understand and articulate their visual images of self and other. Any image can be reframed, re-interpreted, and revisited and seen anew with fresh eyes. Many children draw to document an actual experience like being hurt, abused, feeling angry, or to release feelings of joy and happiness. Or to share emotionally charged experiences and traumas like the passing of a loved one, sexual or physical abuse. Learning to see and understand others in the context of emotional pain, anger or joy is beyond verbal language. Children can express things through art that they don’t have words for yet. With the educator’s guidance, they can express feelings that they don’t want to talk about; however, once the images are on paper they have released the fear and feeling of disconnection from others. All students can feel better for releasing their stored emotions through art. The fear of understanding other students that may not look like them, the fear of making friends, the fear of learning to trust adults again are good topics for therapeutic art. Creativity helps children come to terms with themselves and the control they have over their efforts. Through art, they learn to share and turn-taking, and develop an appreciation of the efforts of others. Positive mental health is encouraged through art making which facilitates the child’s ability to develop a positive self-concept. A lot of social skills and relationship skills are learned through art making. Many children are kinetic learners, so it is natural for them

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to learn through using their hands. Therapeutic art exercises give educators lots of opportunities to teach conflict resolution, relationships skills, attunement, how to deal with overwhelming emotions, turn taking, sharing, empathy, boundaries, respectful listening, and helping others. Children feel cared for and listened to when they create art together. Figuring out and exploring through art and craft making allows children to test possibilities and work through challenges and find solutions. Children were provided with opportunities to deal with their social difficulties within a group setting while experiencing more positive social interactions. The intervention resulted in an enhanced ability to engage and assert themselves in social interactions, while also reducing behaviors such as hyperactivity and inattention. It was also noted by the therapists that the children’s ability to cooperate, communicate, solve problems, and reflect on their own behaviors improved by the end of the intervention. The art therapy sessions might have empowered the children to become active participants in their treatment, and to use their creativity in a meaningful and productive manner. (D’Amico & Lalonde, 2017, p. 182) This ability transfers to other areas in their lives. Art and craft making allows children to make their own assessments, while also teaching them that a problem may have more than one solution. Rather than follow particular steps or directions, a child’s mind engages with the “how” and “why” of discovery. Even in the exploration and play with the art materials to learn how to use them effectively, the child is problem solving, developing new ways to handle unexpected outcomes. This promotes healthy self-esteem and confidence. For some children who do not experience success in the majority of their school subjects, art can be a place where they feel very successful and happy with their ability to solve problems, create with their hands and be creative. This also helps them form a healthy self-identity. Art projects provide a visual concrete format in which children can express creativity, develop abstract thinking skills, and increase brain flexibility. Creating helps children focus on their islands of competence. Getting into art can help them become more resilient. Working on an art project can help provide physical and psychological stabilisation. There is no right or wrong way to create art, each child has their own individual expression, it is something that everyone can do and creating helps move a child towards health. Creating a piece of art gives children a feeling of accomplishment and pride. It can also give them a sense of optimism, ownership and personal control to create something that they feel good about. Connecting with their innate creative process helps them reconnect with self and it enhances self-esteem. Creating art can help foster hope.

ART

37 In a case study, Steinberger (1987) described the example of a 15-yearold girl with autism engaged in art therapy for a period of 10 years…. Throughout the sessions, the therapist noted that while the adolescent engaged in drawings, there were improvements in her self-esteem, communication, and appropriate behaviors. The adolescent’s mother wrote that, “through her art, she expresses what she cannot express in words, mobilizes her resources for growth to a degree she does not in other activities, and obtains recognition for achievement rather than attention based upon her limitations” (Steinberger, 1987, p. 45). (D’Amico & Lalonde, 2017, p. 177)

All children benefit greatly from working with the arts, but especially those who: have difficulty focusing or have a short attention span; children whose verbal expression is compromised; the children who are withdrawn and have difficulty expressing feelings verbally; those whose first language is not English; and those who might feel more competent in a group where visual communication is emphasised and pictures are used as a visual aid for discussions. When children are allowed to engage creatively with play, art and narrative it fosters divergent thinking, curiosity, risk taking, and flexibility. Engaging in artistic improvisation pulls us in that direction. It is natural to take more risks painting, than solving math problems. Children become more balanced and healthy in their lives when they can swing between being in process mode and product mode. Both are needed. Both have gifts. There is energy and creative potential in all states. Process mode encourages students to find their own unique expression in a relaxed, playful atmosphere. The educator can encourage students to be experimental, curious, playful, open and adventurous in their exploration of art materials, techniques, instruments and methods. This way of creating is body and emotion centred, and students can use their whole body and emotions in their creative work. Creating promotes wellness and healing because students release tensions and stress in the process. Students are more emotionally open when they are in the creative process. Everyone has their own distinctly unique styles, patterns and ways of creating. Students need time, space and encouragement to explore them. Unstructured art helps them find their own voice. Through being immersed in the creative process, students play with their understanding of the world. They make sense of their world by portraying it on paper or through other methods. Young children learn symbolic representation through art making and dramatic play. The capacity to represent one object with another lays the foundation for more complex ideas, such as understanding the alphabet,

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a complex, visual symbol system representing the discrete sounds of language. Before a child can master the alphabet, she must handle basic systems such as those experienced in dramatic play. (Sorrels, 2015, p. 213) Vignette I worked with a five year old who had experienced the death of her grandmother in a car accident. She was in the back seat and had watched her grandmother go through the windshield of the car. When she began therapy she was dissociated, not eating, had head and stomach aches, was not talking, and did not want to go to school. As “van der Kolk asserts, the body is an historical organ, and it keeps score (Sorrel, 2015, p. 19). Her trauma was felt throughout her whole biological system. Her new behaviours were an adaptive strategy to her new environment. She was in shock, grief, disbelief and great fear from witnessing such a horrific event. The brain stems primary function is to help us survive. All sensory input enters through the brain stem and is sorted, and processed. Her teachers and parents may have thought her new behaviours were challenging or defiant, but in reality the behaviours were signs of trauma. It made sense to her little five year old body to turn off and not eat, talk, or associate with people until she could recover from the shock of something so awful that she could not comprehend it. She moved from this freeze response back into health through art and play therapy. She had no memory of being in the car, but she knew her teddy bear had been there. So, we drew pictures and did play therapy to help her bear release the trauma. She would not talk, but could draw pictures of teddy in the car seat looking sad, and when I would ask her what would help teddy, she could draw pictures of tea parties which signaled to me to move to the play area and play tea party with her and her bear. Slowly as we worked with her trauma, the drawing of teddy morphed into pictures of her. Much later, when she was finally ready to remember what happened to her grandmother, she painted the accident with herself in the car seat holding teddy. Art making gave her the safety and ability to revisit this traumatising story and make peace with it. Through the time we had together she drew many symbols that helped me understand where she was in the process. Hearts, tear drops, and other symbols showed up in all her drawings. But her brilliant solution of having teddy go through all the stages of remembering through her art making made it safe for her to be there also. All children explore themes as power and powerlessness, good and evil, good and bad, winning and losing and love and hate. The colours they

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choose and symbols they use to represent these things help give them agency and voice to talk about the traumas that affected them. “When children have the opportunity and freedom to create personifications of good and evil that are psychologically safe for them, it becomes an emotionally healing experience” (Sorrel, 2015, p. 214). Teddy became a sort of superhero stand-in for her so she could be brave enough to face what was unbearable. Teddy made plans, solved problems and negotiated with me, which in turn helped her engage in the complex role of healing. If she had not had access to art therapy, she may have been stuck in the trauma state that she was in for a long time if not all her life.

Our brains are exquisitely designed for self-preservation and programmed to respond with lightning speed to anything that threatens our emotional or physical well-being.…When something is deemed unsafe, a wellorchestrated sympathy of electrical impulses and neurochemical cocktails instructs the entire body to instantaneously mobilize to address the threat.…Changes in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, glucose levels, and muscle tone occur in preparation to fight, flight, or freeze. As soon as the danger is either eliminated or goes away, the body returns to a state of calm and all systems return to normal functioning. (Sorrel, 2015, p. 28) How amazing that our bodies have such wisdom to survive. But a five year old could not on her own have the knowledge or tools to return from a state of terror to a state of calm. With trauma informed care and art therapy, she did transform her trauma into body wisdom and knowledge. Using art and play she successfully negotiated and drew her way back to resilience.

Art making helps cultivate important skills that benefit a child’s development. Art making allows a child to uninhibitedly express feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. Often children play out their fears, trauma, and anxiety with me when they would not be able to communicate the same material through words. Art projects provide a visual concrete format in which children can express creativity, develop abstract thinking skills, and increase brain flexibility. Working on an art project can help provide physical and psychological stabilisation. Creating a piece of art gives children a feeling of accomplishment and pride. It can also give them a sense of optimism, ownership and personal control to create something that they feel good about. Connecting with their innate creative process helps them reconnect with the self and it enhances self-esteem. Creating art can help foster hope.

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Children can become more self-aware and insightful as they learn to express their feelings and thoughts through art. It allows children to self-regulate and learn how to pace and see a project through to completion. The body becomes more relaxed, awake, fluid in its movements and actions. Our senses awaken and become curiously engaged with what we are creating. Emotions flow freer and become more full and complex, thoughts broaden to entertain other possibilities and ‘what ifs.’ Instead of being frozen in re-enactment the child can enter fresh present action. They can step outside of their schema or defence, which resulted from a visceral drive that did not go to completion, and become freer, more fluid and accessible to the moment. The child can connect with the body’s implicit knowing of the next forward movement, and drawing or painting the self in the present. In reconstituting or repair, the implicit knowing, in its newly reconstituted form (in present time) must be carried forward and made concretely explicit. Children are creative agents in the picturing and re/creating of their life. There is therapeutic value in being alongside children and attempting to provide the conditions to help them work through emotions and thoughts. Creative art making enables children to form trusting relationships that they need to carry them in to the future.

4

So How Important Is Art?

The National Endowment for the Arts in the USA conducted a review of the literature and research on the arts in early childhood with emphasis on the benefits to social and emotional development. In their review of the research they concluded that overall that there was strong evidence to support that there are significant benefits to social and emotional development in early childhood from the arts, including social skills and emotional regulation. They found that music, drama, and the visual arts have positive and measurable benefits in early childhood (Menzer, 2015, p. 10). The review also noted the importance of the therapeutic benefits of the arts, in particular music therapy and art therapy. Of course, there is always a need for more research, however that does not diminish the findings we do have. No doubt it will further support these findings but also provide greater insight into how the arts benefit not only children but all of us. What may be more important to keep in mind is what Vygotsky said about the aim of education: To the extent that the main educational objective of teaching is guidance of school children’s behavior so as to prepare them for the future,

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development and exercise of the imagination should be one of the main forces enlisted for the attainment of this goal. The development of a creative individual, one who strives for the future, is enabled by creative imagination embodied in the present. (Vygotsky, 2003, p. 88) One of the surest ways to aim for that goal is to ensure that children from early childhood through elementary and beyond have the environment and supports to explore and play through the arts.

References Boyd, B. (2009). On the origin of stories: Evolution, cognition and fiction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Brooks, M. (2009). What Vygotsky can teach us about young children drawing. International Art in Early Childhood Research Journal, 1(1), 1–13. D’Amico, M., & Lalonde, C. (2017). The effectiveness of art Therapy for teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 34(4), 176–182, Kapitan, L. (2012). Does art therapy work? Identifying the active ingredients of art therapy efficacy. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 29(2), 48–49. Kapitan, L. (2012a). Imagine the other: Drawing on art therapy to reduce hate and violence. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 29(3), 102–103. Menzer, M. (2015). The arts in early childhood: Social and emotional benefits of arts participation. A literature review and gap-analysis (2000–2015). Washington, DC: National Endowment of the Arts. Sorrels, B. (2015). Reaching and teaching children exposed to trauma. Lewisville, NC: Gryphon House. Steele, B. (2011). The drawing path for children. Vancouver, BC: Drawing Network Publications. Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge MA: MIT Press. Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky. New York, NY: Plenum Press. Vygotsky, L. (2003). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97. Wu, L.-Y. (2009). Children’s graphical representations and emergent writing: Evidence from children’s drawings. Early Childhood Development and Care, 179(1), 69–79.

CHAPTER 3

Narrative Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves. Barry Lopez (1990, p. 49)

∵ Narrative is one of the principal modes of human thinking and meaning making that enables us to experience and understand the world. Humans live and breathe through story; narrative imagination provides the means by which we navigate both reality and the imagined. Through lived experience, regardless of how foreign or strange something may seem to us we will use narrative imagination to make some sense of all our experiences. “There is a symbiotic relationship between narrative imagining and human being that is already and everywhere present, dynamic, always at work. We tell a story to make sense of another story” (Couros et al., 2013, p. 551). Story is how we are both in the world and how we understand the world. Children come into the world with a brain already set to make sense of the world which then grows and develops narrative understanding. As Jerome Bruner (1986, 1990, 1996, 2003) noted we have two principal ways of thinking, the paradigmatic mode, how we understand the material and organic world by way of science and logical reasoning toward universal truths; and the narrative mode, that is concerned with making sense/ meaning of human experience. Humans enter life with a “readiness or predisposition to organize experience into narrative form” (Bruner, 1990, p. 45). In human existence Paul Ricoeur showed that “between the activity of narrating a story and the temporal character of human experience there exists a correlation that is not merely accidental but that presents a transcultural form of necessity” (1984, p. 52). Alison Gopnik (2009) in her book the Philosophical Baby, notes that children as young as two or three years of age are capable of creating what philosophers and psychologist call counterfactuals—imagining other possible realities. That is, they have narrative imagining and create, play with, and tell stories. Herein lies the importance of storytelling in helping children’s © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi: 10.1163/9789004432734_004

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cognitive, social, emotional and spiritual development. Story is both phenomenon and process, “counterfactuals let us change the future. Because we can consider alternative ways the world might be, we can actually act on the world and intervene to turn it into one or the other of these possibilities” (p. 23). Children play cognitively and materially with stories to explore and experience counterfactuals. As mentioned in Chapter 1, narrative and play are closely related, “in fact it is through story and play that children develop not only their identity but also their narrative imagination” (Lewis, 2007, p. 13). Being and knowing are central to narrative imagination, that is narrative has both ontological and epistemological implications in human experience. As Boyd (2009) has argued through a lens of evolutionary human cognition, storytelling has augmented our social cognition, fostered group cooperation, and nurtured human creativity. Consequently, story figures prominently in the development and education of children. When children are listening to stories they are not being passive listeners, they are active participants in the story sharing process and actually doing work. The child “takes in the story; comprehends its sense, which is conveyed by the relations and the actions of the characters….It is a complex internal activity” (El’koninova, 2001, p. 40). Research suggests “a child listening to a story follows the actions of the main character with his [sic] inner eye; he [sic] literally feels his way through them with his [sic] whole body” emotionally experiencing and feeling “the actions of the main character as the events in the story unfold” (p. 40). This process not only contributes to a child’s growing development of narrative comprehension and engagement, but also contributes to identity formation and the development of theory of mind (ToM) which leads to empathy. Through the experience of stories children “empathize and emotionally experience the events of the story as they unfold” (p. 40) and through the experience of the story, the story becomes part of the child through her narrative imagining.

1

Narrative and Identity

When we are born, we are thrown into a narrative that pre-dates us and of course will post date us, it is a story that is already unfolding to which we have had no hand as yet to influence or narrate. As the philosopher, Alasdair MacIntyre (1985) argued, “the story of my life [is] always embedded in the story of those communities from which I derive my identity” (p. 221) and the self that I narrate “resides in the unity of a narrative which links birth to life to death as narrative beginning to middle to end” (p. 205). To be alive is to use the narrative mode of thinking to make sense of all our lived experiences and draw them

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together into a self-narrative that has some kind of internal coherence; identity is a process of telling stories and listening to stories, both to the self and with others. In very simple but extraordinary ways we are indeed a narrative self; we can see that the “story told by a self about itself tells about the action of the ‘who’ in question: and the identity of this ‘who’ is a narrative one” (Kearney, 2002, p. 152). In life and in particular education we must help children apprehend two universal ideas, “the first is that a child should ‘know,’ have a ‘feel’ for the myths, histories, folktales, conventional stories of his or her culture” because it is these stories that “frame and nourish an identity” (Bruner, 1996, p. 41). The second is “imagination through fiction” because “finding a place in the world, for all that it implicates the immediacy of home, mate, job and friends, is ultimately an act of imagination” (p. 41). Consequently, as narrative creatures, humans need to be cognizant of the stories they tell about themselves not only to the self, but the world because it is these stories that inform and form their identity and create what they think is possible for themselves. “Virtually every story told about oneself and one’s experiences involves identity conclusions” (Brown, 2007, p. 7). Not to put too fine a point on it, narrative imagination helps people re-frame, revise, rework, and retell their personal narratives. “The construction of narrative identity is a collective act, involving tellers and listeners” (Whitebrook, 2001, p. 4) which then shows us that narrative identity is “at once subjective and intersubjective, and entails answerability and responsibility and the capacity for negotiation” (p. 10). We come to know our selves through the world and its stories. We come to know the world through our experiences and our stories. As mentioned above, this narrative development begins in infancy, therefore for children, it is imperative that they have in their caregivers someone who reflects back to them narrative understanding in such a way that it builds up the child’s narrative understanding and in turn narrative identity. “Conversations about the personal past with caregivers are a major force in shaping young children’s ways of constructing narratives and developing narrative identity” (Pasupathi & Hoyt, 2009, p. 559). Caregivers scaffold narrative structures providing details and elaboration as children begin to recall and narrate memories which is fundamental to narrative identity. In early childhood, “parental responsiveness is important for both factual and interpretive elaboration in narratives. Further, the development of basic capacities for narration and the development of narrative identity are tightly intertwined during early childhood” (p. 559). Through this scaffolding these caregivers provide more detail information about their lives to their children through stories which thereby has these children have more sophisticated and coherent

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personal narratives themselves by the end of preschool. During kindergarten and the primary grades teachers continue this very important process of helping children to continue the construction of their narrative mode of thinking and their narrative identity formation. Teachers and caregivers help children hang onto memories across greater time spans, and “to think of themselves as agents that endure across time, they (children) begin to construct an agent in their stories that has more long-lasting qualities—an agent with beliefs, values, and long-term goals as well as immediate emotions and desires” (p. 569). This is why as the listener (caregiver, teacher), listening may often be more important than the storyteller because helping children develop their narrative understanding and in turn their narrative identity the listener may “help or hinder the development of narrative identity in storytelling, in part by either supporting or constraining the agency of storytellers” (p. 569) through elaboration, detail and holding the story space. It is in this process that caregivers and teachers have the potential to help children construct and augment their agency through narrative understanding and identity formation.

2

Oral Narratives and Literacy Learning

Reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and thinking are the basic set of complex integrated functions that we tend to call literacy learning. But it is more complicated than that because the teaching of literacy “is always first and foremost a social practice, one that is constrained and enabled by the changing economics and politics of schools and communities” (Luke, 1998, pp. 305–306). Nevertheless, we think most people can agree that the development and learning of narrative understanding is integral to literacy learning no matter how one may characterise it. The sharing of stories with children, oral or read aloud have been found to be one of the best ways to support and promote a child’s literacy development. However, with oral storytelling there is more at work. The experience of hearing a story told is more personal and connected to the listener. The storyteller can maintain eye contact and adapt the telling of the story to specific listeners…Listeners, regardless of their language skills or reading abilities, can understand the story because it is communicated through words, vocal intonation, gestures, facial expressions, and body movement…Storytelling promotes expressive language development—in oral and written forms—and presents new vocabulary and complex language in a powerful form that inspires children to emulate the model they have experienced. (Isbell, 2002, p. 26)

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Oral storytelling nurtures expressive language skills by encouraging children to take up and play with new vocabulary and language in a complex, but easily understood form that we all have—story, narrative imagining. That oral storytelling does all that is of profound importance. But what is often overlooked is that oral storytelling allows children/listeners to enter the story-scape on their own terms, whether they are beginning readers, fluent readers or non-readers. What is at work is their narrative imagining that enables them to make sense of the story through their own narrative understanding and it contributes to the continued construction of their narrative thinking, narrative identity, and to learning print literacy. “Each story enlarges and augments their understanding, providing them with a means from which to construe new, different and/ or interconnected understanding. Story is essential for language and literacy learning and for identity” (Lewis, 2007, p. 75). By sharing stories with children particularly through storytelling it enlarges their sense of themselves and the world, which contributes to their narrative comprehension which then in turns facilitates their learning to read and write—literacy learning. Most children enter school (Pre-kindergartern or Kindergarten) having already learned and knowing a great deal. Unfortunately, we do not generally recognise this or acknowledge and celebrate it. By school age most children have learned their language, some even a second language. Language acquisition is by far one of the greatest achievements of any child, but because it is so common place and expected we do not give it much thought except when we encounter the small number of children who struggle with language development. As they enter school for the first time children have already had a myriad of experiences that are rooted in their oral narrative understanding of the world which are often layered, sometimes sophisticated and often complex. “Theirs is an understanding that is framed and referenced to non-print norms; it is an oral narrative understanding that springs from imagination and is different from the narratives of the literate adults they meet and form relationships with at school” (Lewis, 2007, p. 75). For the most part they do not have experience with or appreciation for print text and the inherent complicated symbolism of the alphabetic principle. Yet, what they do have is well developed narrative imagination through oral language and in schools we often fail to take advantage of this, not just in beginning primary school but all through early elementary schooling. As Kieren Egan noted a “clear understanding of children’s orality is essential if we are to make what we want to teach engaging and meaningful; orality entails valuable forms of thought that need to be developed as the foundation for a sophisticated literacy” (Egan, 1999, p. 33). When children enter school, we need to keep this in mind as we formally introduce them to text and the beginning of their literacy learning journey. We

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need to utilise and build upon their narrative imaginations and understanding through story, both oral storytelling and the sharing of books. There is research evidence which points to the importance of storytelling with children that benefits their narrative understanding and literacy development. Miller and Pennycuff (2008) in their review of research and literature on the connection between storytelling with children and their literacy learning found overwhelming evidence showing the benefits to children’s learning not just in the primary grades but also at the elementary level, too. “In addition to improving the academic performance of students in the areas of reading and writing, storytelling also has the ability to enhance the arts in education and motivate children to connect with their learning” (pp. 41–42). Consequently, teachers and those who live alongside children should be thinking about the oral narrative understanding that children bring with them as they enter school age experiences. In that process, we need to think about utilising and augmenting children’s narrative imagination and engagement through oral storytelling as a transitional process between oracy and literacy, or more precisely a transitional reciprocity; “the movement back and forth between oral and print narrative understanding, as children learn to read and write” (Lewis, 2007, p. 46). By drawing upon oral language and the movement back and forth between oracy and literacy we can help children engage further with and develop deeper understanding of narrative knowing and being which then facilitates the greater movement into literacy learning. Because “being able to follow a narrative is crucial for efficient learning and understanding of almost any topic in the curriculum. It also enhances our manipulation of possibilities” (Egan, 2005, p. 100). Storytelling needs to be a central aspect of early literacy learning during the primary grades (Pre-k-3) across all curricular areas both the oral form and the book form. As storyteller Sue Black (2008) urges, “read one, tell one” which is congruent with the notion of transitional reciprocity, the movement back and forth between oracy and literacy, orality and print. 2.1 Indigenous Narratives and Storytelling Storytelling has always been central to teaching across cultures, particularly oral cultures, but even literate cultures depend greatly upon narratives, the stories of the people and the world. The stories of a culture work to ensure that the people are “immersed in the stories of the culture through the rhythm, tone, metre, rhyme, images and metaphors of the language embodied in and through the stories. Stories convey the values and beliefs of the group” (Lewis, 2007, p. 76). Indigenous peoples know well the importance and power of story, and in particular oral storytelling. In their research work within Cree communities, Keith and Linda Goulet (2015) found:

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In addition to developing language skills, stories teach moral lessons, convey values, and promote emotional wellness. Orality, in both skill development and meaning making on the part of the teller and the listener, is an important aspect of traditional storytelling (Weber-Pillwax, 2001)….Traditionally, meaning making was primarily the responsibility of the listener; the teller paid attention to the context and needs of the child to know which story to tell and when and how to tell it. (Goulet & Goulet, 2015, p. 18) Each First Nation has its own beliefs and values with respect to their stories and storytelling. However, it may be safe to say that most First Nations see stories as a way to help construct important cultural concepts and that stories embody, through the storyteller (Elders, Knowledge Keepers, grandparents) ways of knowing and being that are passed from generation to generation. The task for teachers “who work with indigenous children, then, is to create space for indigenous knowledge so as to support indigenous children and families. This requires caregivers and educators to familiarize themselves with the families and communities with whom they work” (Hare, 2011, p. 408). That means building relationships with Indigenous children’s families and communities. In that process of building relationships teachers must learn to become culturally responsive to the learning needs of indigenous children and one of the key ways to do that is through Indigenous stories and storytelling. However, that does not mean simply researching and gathering together Indigenous story content and then teaching a unit. Within Indigenous groups of Canada, “oral narrative or storytelling…can be used in early literacy instruction to develop reading and language skills by accessing knowledge and skills in a culturally valued manner (Castellano, 2008). Providing access to elders when possible is also important” (McIntosh et al., 2011, p. 184) because of the knowledge they pass on through stories. This is where building relationships with families and community becomes central to cultural responsiveness and creating a space for Indigenous knowledge to support Indigenous children’s literacy learning. It also requires a commitment on the part of educators and those who work with Indigenous children to do the necessary work in order to be able to provide culturally responsive pedagogy. The most important of that work was just mentioned, building relationships with Indigenous children’s families and then community, and in particular elders, knowledge keepers, kokums and mushums (grandmother and grandfather) who invariably are storytellers. The rationale is simple, “oral storytelling in the indigenous context promotes oral language development, comprehension and listening skills, as well as introducing young indigenous children to different forms of narrative and story

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structure, and the literary strategies of metaphor, prediction, foreshadowing and contradiction” (Hare, 2011, p. 406; emphasis added). As educators, it is extremely important to attend to and be mindful of the fact that Indigenous stories and storytelling are not the same as Euro-centric stories and storytelling and that schools and teachers tend to value and orient learning toward the Euro-centric view of narrative. For educators, we must attend to the fact that the dominant form of story grammar is culturally biased and “it does not allow for the proper recognition of the cultural and linguistic richness, traditional narrative structures, and community-valued topics that define good narratives from an Aboriginal perspective” (Eriks-Brophy, 2014, p. 163). There is a growing body of research that speaks to the need for cultural responsive language pedagogy when it comes to working with Indigenous children in schools. For example, Sharla Peltier (2014) found that assessment of narrative comprehension of Anishinaabe children using a Euro-centric evaluation tool did not respond to Anishinaabe culturally relevant values, perceptions or narrative understandings. In her research work she developed a list of emically derived story features to measure Anishinaabe children’s narrative comprehension based upon the local Indigenous English and Elders’ stories and storytelling which then showed the children had well developed narrative understanding and story skills, while the Euro-centric measuring tool did not. It is important for educators to understand that the English language patterns utilised by children across the hundreds of Indigenous communities in Canada vary. However, more important for educators is to acknowledge the growing need to recognise and shift school understanding and expectations with respect to how we respond to Indigenous Englishes to improve academic achievement of Indigenous students (Sterzuk, 2008, 2011). Another example can found in an exploratory study by Jessica Ball and Marlene Lewis (2014) wherein they point out that Indigenous children “need to be socialized to attend to situational cues to be more or less talkative” (p. 231). They found that First Nations children may not participate in quotidian conversation (e.g. the weather), remaining silent because it is a cultural value of respectful listening, particularly with adults. Furthermore, they found First Nations children take longer to respond to questions or turn-take in a conversation as a consequence of having “been taught the importance of weighing their words carefully before speaking. In mainstream Canadian society, where introjections and short pauses between turns are the norm, this practice can result in First Nations children seeming to have nothing to say” (p. 231). When in fact they have a great deal to say but are gathering their thoughts and words together carefully before speaking. Those are only two examples of the research that calls for greater cultural responsiveness and change of perceptions and practices when teaching with

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Indigenous children. As Jan Hare (2011) points out, a great deal of work has been carried out in research and found its way into school systems to take up the needs of the diverse cultural and linguistic needs across Canadian school jurisdiction, but there is only a beginning work when it comes to Indigenous children (p. 391). So, there is much more that teachers can do through their own research and learning to ensure that they can “make connections between indigenous knowledge and the curriculum and pedagogies of early learning and literacy [including learning] about the kinds of stories relevant to indigenous families, the themes, different styles and basic organizational structures of traditional oral stories” (p. 409). This work is imperative on the part of teachers, administrators and ministries of education if we are to take up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action in the area of education. We believe that Play Art Narrative (PAN) is an integrated approach embedded in cross curricular concepts that can be used to take up the TRC Calls to Action (2015): – Action 62 urges governments to create age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, treaties, and aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for kindergarten to Grade 12 students. – Action 10 calls for the developing culturally appropriate curricula; Improving education attainment levels and success Rates; Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children. – Action 12 calls for the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families. – Action 62 calls for make age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada a mandatory education requirement for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students. – Action 63 advocates developing and implementing Kindergarten to Grade Twelve curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history: building capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect.

3

Narrative and Empathy

Similar to the development of other emotions, a child’s empathy development (reflective empathy) is closely linked to her cognitive and linguistic

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development. Empathy is another of the central skills in child development that contribute to pro-social behaviour, social relationships, self-regulation abilities and Theory of Mind (ToM). Furthermore, early childhood emotional development—understanding and empathy—are shown to have strong correlation with a child’s academic achievement (Tully, Donohue & Gracia, 2015, p. 118). A great deal of a child’s emotional development and learning is by direct experience with caregivers and others through explicit and implicit interactions during emotion imbued situations and circumstances. Language figures prominently in these experiences as caregivers and educators discuss a myriad of emotional situations with children throughout their daily interactions. Consequently, narrative understanding is integral to the development and augmentation of empathy and Theory of Mind through direct and indirect teaching, behavioural examples and shared experiences through stories both oral and printed texts. Recall that narrative imagination and pretend play are threaded together in that such play moves only with a story albeit edited and revised often throughout the play session. Pretend play and Theory of mind (ToM) have been shown to be causally related developmentally when occurring in pairs or small groups (Pellegrini, 2009; Smith, 2010) during such play. Social dramatic and pretend play in small groups requires, as mentioned earlier, children to interact, negotiate, problem solve, and collaborate in their play. Consequently, the use of language and narrative understanding are utilised and developed further. But running through all that is having to listen and see another’s perspective and desires through a reciprocal process of ‘getting along’ in order to achieve the mutually held desire of the play. As a result, ToM and empathy are nurtured and developed in the pretend play and social dramatic play process. This can also provide an opportunity for caregivers and educators to facilitate the development of empathy through their entering into the play at integral moments of the children navigating the play and learning to see each other’s wants and needs in the play session. By preschool around age four children can reliably and spontaneously recognize and label positive and negative emotions (e.g., Widen & Russell, 2010) and demonstrate more advanced perspective-taking skills, such as providing coherent and plausible explanations for their own and others’ emotions. (Tully, 2015, p. 120) However, this is not the case for all children, some children will need support with developing these abilities. In early literacy learning the fostering of empathy and ToM can be augmented through play and narrative. There has been some research that

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indicates that through the experience of narrative fiction, the sharing or reading of stories, a person’s empathy is increased. The same is not found with nonfiction. “In a developing trend of research on narrative it has been found that, rather than being just a pass-time, engaging with fiction is fundamentally helpful in enabling us to understand each other as human beings” (Oatley, 2016, p. 628). Stansfield and Bunce (2014) found that life time exposure to fictional stories promoted cognitive empathy while when a person was immediately transported/engaged with a story there was a strong association with affective empathy which is a strong predictor of helping behaviour. Stories are “how people understand the minds of those encountered in the real world, and motivation to help those in distress” (p. 17). Fictional stories, narrative imagining is how people make sense of the world, themselves and each other; it is a corner stone of empathy development and learning. Consequently, it is imperative that we nurture and augment narrative understanding throughout early childhood education (0–8 years of age) and beyond.

4

Narrative and Therapy

Narrative therapy is a relatively new form of psychotherapy originating in the 1970s and 1980s primarily from social work by Michael White and David Epston (1990). Because as mentioned above, it is imperative that we have some deeper insight to the power and influence of story, narrative imagining and that we humans are a narratable self. “Virtually every story told about oneself and one’s experiences involves identity conclusions” (Brown, 2007, p. 7). Consequently, narrative therapy suggests that people need to be cognizant of the stories they tell about themselves and that are told about them because it is these stories that inform and form their identity and create what they think is possible for themselves. At the risk of putting too simple a spin on it, narrative therapy helps people re-frame or re-story their personal narratives; as the storyteller Ben Okri (1997) once said, “if we change the stories we live by, quite possibly we change our lives” (p. 46). One of the benefits of narrative therapy is that it can give students the skills to retell their life story. It can help students reframe their experiences from ones of shame, guilt and loss to seeing themselves as resilient and strong. Finding meaning in trauma and expressing that through poetry, storytelling and/ or writing helps children and youth find meaning in struggles and hope in their future. Narrative means listening to and telling stories. Giving language to fears, and phobias help children understand and befriend that which scares them. We are shaped by the beliefs and meanings that we give to events that

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we have encountered. If we change those beliefs to positive life confirming beliefs then we have more agency and faith in our abilities to have control over our future. Children can be resourceful, creative and thoughtful when facing problems. In Narrative Therapy the main tenet is that “the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem” (White & Epston, 1990). The practice of oral externalisation is seen to remove persons from problems, is a process of play in which children can reframe, get distance from, and understand that they are not the problem but the problem solver. If a child comes from a home with substance abuse, domestic violence, poverty, or other struggles sometimes the family has a habit of using blame and shame which often shuts down the child. Some children internalise family problems as their fault or believe that the family problems define them. By way of externalised conversations these thoughts and feelings of blame and shame are relieved. Through this process a child does not perceive herself as being the problem (it is externalised through talking about it) and the child has stepped back from the problem and can now work with it (Freedman, Epston, & Lobovits, 2013). “This practice also tends to create a lighter atmosphere wherein children are invited to be inventive in dealing with their problem, instead of being so immobilized by blame, guilt, or shame that their parents are required to carry the full burden of problem-solving” (Freedman et al., 2013). By engaging with this narrative process, it “frees persons to take a lighter, more effective and less stressed approach to ‘deadly serious’ problems” (Freedman et al., 2013). Trauma informed teachers can help children face, separate from, and solve a problem rather than letting them continue to perceive themselves as the problem. This helps children in creating healthy identity formation. Children are free to play at being different no longer being restricted or limited by the problem. Vignette When I worked as an art therapist in the school system I worked with many students who struggled with self-esteem, self-worth and relationship problems. These children were used to being viewed by their teachers and the other children in their classrooms as being the ‘problem.’ Many of these children felt that they were bad people, unlikable and/or not smart. I wanted to provide a situation for them to help rewrite their narratives from being outsiders in the classroom to one where they would be valued and seen as having something to offer. First, I taught them an art technique

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that they could later teach to their whole classroom. Then I wanted them to play at being the teacher. The child took on the role of being the artist and the teacher. For many of these children this was a positive and transformative event. They received positive attention for being ‘good at teaching’ and ‘being an artist.’ Most of the children demonstrated improved positive self-perception. Teachers reported, based on informal class observations and anecdotal records, that the child’s behaviours and interactions improved. For the first time, many of these children received praise and positive attention (see Lewis & Wallace, 2006).

When working with children’s narratives we need to focus on resiliency, hope and strengths. We don’t focus on pathology. From a narrative perspective, how a person constructs the story of their life experiences has a great impact on the way one thinks, feels, and moves through the world. Our stories, and more particularly, the way we choose to tell our stories, play an important role in how we see ourselves, and experience our relationships with others and the environment. Problems might grow bigger depending on the way we structure our thoughts and the way we use the words in our language to communicate our experiences. Narrative practice is therefore focused on how someone defines their purpose, values, dreams, hopes, and commitments, as well as their view of the problems that trouble them (White, 2004). The main objective of narrative practices is to enable personal agency of clients, in order to develop their capacity of decision taking and acting deliberately, as well as taking ownership of their lives. This is achieved by identifying and working with metaphors, stories and identities. Vignette I work with many children who are trapped in the foster care system. I say trapped because I don’t work with the children who land in healthy happy foster homes. I do Art and Play Therapy with children who were sent to abusive, unhealthy foster homes and now need to heal from the experience. I also work with children who are now in nurturing loving foster homes and they come to me to heal the past of growing up in abusive families. Some children I work with have lived in up to ten different foster homes. The foster system is a messy, confusing and often discouraging world for children. Senator Murray Sinclair, the chair of the Truth and

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Reconciliation Commission, which examined Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, was the featured speaker for the Woodrow Lloyd 2016 lecture February 24th at the University of Regina. He spoke to the urgent need for change and how the change can’t come from within, but needs to be envisioned by First Nations People.

In his remarks, Sinclair noted that every society has an obligation to help children answer four important questions: Where do I come from; Where am I going; Why am I here; and Who am I? 4.1

Where Do I Come From?

I ask the children that I work with is your family Cree, Dakota, Dene (Chipewyan), Nakota (Assiniboine)or Saulteaux? More times than not, the children don’t know their heritage, nation or even family members. They are in the foster care system due to the legacy of the residential school experience and some have not ever met their grandparents and some have not even met their parents. I try to help them find out about their background and heritage although there is often very little information passed along to me from the Ministry of Social Services about their past. Finding out about past foster placements is difficult enough, but finding out about their birth parents is sometimes impossible. Every child needs to know where she/he is from, their family of origin, and their roots.

4.2

Where Am I Going?

The children I do Art Therapy with worry about this constantly. Will they be moved again? If they start to feel at home with this foster family, will the rug be pulled out from under them again? If they feel at home with these white foster parents, are they betraying their First Nation parents? How do they get out of this foster home and back with mom and dad? Why are they in foster care? The next few years of ‘where am I going’ is filled with so much fear about the immediate that there is little time to worry about the ‘big picture’ of that question. The teenagers I work with already know how high the odds are stacked against them to ‘make it’ in white society due to systemic racism.

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Through the therapy work I try to instil hope, trust and faith in their abilities and strengths to create positive futures. We paint, play and write about possible futures that include happy families in which they belong and satisfying jobs that are creative and fulfilling.

4.3

Why Am I Here?

Children are here with me in my art studio because they watched their brother commit suicide, they ran away from home, they abused drugs and/ or alcohol, or they were sexuality and physically abused. They know why they are with me. Why am I here in the bigger picture? We work on that. Some tell me so that they can help children who have gone through what they did, others say so they can be artists, mothers, singers, and some don’t know.

4.4

Who Am I?

I have children work on their identity weekly. Naming what they like about themselves, who their role models are, remembering and naming who supports them, identifying their strengths. Senator Sinclair said that the school system should help children answer these questions. I agree. I also believe that seeking the answers to these questions through play, art, and narrative is a deeply meaningful and creative way for children to live into their own answers. As a white ally and their therapist, it is my job to help children answer these questions.

Given that narrative therapy is focused on the fact of how people give meaning to their experiences, the way one tells their story has many implications. Each living experience could be transformed into a meaningful story while someone is sharing it. Children who are ashamed of their past, their family and/or themselves need to hear stories that help reframe or reshape their views. Children need stories that connect them with their heritage and culture and help them move into the future. “In 101 Healing Stories for Kids and Teens, Burns describes how stories inform, educate, teach values, build experience, facilitate problem solving, and propel change or heal” (Pernicano, 2015). Instead of seeing their personal stories as one of trauma and loss they need

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to see and focus on the elements of their stories that point to resilience and survival.

5

So How Important Is Narrative?

Mark Turner (1996) wrote that narrative imagining is worth whatever it is worth to be human because without it we are not human—it is how we are in the world and how the world is in us. We are narrative beings in that we make sense of our experiences, the world and our relationships with each other through story, it is our fundamental principle of mind. It is how we think and learn, which by most estimations is very important. So, as suggested in this chapter narrative imagining, the development and nurturing of it is not only important for ToM, empathy, literacy, but quite simply for being human.

References Ball, J., & Lewis, M. (2014). First nations elders’ and parents’ views on supporting their children’s language development. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 38(2), 224–237. Black, S. (2008). Literature based storytelling: Read one, tell one. Retrieved from http://www.sue-black.com/pdfs/LitBasedStorytelling.pdf Boyd, B. (2009). On the origin of stories: Evolution, cognition and fiction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Brown, C. (2007). Situating knowledge and power in the therapeutic alliance. In C. Brown & T. Augusta-Scott (Eds.), Narrative therapy. Making meaning, making lives (pp. 3–22). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (2003). Making stories: Law, literature, life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Couros, A., Montgomery, K., Tupper, J., Hildebrandt, K., Naytowhow, J., & Lewis, P. J. (2013). Storying treaties and the treaty relationship: Enhancing treaty education through digital storytelling. International Review of Qualitative Research (IRQR), 6(4), 544–558. Egan, K. (1999). Children’s minds talking rabbits & clockwork oranges: Essays on education. London, UK: Althouse Press.

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Egan, K. (2005). An imaginative approach to teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. El’koninova, L. I. (2001). The object orientation of children’s play in the context of understanding imaginary space-time in play and in stories. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 39(2), 30–51. Eriks-Brophy, A. (2014). Assessing the language of aboriginal Canadian children: Towards a more culturally valid approach. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 38(2), 152–173. Freedman, J., Epston, D., & Lobovits, D. (2013). About narrative therapy with children. Narrative Approaches. Retrieved from http://www.narrativeapproaches.com/ resources/narrative-therapy-archive/204-2/ Gopnik, A. (2009). The philosophical baby: What children’s minds tell us about truth. love and the meaning of life. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Goulet, L. M., & Goulet, K. N. (2015). Teaching each other: Nehinuw concepts & Indigenous pedagogies. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press. Hare, J. (2011). They tell a story and there’s meaning behind that story’: Indigenous knowledge and young indigenous children’s literacy learning. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 12(4), 389–414. Isbell, R. (2002). Telling and retelling stories. Learning language and literacy. Young Children, 57(2), 26–30. Kearney, R. (2002). On stories: Thinking in action. New York, NY: Routledge. Lewis, P. (2007). How we think, but not in school: A storied approach to teaching. Rotterdam, The Netherland: Sense Publishers. Lewis, P., & Wallace, K. (2006). Acts of art. Canadian Children: Journal of the Canadian Association for Young Children, 10–13. Lopez, B. (1990). Crow and weasel. San Francisco, CA: North Point Press. Luke, A. (1998). Getting over method: Literacy teaching as work in “new times.” Language Arts, 75, 305–313. MacIntyre, A. (1985). After virtue: A study in moral theory. London, UK: Duckworth. McIntosh, K., Mathews, S., Gietz, C., MacKay, L., Pelser, J., Mah, I., Rowe, J., Vogt, C., & Edgcombe, J. (2011). Effects of a culturally responsive speech and language intervention for students of indigenous and non-indigenous heritage. Canadian Journal of Education, 34(3), 181–195. Miller, S., & Pennycuff, L. (2008). The power of story: Using storytelling to improve literacy learning. Journal of Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Education, 1(1), 36–43. Oatley, K. (2016). Fiction: Simulation of social worlds. Trends in Cognitive Science, 20(8), 618–628. Okri, B. (1997). A way of being free. London, UK: Phoenix House. Pasupathi, M., & Hoyt, T. (2009). The development of narrative identity in late adolescence and emergent adulthood: The continued importance of listeners. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 558–574. PMID 19271839. doi:10.1037/a0014431

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Pellegrini, A. (2009). The role of play in human development. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Peltier, S. (2014). Assessing Anishinaabe children’s narratives: An ethnographic exploration of elders’ perspectives. Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 38(2), 174–193. Pernicano, P. (2015). Using therapy stories and metaphor in child and family treatment. Liana Lowenstein Newsletter. Retrieved from http://www.pernicanoplaycreations.com/publications.php Smith, K. (2010). Children and play. Meldon, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Stansfield, J., & Bunce, L. (2014). The relationship between empathy and reading fiction: Separate roles for cognitive and affective components. Journal of European Psychology Students, 5(3), 9–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/jeps.ca10.5334/jeps.ca Sterzuk, A. (2008). Whose English counts? Indigenous English in Saskatchewan schools. McGill Journal of Education, 43(1), 9–19. Sterzuk, A. (2011). The struggle for legitimacy: Indigenized Englishes in settler schools. North York: Multilingual Matters. Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). (2015). Truth and reconciliation commission of Canada: Calls to action. Winnipeg, MB: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Retrieved from http://nctr.ca/reports.php Tully, E., Donohue, M., & Garcia, S. (2015). Children’s empathy responses and their understanding of mother’s emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 29(1), 118–129. Turner, M. (1996). The literary mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. White, M. (2004). Narrative practice and exotic lives: Resurrecting diversity in everyday life. Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications. White, M., & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative means to therapeutic ends. New York, NY: Norton.

PART 2 Childhood Trauma and School

∵

Introduction to Part 2 In this second part of the book the next two chapters take a look at the idea of Trauma and how many children and adults are often trying to navigate an invisible disorder throughout their everyday lives. The authors explore the many forms and causes of trauma that often go undiagnosed or overlooked because the symptoms are misunderstood or not noticed. Trauma is not an event, but rather a person’s response to a dangerous experience that results in negative impacts emotionally, psychologically and/or physically. The first part of this section explains the complex nature of trauma and how different people will hold it in different ways. The authors also show how it benefits everyone in the classroom when educators have the skills to provide support, safety, and empathy while creating environments for children to learn, emotionally regulate, and adjust their behaviours. When a traumatised child feels trust, acceptance, and safety, they can move towards academic success. Trauma affects every aspect of a child’s life: brain development, physiology, social skills, self-esteem, and ability to function as a healthy person in the world. In the last chapter of this part the authors discuss the importance of teacher self-care and resiliency. If teachers and administrators are not aware of their own stress or trauma it will make it very difficult or nearly impossible to help children work through their trauma repair. This is integral for teachers to do so that they avoid succumbing to what Craig (2016) calls “compassion fatigue,” wherein professionals begin to feel helpless and that nothing they do will help or make a difference in the life of the children in their care. The authors provide a framework along with exercises/ideas for ensuring that teachers are grounded and self-aware as they move through the day-to-day practice of teaching alongside children.

© koninklijke brill nv, leideN, 2020 | DOI: 10.1163/9789004432734_005

CHAPTER 4

Trauma Informed Schools and Teaching A trauma-sensitive school ecology supports the learning of students impacted by traumatic experience by helping them develop relationships, learn to regulate emotions and behavior, maintain healthy lifestyles, and achieve academically. Rossen and Hull (2013, p. 254)

∵ Today trauma affects the lives of many children who we teach in school. It effects the students, teachers who teach them, the administration, and the school community as it is part of the school environment and culture. Teachers and administrators have great potential to set up an environment and adopt an attitude that can help heal the trauma in the lives of their students. This is where students spend most of their waking life and schools have the potential to reinforce or reframe the feelings, behaviours and attitudes that students carry. Trauma informed schools means that all students can feel safe enough to learn, succeed academically and thrive after having undergone a traumatic event. Statistics Canada data from 2012 reported that in Canada too, thousands of children struggle with violent crime and maltreatment. In 2010, an estimated 74,000 Canadian children and youth were victims of crime. Research by the Public Health Agency of Canada reported that 1.4 per cent of Canadian children experienced significant maltreatment including exposure to violence and neglect, physical abuse, emotional maltreatment and sexual abuse. Children who have experienced these traumatic events are also at higher risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and substance use disorders as well as mental health related concerns. Most children who have been exposed to trauma are never identified and consequently do not receive psychological treatment. (Stewart, 2017) Schools need to become trauma-informed to be able to provide for the growing number of refugee children who have experienced terrorism, crime, war, and © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi: 10.1163/9789004432734_006

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abuse, to better help some Indigenous children who due to systemic racism and discriminatory policies have been traumatised and daily live with trauma, and the growing number of all children who have experienced various kinds trauma during their life span. In 2013 62,000 children were in foster care in Canada. Indigenous children and youth represent a high percentage of this number. Many of these children experience trauma due to leaving their families of origin, living with white settler families who do not understand or respect their culture or history. These Indigenous children then have to adjust to new families, schools, and peers. Adding to that is the reality that often abuse and neglect happens in the foster homes in which they had been placed ostensibly to protect them from that in the first place. There is some disagreement about the term trauma, however among researchers and practitioners it is generally accepted that “trauma experiences are those that are overwhelming; lead to strong negative emotions such as shame, helplessness, and fear; and involve some degree of experienced or witnessed threat to self, whether that threat is physical, mental, or emotional” (Rossen & Hull, 2013, p. 5).

1

Social Justice

We cannot talk about becoming trauma informed teachers without also positioning ourselves as teaching and learning for social justice. But what does that mean? In its most basic sense being social justice educators means recognising the children and youth in our classrooms for who they really are and the uneven power dynamics of society that are constantly at work forming and informing them. Social justice pedagogy is rooted in the notion of democracy and the primary freedom to exercise individually and collectively our full humanity. It requires us to acknowledge and attend to the systems and structures (including schools and the curriculum) that work to benefit the success of some students while undermining others which is often eclipsed by notions of meritocracy and/or hard work. This is compounded further by the notion that public education is the great equaliser, which to a limited extent it can be, however there is a plethora of evidence based research that demonstrates the wide gaps in resources both capital and human from school district to district, schools to school, and between neighbourhoods. Trauma informed teachers have to understand intersectionality in the context of schools; intersectionality can be defined as “intersectional oppression [that] arises out of the combination of various oppressions which, together, produce something unique and distinct from any one form of discrimination standing alone…” (Ontario Human Rights Commission, n.d.). Consequently,

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as trauma informed teachers we must see and speak to ableism, race, sexuality, gender, social class, politicisation of public education, and ecological injustices. So where do we begin? We must do some work which can sometimes be difficult especially when we have been socialised to be believe that education is an equal opportunity for all just as long as you work hard. However, there are several things we must do. 1.1 Who Is in Your Classroom Do you really know the children and youth you live alongside for approximately 200 days a year? Acknowledge who is in your classroom and work hard to build authentic relationships with each and every child. Learn their experiences, their cultures, and get to know their families. This is the only way we can become trauma informed teachers who work for social justice and teach our students in affirming and humanising ways. 1.2 Take a Hard Look at Yourself Who are you? Where did you grow up? What are your biases, personal prejudices, and blind spots? We all have biases and/or prejudices growing up in Canada and America or countries that were founded upon colonialism and the notion of white supremacy. How have you benefited (or not) from white privilege? How can you use privilege to deconstruct systems of oppression in the school context? Recognising and repairing your biases is fundamental to becoming a trauma informed educator. 1.3 Critical Pedagogy Is a Reciprocal Journey It calls for guiding children and youth to constantly question the world we live in including the very classrooms in which we gather. Social justice requires trauma informed teachers to be critical reflective practitioners. However, we must encourage our students to become the same. This can be difficult sometimes because it is absolutely necessary that we encourage them to even question the curriculum, our own teaching, and the notion of schooling itself. 1.4 Recognise the Knowledge Children Bring to School As trauma informed teachers, we must see the knowledge children and youth bring to school. It is knowledge tied to their cultural understandings built upon the ways they have had to navigate the world—from family, to community, to school, and beyond. We must invite them to weave that knowledge, experience, and understanding through the curriculum so that they see themselves in their educative journey.

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Decolonising Trauma Informed Practice

Becoming trauma informed practitioners requires the recognition of the legacy of colonialism and how it is embodied in institutional structures and practices. Colonialism was/is the European policy of exerting authority and power over other people and/or land. An integral aspect of the process of ownership was imposing Eurocentric religion, economics, politics, and culture upon the people they were colonising. Colonialism was facilitated in Canada through the actions of the Crown (the government) and the Christian Churches through taking Indigenous children (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) and placing them in residential schools. This enabled Europeans to continue establishing political and economic control over Canada. The white settler population that took up the land taken from the Indigenous people of North America brought with them a legacy of trauma from Europe to North America which was then inflicted up Indigenous peoples through residential schools, government policy, wars, and legislation. Teachers, educators, and therapists must recognise this as part of our collective and personal history that affects white privilege, power and/or responsibility. How can trauma informed educators move forward using a social justice lens to help decolonise trauma informed practice with children? First, it is important to know one’s own personal history by asking yourself some seemingly basic questions: – Where did your relatives settle in North America? – What were they escaping from in Europe? – What happened to the Indigenous people who lived on the land that the government gave your ancestors? – What were your ancestors’ relationship like with the Indigenous population? – What was your ancestors’ relationship to the land that they settled on? – Would your ancestors have been successful if the government had not handed them land taken from Indigenous people? – If your ancestors did not receive land, how did they still benefit from the displacement of Indigenous people? – What happened to that land, is it still in your family? – If your ancestors did not come from Europe, how did they still benefit from the colonial legacy of the removal of Indigenous people across North America? Second, in order to help decolonise trauma informed practice we have to decolonise our own personal narratives and ask ourselves some difficult questions:

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What is the historical trauma narrative in your family? What is the narrative of resilience? How does it live in you? How does epigenetics affect your personal and professional work? If trauma is present in your family, what is the sociopolitical context surrounding this trauma? Which patterns of your lineage have you healed and what are you working on healing? – How did and does the intersectionality of poverty, race, gender, class, ability and ethnicity affect your family? – How does the intersectionality of poverty, race, gender, class, ability, and ethnicity help create oppression in the students’ lives with whom you work? – In moving to North America, how did your family help build or contribute to the systemic, structural, and institutional inequalities that create, maintain, and perpetuate colonisation and racism? – How does your own privilege become a part of the oppression of people who were colonised by your ancestors and how can you use your privilege to alleviate that oppression? – What structural changes are needed here to help the present-day trauma that your students live in? – What are your families’ and your own social class privileges, attitudes, biases, and stereotypes? As trauma informed educators we also need a reflective practice that allows us to step back and understand what factors allowed systemic oppression to happen and how we can make changes in the systems that influence our classroom. With our students, we need to reflect on and understand: – What were the historical narratives that led to this child’s intergenerational trauma? – What is the sociopolitical context surrounding this trauma? – What are the counter-narratives? – What strengths and resilience’s does this child have in their culture and history? By beginning with deconstructing how colonisation affected your ancestors, family of origin, and yourself, it allows one to start to move with clearer vision to see how colonisation has/is affecting our students’ ancestors, families of origin, and themselves.

3

Trauma Informed Teaching and Schools

It benefits everyone in the classroom when educators have the skills to provide support, safety, and empathy while creating environments for children to

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learn, emotionally regulate, and adjust their behaviours. When a traumatised child feels trust, acceptance, and safety, they can move towards academic success. Trauma affects every aspect of a child’s life: brain development, physiology, social skills, self-esteem, and ability to function as a healthy person in the world. Teacher networking, administration support, and teacher self-care are critical components when working with children who have experienced trauma because it can be exhausting but rewarding work. Learning skills to help the students in the classroom who have been and are traumatised will help all students have a safer and more enriched learning environment. “Traumasensitive schools emphasize safety, empowerment, and collaboration partnerships between children and adults. Within this model children’s behaviors are the direct or indirect result of an ‘injury’ caused by physical, emotional, or social maltreatment” (Craig, 2016, p. 5). Due to the growing amount of trauma and neuroscience research we now understand the source of disruptive behaviours, and emotional and cognitive dysregulation. We also have the tools and skills to help students and teachers. Trauma is not an event; rather, it is the response to an adverse experience that can negatively impact physical, mental and emotional functioning. Trauma may also occur as a series of experiences where overlapping reactions add complexity to the response. This is known as complex trauma and may lead to increasing pervasive and harmful effects on functioning for students, including cognitive, academic, and social/emotional functioning. (Rossen & Hull, 2013, p. 22)

4

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)

The ACE study is a longitudinal research study conducted by the Kaiser Permanente health organisation and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States. The research has found a strong correlation between childhood trauma (adverse childhood experiences) and social and health problems across the lifespan (CDC, n.d.). The research suggests that “students exposed to three or more ACEs were two and a half times more likely to fail a grade, score lower on standardized achievement tests, have more receptive and expressive language difficulties, or be suspended or expelled…” (Rossen & Hull, 2013, p. 25). Trauma exposure alters brain structure affecting regulation, cognitive skills, diminished attention, memory loss, hyper vigilance, ability to develop social skills, and a host of health problems. “Focusing on academics while struggling with trauma is like trying to play chess in a hurricane” (p. 27).

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table 4.1  Trauma Adversity increases risk of negative health

Alcoholism and alcohol abuse Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Depression Fetal death Health-related quality of life Illicit drug use Ischemic heart disease (IHD) Liver disease Risk for intimate partner violence

Multiple sexual partners Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) Smoking Suicide attempts Unintended pregnancies Early initiation of smoking Early initiation of sexual activity Adolescent pregnancy (CDC, 2016, p. 2)

Based on the list in the CDC information flyer. More information on the ACE study can be found on the CDC website and the ACE questionnaire can be found at: https://www.ncjfcj.org/ sites/default/fijiles/Finding%20Your%20ACE%20Score.pdf

The ACE study identified that the more adverse the experience in childhood, the greater the risk for negative health effects across the lifespan (see Table 4.1). School is where most students learn social emotional skills, safety, love of learning, and who they are in the world through their everyday encounters with other students and teachers. Consequently, school should be the first place to engage in trauma repair with children because that is where it will be acted out, retriggered, and re-experienced. A trauma-informed school culture is one in which everyone in the school community has knowledge and skills to deal with their own and their students’ trauma. Adversity and trauma in children’s lives is on the increase becoming a significant health educational issue that needs to be acknowledged and addressed. Creating trauma informed schools is a realistic and cost effective way to help heal the world around us. As Craig (2016) argues, a trauma informed school …is strength-based. Teachers and Administrators emphasize helping children take control of themselves and their learning. Staff are emotionally available to students and are willing collaborators, helping develop the social and regulatory behaviors needed to achieve academic competency. (p. 14) It requires all teachers, administrators, and support staff to come together and commit to work toward integrating a trauma informed lens through the curricula and everything within the school environment including “instructional

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practise, classroom management, policies and procedures, discipline, and collaboration with outside agencies” (p. 14). Fostering a trauma sensitive school culture becomes possible when teachers and administrators have practical, easy to implement effective strategies for supporting traumatised students. In this book, we demonstrate how Play Art Narrative (PAN) can be instrumental in creating trauma informed schools. Mindfulness and Focusing (see Chapter 7) are also supplemental and supportive parts of the process. Many trauma researchers such as Bruce Perry, Peter Levine, and Gabor Matté recognise the value of art and play to help children work through and heal trauma. This chapter provides easy to use PAN exercises to fit into the curriculum that help all children. Bruce Perry (2001) writes that play is essential to children’s optimal brain development. In play therapy, children are able to express themselves concretely, using play and symbols much in the same way adults use words (Landreth, 1991). Uniquely human, the pretend play of children represents their efforts to make sense of their experiences through symbolism, fantasy, and make-believe (Russ, 2007). Play allows children to communicate to self and others, make meaning of their experiences, and work through distressing and traumatic events within a safe and nurturing relationship (Gil & Drewes, 2005). Through play therapy, the therapist is allowed the opportunity to enter into the child’s experience as it is played out (Landreth, 2012) and to facilitate the child’s growth and healing in a way that is consistent with development (Reddy, Files-Hall, & Schaefer, 2005). (Drewes & Bratton, 2014, p. 18) This way of working with children fits the philosophy and framework for creating a trauma informed school. It is an evidence-based approach to building the needed environment drawn from research in neuroscience, attachment theory, and trauma research. When a child has experienced trauma, whether recent or in the past it stays and curtails their ability to engage in higher order cognition and regulation of the subcortical brain activity. They are locked in ongoing fear and hyperarousal and cannot be helped through traditional therapeutic methods. Only interventions targeting the regulation of brain stem activity are effective. Activities that are rhythmic, such as walking, dancing, singing, and meditative breathing will help the child move into calmer cognitive being which is the only way that they can then utilise their higher order cognition or problem solving (Craig, 2016, pp. 7–8). The brains of children who have experienced trauma “keep score” (Sorrel, 2105, p. 19). The trauma becomes encoded in the body and often children’s behaviours in the classroom are directly related to and influenced by their

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trauma history but may be misunderstood by a teacher who is not aware of the connection. The child who is stuck in fight/flight/freeze response is not acting in a way that makes sense to what is happening to them in the present, but does make sense to what happened to them in the past.

5

What Are Flight, Fight, Freeze Responses?

5.1 Fight Response Flight response helps a person focus and give their muscles oxygen in order to fight. The fight response may make a person overly aggressive in situations that may not really be threatening. Common behaviours of the fight response may include: – A surge of arousal and seeing everything and everyone as a threat; – Not being able to cope and becoming overly aggressive while anxious; – Disconnecting from self and emotions and showing body language to appear strong and stable; – Bullying, oppositional, impulsive and trying to maintain control. In the brain, the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala help regulate emotions. They are also key to decision making. In fight response, the prefrontal cortex goes offline and the child operates from the brain stem, which is the survival centre of the brain. The amygdala is like an alarm system and signals the body into alert mode. 5.2 Flight Response Flight helps alert a person to the idea that leaving a situation might keep them from harm’s way. This response may make a child appear distant or numb. The child may dissociate because of a threat response from the amygdala saying that they are in danger. Common behaviours: – Appearing shut down, avoids others, inattentive, bored; – Looking for escape routes, moves away if approached, leaves room without explanation; – Guarded, isolated, hesitant to talk, easily frustrated and unwilling to take risks; – At risk for victimisation from others due to not being able to defend self; – Adjusting body language to protect or hide the body; – May show memory impairment. The amygdala area of the brain releases the hormone cortisol from the adrenal gland above the kidney, which increases blood pressure and increases blood

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sugar to provide the energy to run away. With that energy, the body is then able to sprint away from a threat. Cortisol also suppresses the immune system. Consequently, if a person is frequently stressed or anxious, they may become ill. 5.3 Freeze Response The freeze response allows a child to quickly assess a dangerous situation. Similarly, children with social anxiety may feel helpless in interactions with other children, so they freeze in order to decide what to do next or to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Common behaviours: – Having no memory or your mind going blank; – Unable to speak, move or breathe well; – Physical shutdown, illness or fainting. Connections from the periaqueductal grey to the pyramis at the base of your skull are integral to the freeze response. When these connections are activated, it causes the body to freeze. 5.4 Managing the Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response The first step is learning about trauma which will then help teachers and children know and talk about trauma, so that they can work with what is causing it. Having knowledge about any of the child’s adverse experiences (trauma history), knowing the triggers (physical, emotional, and mental changes), identifying what the emotions are, where it is felt in the body, and using a selfsoothing strategy, all work together. – Take a few deep breaths; – Physically change body stance, step back and anchor (rock, or hold some soft object); – Drink some water; – Think of a safe place. In children 3 to 5 years of age this may look like an inability to play, may be unusually controlling, is aggressive, gorges or hoards food, has difficulty with transitions, displays memory problems, is easily frustrated, is hyper vigilant, and shows developmental delays (Sorrels, 2015, pp. 22–24). As Sorrels notes such behaviours “are adaptive strategies to a dysfunctional environment” (p. 26). All behaviour has a reason and in a traumatised child that reason is almost always fear. Helping children relax and be open is an important first step in using school experience to reverse the damage inflicted by trauma. A comfortable level of arousal allows children to engage in learning activities that

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work with the brain’s plasticity to strengthen the cortical areas of the brain affected by early trauma. These include executive skills, language, and impulse control. (Craig, 2016, p. 8) A central part of trauma informed education is finding ways to help students manage their responses and develop abilities to self-sooth when aroused. When children become traumatised they go into a fight, flight or freeze mode. Coming back to self-regulation, means the body can de-escalate if it is flooded with emotions or return to presence if they become dissociated or dis-connected. Children need to know what their triggers or signs of arousal are so they can safely manage them. These trauma responses are important lifesaving reactions that children can use when they are in life threatening situations. We don’t want these responses to go away; however, we want children to have choice and agency over their behaviours and emotions and not be hijacked by their past traumas. The challenge is when trauma memories have not been processed and resolved, they become stuck in the body and are played out when it is not appropriate or meaningful. We also now know that trauma and attachment live in implicit memory—Without processing in the hippocampus, implicit memory feels like the past experience retrieved is happening now—even if the incident occurred several years ago. The mind may know that, but the body does not—it does not feel it’s over until we can help this information to become explicit, and be processed in the higher regions of the brain. The experience literally feels as if it “moves” into the past and we “move” into the present—and rediscover a sense of possibility and future. (Heller, n.d., pp. 17–18) A life experience becomes traumatic when a child cannot integrate the emotions, bodily sensations or thoughts that result from a frightening, life threatening, or shocking experience. Therefore, the child has little or no knowledge of how to calm when faced with overwhelming thoughts or feelings. Some children before coming to school have not yet developed the ability to self-regulate, and they find themselves struggling with ordinary life experiences because they are expecting and perceiving everyone and everything as a threat. The teacher can use art and play exercises therapeutically to help a child understand big emotions and fears so that they can get distance from them, slow down, see and understand that there is a reason why their autonomic nervous system overreacts. Being attuned with a child and giving them a safe place to

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express their emotions through art helps regulate their brain and body. Children need to understand that they are not their emotions. A part of them feels angry, sad or happy but they are not an angry child, something in them feels angry. Drawing this out helps a child take a step back and see that their emotions are not bigger than they are and they can regulate themselves. It is often slow work, getting through layers of trauma and releasing the repetitive patterns of reliving and remembering traumatic memories, and suffering from the symptoms. Once these implicit trauma memoires become explicit and the child no longer feels victimised by them, the child’s brain is free to learn, play, and be part of the classroom in a positive way. Often if children do not understand that their violation was not their fault, they have a difficult time being in their bodies and developing self-esteem and resiliency. If they can’t be in their bodies, they can’t self-regulate. For all children, there are flashbacks or reoccurring memories of all or some parts of painful situations that caused them to go into fight, flight or freeze. Trauma triggers could be people who look like the abuser, places that are similar to where a traumatic event happened or things which the child associates with the trauma memory that act as reminders of the original traumatic event. Drawing or painting can help children find a safe way to explore, and understand these images and memories that highjack the child and keep them locked in fear. Once the child has gained enough resilience and sense of inner and outer safety, using evidence based art or play exercises therapeutically gives teachers the framework to safely work with triggers in a transformative way. “Trauma treatment starts at the foundation of a body that can sleep, a body that can rest, a body that feels safe, a body that can move” (Van der Kolk, 2017). Reexperiencing is when the child is drawing, painting or playing out the experience. Emotions and fears are stored in the body and often children have no conscious memory of them, but through art children can express those fears and emotions. Peter Levine (1997) suggests that the body ‘holds’ memories, thoughts, and feelings outside of conscious awareness. Verbal/talk therapy does not effectively work with these body memories. Using sensation based art therapy ensures that children do not internalise these memories/images but externalise and release them. The teacher is there as a support, witness and resource for the child. The process of creating and making of art in itself is a healing and therapeutic process. Rick Hanson writes that, “positive experience runs through the brain like water through a sieve” (as cited in Heller, n.d., p. 15). The human brain is hard wired to attend to what is dangerous and life threatening. However, when that is not the reality, what better place than in the classroom to start the corrective learning of seeing and embodying positive experiences. The

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creation and reinforcement of new positive memories help build self-esteem and self-worth. A teacher who is attuned to her students’ trauma reactions means that she as the teacher can start helping children be able to embody positive nurturing emotional states long enough for the new neural pathways to begin to build toward well-being rather than rooted in fear (Heller, n.d.). It is difficult challenging work and teachers require an awareness of their own emotional responses and needs so that they can better support the students. This means teachers need to know their own trauma history, knowing what their present-day triggers are, and what is their attachment style. We all have unfinished work, but having awareness of what our wounds are helps us stay present, centred and able to work with others without becoming triggered. We will talk more about this later in this book.

6

Epigenetics

Another newer discovery in brain research is epigenetics. This has to do with both the biological experiences of a person’s brain and the experiential development of the person and their ancestors. That is, a person’s experiences also affect the actual actions of the brain, e.g. if a caregiver does not provide nurturing to the child it stops the expression of oxytocin and genes involved in the building of neural pathways between caregiver and the child. It is an example of the nurture and nature effects that caregivers’ actions have upon a child’s genetic expression (Craig, 2016, p. 37). Yet, it is important to keep in mind that although, These behaviors do not alter the genetic code, but they do change children’s genetic inheritance by suppressing the expression of certain genes. For example, repetitive, highly stressful experiences can cause epigenetic changes that damage neural circuits that help manage and respond to life’s adversity (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2010). These ‘epigenetic’ changes are then transmitted across generations. (Craig, 2016, p. 37) Children raised in violent or abusive homes often lack necessary skills to develop healthy relationships, to self-regulate, or to move out of fear based defensive behaviours. Yet for all that, they have developed survival skills and abilities to live through life threatening experiences. Children seldom recognise

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that they have valuable body wisdom and survival skills because they have emerged from adverse life experiences with little or no self-worth. However, these experiences can be reframed and retaught to bring them into a positive frame. Rachel Yehuda (2015) explains that we are not in “biological prison.” By way of studying the offspring of holocaust survivors as well as women who survived the 9/11 attack that were pregnant she found that children were traumatised by witnessing the symptoms of their parents who went through traumatic events. Generationally transmitted trauma is what happened to some of the children of parents and grandparents who escaped war, hunger, and genocide. Intergenerational trauma is also the legacy of Indigenous residential school survivors in North America. Dr. Yedhuda said: …the purpose of epigenetic changes,…is simply to increase the repertoire of possible responses. I don’t think it’s meant to damage or not damage people…. it expands the range of biologic responses, and that can be a very positive thing when that’s needed. I mean, who would you rather be in a warzone with? Somebody that’s had pervious adversity, knows how to defend themselves? Or somebody that has never had to fight for anything? (Yehuda, 2015) There is a great intelligence held within the body that can work to change and adapt. Our work is to help children function so that trauma does not own them because the fundamental issue for people who are traumatised is they no longer feel in control of themselves. As Van de Kolk (2017) stressed any hurt from someone, loud noises, insults, barbs act to take them away from self. “And so, what we have learned is that what makes you resilient to trauma is to own yourself fully. And if somebody says hurtful or insulting things, you can say, ‘Hmmm, interesting, that person is saying hurtful and harmful things’” (Van de Kolk, 2017). Art and play provide both a container and vehicle for transforming trauma victim narratives into stories of resilience and empowerment. Children who have generational trauma have to work harder than other children to feel safe, relaxed and calm. They have “poor shock absorbers” (Yehuda, 2015), however, if teachers know that about the child, they can teach the child skills to strengthen their shock absorbers which helps rebuild and heal their stress systems. Naming what is happening inside a child’s brain and body gives them a tool and knowledge to move ahead. Not knowing builds confusion, self-hatred, and disempowerment.

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table 4.2  The efffects of trauma

Behavioural

Emotional

Cognitive

Panic attacks Compulsive and obsessive behaviours Feeling out of control Irritability, anger and resentment Difffijiculties in relationships Self-harm such as cutting Self-destructive behaviours Isolation Violence and aggression

Depression Feelings of despair, hopelessness and helplessness Guilt Shame Self-hatred Feeling damaged Feeling like a “bad” person Anxiety, fearfulness Extreme vulnerability Self-blame Emotional numbness

Memory lapses, especially of the traumatic event Repetitive frightening thoughts Loss of time Being flooded by and overwhelmed with recollections of the trauma Difffijiculty making decisions Decreased ability to concentrate Feeling distracted Withdrawal from normal routine Thoughts of suicide

Source: Klinic Community Health (2013, pp. 66–68)

Even though the parts of the brain and body get interfered with and imprinted by trauma, school environments that support safe caring relationships, dialogic teaching, differentiated instruction and social-emotional learning help children thrive. “Staff members are then able to work with the brain’s adaptive capacity or neuroplasticity to help children restore their capacity for self-regulation, social connection, and learning” (Craig, 2016, p. 15).

7

Attachment Styles and Close Relationships: Attachment Cues

Attachment theory is very important for educators to understand in order to work with a child’s attachment issues which will be there in the classroom everyday all day. It’s important for teachers to understand attachment because teachers can help make attachment repairs and teach and restore the attachment patterns that children bring into the classroom. The brain is a social organ that develops and grows in attachment relationships. There are numerous research studies that demonstrate how important relationships are to influencing brain development, pathways or what is called neuroplasticity—how the

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brain is able to learn and change (Cozolino, 2014). Stable, caring relationships help shape brain development. Toxic stress like maltreatment, family violence, abuse, depression, or neglect interfere with the attachment and attunement which caregivers provide to children, particularly in early childhood (birth to 8 years). Healthy attachment supports the development of the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. “The brain’s architecture is socially constructed within the context of a child’s first attachment relationship. For healthy development, an infant’s brain literally requires programming by a loving adult’s eyes and facial expressions” (Craig, 2016, p. 27). Without access to this first attachment a child’s neural pathways and ability to navigate physical and mental health do not develop. Children’s early relationships are integral to health outcomes and how children learn in a school environment. Healthy attachment is one of the important conditions that is needed for children to not develop health problems over their life span. Bruce Perry (n.d.) refers to attachment as the “emotional glue” that is “a special bond characterized by the unique qualities of the special bond that forms in maternal-infant or primary caregiver-infant relationships” (p. 2). He describes the key elements of attachment as “(1) an attachment bond is an enduring emotional relationship with a specific person; (2) the relationship brings safety, comfort, soothing and pleasure; (3) loss or threat of loss of the person evokes intense distress” (p. 2). It helps the child’s brain develop and organise the ability and compulsion to form relationships with others. The term ‘serve and return’ relates to a mother being attuned to an infant’s needs and responses and a baby responding to a mother’s nonverbal and verbal affect, gestures, and movements. This bond or attunement and connection is created through mirroring each other’s gestures, sounds, movements, and eye contact. This is vitally important in the beginning of a child’s life to ensure the development of healthy attachment. There are four attachment styles that all educators should become familiar with if they are to work with helping children not only repair attachment issues, but to be able to learn. Because without addressing some of these attachment issues a child will not be able to learn. The four attachment styles have evolved from the work of John Bowlby and then Mary Ainsworth so that today there is general agreement on these four: 1. Secure Attachment A child finds it relatively easy to get close to others and is comfortable depending on others and having others depend on them. They don’t often worry about being abandoned or about someone getting too close to them. They understand boundaries and trust most people. They are confident in their skills to

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cope with relationships. They develop a sense of personal agency or a stable self, can develop interactive regulation and emotional health, and develop the skills that promote language development. They trust themselves, others and the world more readily. 2. Avoidant/Dismissive Attachment A child is somewhat uncomfortable being close to others. They find it difficult to trust others completely and find it hard to allow themselves to depend on others. They are nervous when anyone gets too close, and often are not comfortable around affectionate people. This child finds it hard to make eye contact and usually prefers relationships with objects and pets. They find it more difficult to express themselves through emotions than words. These children tend to have an “aloof, sullen, or oppositional demeanour and seemingly arrogant self-sufficiency [which] alienate the adults who care for him. This dynamic further reinforces the child’s belief that people are not available and that he is not worthy of love and affection” (Sorrels, 2015, p. 57). These students are quiet, withdrawn, and have few if any friends. Teachers who make constant eye contact, the ‘attachment gaze’ (Heller, n.d.) can help the child repair their belief that they are unworthy. These children have learned to avoid and to bring them back into health they need connection and opportunities to trust others. They need to be safely drawn out of their hiding places within themselves and taught that relationships can be safe, fun and accessible. Pairing this child with a partner or safe group work helps them move out of self-imposed isolation. 3. Ambivalent/Preoccupied Attachment A child is always yearning for someone or something they cannot have. They worry that parents or caregivers really don’t love them or want them. They may want to merge completely with another person, and this desire sometimes scares people away. They give more than they get and often feel resentful and hold a grudge. They over adapt and over accommodate to try to form stable connections. It is difficult for this child to be alone, and they may feel abandoned if alone. “They can be demanding, clingy, and difficult to satisfy-nothing is ever quite right-and they have low tolerance for frustration” (Sorrels, p. 58). These are the students who are loud, demanding, complaining, and usually show many emotions. This child needs a teacher who can help them develop a healthy sense of self so that they don’t need to lose themselves in others’ identities to feel alive. Developing islands of competences means finding places of strength for the child to develop their identity around. This child needs a caring teacher who can help restore their belief in themselves.

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4. Disorganised/Disorientated Attachment A child has an exaggerated startle response when approached unexpectedly. They often need to control their relationships as they fear that the worst will happen. They never really feel safe with others and they easily disconnect, disorientate, and become confused. If they feel too much positive emotion, that may trigger a fear response as they want closeness but are also afraid of the ones they want to be close to. These children usually live “in a chronic state of alarm that easily escalates into fear or terror. They are prone to acts of aggression or violent meltdowns. At other times, they may be withdrawn to the point that they seem almost nonresponsive” (Sorrels, 2015, p. 59). There is no attachment to adults and the only feeling they have of attachment to others may be mixed with abuse and pain. This is the child in the classroom that has no voice, has many gaps in memory, is hard to follow and displays many disruptive behaviours, some of which may seem unusual, very strange or abnormal. The amygdala is stuck in trauma and this child sees actions directed towards them through a lens of flight or fight. Very little learning can happen as this child is in survival mode. Classroom teachers need to provide as much safety, containment, clarity and protection as possible. Invariably this child will not be likeable and teachers must strive to not take the child’s words and actions personally. The child is living in the past, and often the way they react has little or nothing to do with what you have said or done. Patience, care and empathy are important. Staying grounded and present as the classroom teacher will help you and the child settle. By being predictable, kind and available with the help of supports the teacher can help this child begin the journey into recovery. “Small moments of meaningful interaction throughout the day can multiply over time to have a significant impact on the child” (Sorrels, 2015, p. 73). It is important for educators to understand that although it may sound counterintuitive we have to recognise children’s dependency needs and not be insisting upon independence. Children have to be allowed to and be supported in their dependencies before they can work toward independence. This is especially true for children who have experienced trauma where they had no one to be dependent upon to realise their needs. Sorrels (2015) writes about how important it is to invite dependence in order to facilitate the healing process for such children to regain that which they have lost. An attachment relationship works much like a compass, orienting the child to his world. Through observation and interaction with an attachment figure, children learn what is important, what is valued and what is not, what is expected, and what is frowned upon. This void is an

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opportunity to invite dependency: take the child under your wing, so to speak, and show him around the classroom. Introduce him to the other children. Show him how things work. (Sorrels, 2015, p. 75)

8

Sensory Processing Disorder

Another consequence of a traumatised nervous system is having one or more of the senses affected. The symptoms of sensory processing disorder exist on a spectrum in the three subtypes of sensory over-responsivity, sensory underresponsivity, and sensory craving/seeking. “Sensory processing disorder has been described as a traffic jam in the brain. It is a malfunction of the sensory processing system” (Sorrels, 2015, p. 78). Children with hypersensitivities to sensory input may display some of the following behaviours: – Extreme response to or fear of sudden, high-pitched, loud, or metallic noises; – May notice and/or be distracted by background noises; – Fearful of surprise touch, avoids hugs and cuddling even with familiar adults; – Seems fearful of crowds or avoids standing in close proximity to others; – Doesn’t enjoy a game of tag and/or is overly fearful of playground equipment; – Extremely fearful of climbing or falling; – Has poor balance, may fall often (Brain Balance, 2018). Children with hyposensitivities to sensory input may display some of the following behaviours: – A constant need to touch people or textures; – Doesn’t understand personal space; – Clumsy and uncoordinated movements; – An extremely high tolerance for or indifference to pain; – Often harms other children and/or pets when playing; – May be very fidgety and unable to sit still; – Seems to be a “thrill seeker” and can be dangerous at times (Brain Balance, 2018). In a trauma informed school, multi-sensory environments are important in order to help children, who suffer from sensory issues, relax and reduce stress level. When attention is paid to the environment, aggressive behaviours decrease, communication improves and so does social interaction. Keep in mind that a sensory-rich environment benefits every child, however it is essential for children with a trauma history. An environment that supports sensory integration helps children become more self-regulated.

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Children will always tell us what they need if adults are astute and careful observers of children. (Sorrel, 2015, p. 92) A classroom that is sensory sensitive will have controllable light sources and make sure there are absolutely no fluorescent lights. Colour cubes, fibre optic light sources, and low wattage pastel coloured light bulbs are all good ideas. Play tents and quiet areas for children to relax and self-regulate, aromatherapy using lavender for calming, scented neck wraps, and scented stuffed animals can all be helpful. Some children crave deep pressure and anything that will allow them to feel ‘squished’ or ‘hugged’ like a weighted blanket or vest is good. Big floor pillows, bean bag chairs, and hammocks can also be soothing and relaxing for children with sensory needs. Teachers will also want the sensory room to provide opportunities for activities that give muscles and joints significant use and pressure. So, things like scooter boards, moon shoes, jumpolenes, tunnels, hippity hop balls, mini trampolines, squeeze/fidget toys, and things to climb or hang on are all good. Playdoh, finger paints, goop, and clay are good tactile activities. Having a classroom sand table or water table are wonderful touch, feel experiences for sensory integration. For sound, consider using sound eye masks, nature sound machines, classical or nature music, and wind chimes.

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Self-Regulation

Another result of trauma is the loss of self-regulation. This means that a child cannot sooth or calm themselves after an alarm or fear. In a healthy regulated system, a child can experience a fright and once they realise that the frightening situation or thing has passed they are able to return to feeling safe in their body. A child pinned in trauma has no ability to return to baseline of safety. They may not remember what that feels like. They are permanently fixed on high alert watching for the next danger. This is exhausting for the body and explains why some children overreact, say impropriate things and misinterpret situations. The Broca’s area, which is sort of the part of your brain that helps you to say reasonable things and to understand things and to articulate them, shuts down. So when people really become very upset, that whole capacity to put things into words in an articulate way disappears. And for me, that is a very important finding because it helped me to realize that, if people need to overcome the trauma, we need to also find methods to bypass what they call the tyranny of language. (Van de Kolk, 2017)

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The reason art and play are so helpful and applicable to this work is that they can bypass that tyranny of language. Play and art allow a child to express what they can’t express in words. Table 4.3 shows the range of behavioural states that we flow through. Most children who are self-regulated could, with help bring themselves back from a state 5, 6 but a 9 would require adult help. Traumatised children get stuck in states 6 and up. The play, art, and narrative exercises we talk about in this book along with Mindfulness and Focusing all help move children out of not being regulated and into resiliency. table 4.3  Autonomic nervous system: Behavioural states

1 being calm–9 being severe dissociation Ventral Vagal peace, calm 1  2  3

Sympathetic hyper arousal 4  5   6

Dorsal Vagal dissociation 7  8  9

People oscillate between diffferent autonomic states to establish regulation. A wellregulated person could feel defensive, but bring herself back to a state of calm. When a person is rooted in trauma, they are stuck in state 5, 6, 7. They are unable to regulate back to a 1 state. States: 1. At-one-ment: peace, tranquilly, connection, regulated, fluid, creative flow 2. Socially engaged: connected with friends and family, socially engaged, being seen, held, heard 3. Alert: relaxed alertness, excited, engaged, aroused 4. Watch guarded: could be too alert, fijine edge into overly aroused, flags of flight or fijight up 5. Defensive: could go into withdrawal or hyper alert, waiting for attack 6. Panic flares: flares of anger, panic, jealously, high adrenaline, hyper state, high sympathetic arousal 7. Disconnected: flares too high to maintain, shut down into dorsal vagal, stone walling, self-protection, sleep, dissociation 8. Freeze: deep sleep, high sympathetic arousal and dorsal vagal shutdown, both systems are trying to fijigure out which one is going to control, mix between high anxiety and depression 9. Severe dissociation: body and mind dissociation, can result in deep somatic illness

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Resiliency

Children who learn how to build a coherent and positive self, move into resiliency. In a trauma informed school environment, we want to help children move out of trauma into resiliency. When children feel resilient in their lives they feel that they can handle their life situations and can stay present to what is happening in an empowered way. Resilience is the process of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. Resilient people overcome adversity, bounce back from setbacks, and can thrive under extreme, on-going pressure without acting in dysfunctional or harmful ways. This is something that can be nurtured and taught in the classroom. The last several decades have seen mounting research that informs our understanding of resiliency. Children that are highly resilient share many similar qualities; they are usually playful, curious, ask questions, and have fun. Art and play are easy tools to use to help children get back into a playful, curious zone which leads to developing resiliency. Part of resiliency is solid self-esteem and self-confidence which can be taught. Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. It affects all aspects of a child’s cognitive, emotional, and behavioural life. It determines how much you learn after something goes wrong. It allows you to receive praise and compliments (Siebert, n.d.). Children who have experienced trauma expect negative experiences not positive ones. Consequently, we have to “train the brain” to adjust to believe that life can be positive and joyful. Self-esteem has two interrelated components: the feeling that one is competent to live and the feeling that one is worthy of living. Being competent includes the confidence one has in his or her thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as these relate to the reality of one’s existence. Feeling worthy means affirming oneself and feeling self-respect. (Frey, 2014, p. 296) How we interact as teachers with our students can encourage new neural pathways in this direction. Neuroscience teaches us that we can create interventions and exercises that can lead to building self-esteem with children and youth. Healthy self-esteem acts as a buffer against hurtful statements while being receptive to constructive criticism. Many children who experience trauma struggle with being able to like and trust themselves. It is difficult for them to imagine and create healthy goals for their future. 10.1 What Is Healthy Self-Esteem? – It allows you to feel that you have a right to belong and show up in the world.

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– It allows you to take risks without waiting for approval or reassurance from others. – It allows you to feel that you have agency in your world and belief in your abilities. – It gives you the belief that you desire good friendships. – It gives you the belief that things will work out well for you. – It leads to optimism and provides a high tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. – It has a synergistic effect and brings stability to crises and chaos. – It leads to you believing that you desire to find allies, resources, and support. – It is the antidote to feeling victimised and powerless. A good indicator of self-esteem is when a child talking about a rough experience says, “I’m never going to go through anything like that again! But I think I learned something from it.” We now understand how important it is to challenge the old neurological patterns with novelty, art, and play and have children access and embody positive emotional states long enough for new neural pathways to begin to come into being to help build self-esteem.

11

How Traumas Affect Children’s Ability to Learn

Trauma causes changes in the brain, trauma re-actions (fight/flight/freeze), attachment disorders, dysregulation, low self-esteem, all affect a child’s readiness to learn. Trauma also interferes with a child’s ability to develop empathy, think symbolically, and control emotions. Traumatized children have a limited ability to interpret the thoughts and feelings of others. They are often viewed as socially inept, behaving in a manner not unlike some children with Asperger’s syndrome. Their difficulty inferring another’s feelings or intentions makes it difficult for others to predict how they will think or act. This leads to errors in social cognition, as well as difficulty with inferential comprehension in reading and math. (Craig, 2016, p. 47) Children living through trauma often do not have the rich home experiences of an adult talking to them about their day and the big and little life experiences and feelings they experienced, which in turn allows the child to create and practice the self-narrative necessary to develop their own internal language, self-talk or what Vygotsky called private speech. One of the primary functions of private speech is self-regulation. However, “lacking the ability to talk to themselves…the

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trauma survivor finds it exceedingly difficult to control impulses and to extend their imagination out into the timeline of the future” (Bloom & Farragher, 2011, p. 113). Trauma effects the area of the brain that deals with speech and expressive language, however, bear in mind that “early trauma affects every aspect of children’s cognitive development: representational thought, language, memory, attention, and executive functioning” (Craig, 2016, p. 59). When a child comes to school without the words to express feelings or thoughts, play and art can help heal and bridge the gap. By using play and art children then have alternative ways to communicate and can restore self-esteem and confidence. Using multisensory instruction methods allow the child to be part of the conversation. Creating a safe, secure environment in the classroom helps a traumatised child move out of their attention default set toward survival. Using play, art, and narrative techniques to help children talk about and express their implicit trauma memories helps them free up the organisational framework of the memory and allows the child to create new happy and meaningful positive memories. Engaging children in activities like writing or reframing endings to stories helps children do this internally for themselves. Engaging children in meaningful and exciting conversations, using oral storytelling, puppets, and other ways of talking and teaching such as pretend play so children have multiple opportunities to learn and absorb words and meaning help reprogram the brain. Scripts, social stories, role-playing, all help build language and social interaction skills. Rituals, routines, and group building activities all help create a sense of belonging and safety. Bessel Von de Kolk said (2017) “…some of the most spiritual people I know are exactly traumatized people because they have seen the dark side. In some ways, I don’t think you can appreciate the glory of life unless you also know the dark side of life.” We can help children build resiliency in the classroom. Working with children who have been traumatised is difficult work, but the joy and gratitude that is experienced when a child emerges from whatever was keeping them in the darkness is deeply rewarding and humbling. But more importantly, it helps a child repair their trauma and be able to engage with the world in a healthy positive way.

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Principles That Guide Trauma Informed Education

When teaching and interacting with students through a trauma lens, these are 10 guiding principles for teachers and administrators, which are based in part upon Rossen and Hull’s work (2014, pp. 26–32). These principles are by no means exhaustive.

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1. Student’s behaviours may be a response to trauma. Knowing the student’s trauma history and trauma symptoms helps in understanding behaviours. Using patience, care, compassion, empathy and consistency is the best way to support students. Learning about a child’s adverse childhood experiences (trauma history) is integral. Keep a reflective journal to document growth and change. Teach children about trauma and about how their brain works. 2.

Teaching emotional and social skills helps all students feel safe, that they belong, and can achieve. These include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and problem solving. Help students understand that there may be different skills needed in a school setting than what they know at home to survive and thrive. Teaching students an emotional vocabulary help students identify and understand their emotions. Integrating evidence-based techniques like art and play exercises throughout the school day can facilitate this emotional development. Teaching mindfulness techniques to help children self-sooth, regulate, and feel better, will also help develop an emotional vocabulary. 3. Academic expectations for all students must remain. One of the most harmful things to do is to lower expectations for traumatised students; by doing that we say that they are not worth our effort, we have given up on them. Interestingly, it has been shown that some of these students can benefit from increased expectations. Regardless it is imperative that teachers be flexible and understanding while maintaining academic expectations. Simple things like having quiet areas, calm zones or mindful places for children to engage with their academic work without constant monitoring are very effective. Also, teachers need to think about helping students with transitions so not to add more stress; creating transitions plans or scripts are very useful. This also involves teachers providing opportunities for success, finding students’ islands of competency and talents, understanding how students best learn (differentiated instruction) and looking for ways to engage students. Monitoring and rewarding growth may also help students gain confidence. 4. Encourage physical activity. This boosts brain functioning and leads to better learning. Exercise helps release stress, tension, aggression and rage. It is a necessary part of the healing. It helps young girls “be” in their bodies in a healthy empowered way when they run, jump, climb, etc. When children are sexually abused they leave their bodies because it is no longer safe to be present and embodied. Educators can use

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exercise and play to help children think about and feel their bodies as strong, safe and supportive. Dance, movement classes, karate, yoga, or doing any kind of sport helps children re-inhabit their bodies. Exercise in the trauma recovery process helps move us out of the flight/fight/freeze response that results from trauma. After a traumatic event, it is common for children to experience intrusive thoughts or flashbacks, difficulties with hyper-arousal, sleep problems, startle response, anxiety and dissociation. With these symptoms, the body tightens and becomes constricted, stomach aches often happen, headaches, and other health issues arise. Moving in and inhabiting the body in a fun, stress free way through play, exercising, running, etc. helps the body loosen the holding patterns or stress that trauma has imposed. In trauma work it is called moving from a frozen structure back to a normal or fluid structure where the child can freely move in their body without fear or restriction. If the child has no physical way of releasing the trauma, then PTSD can result. Physical release coupled with therapy, which could be talk, play or art is ideal to help the child move past trauma. 5. Always lift children up and give positive regard. Traumatised children often feel unworthy, unlikeable and unlovable. Educators can bring kindness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard into the student’s life, maybe for the first time. Remember that you are working to create healthy attachment with this child and you can be their relationship coach. By being flexible and understanding, children will most likely grow to trust you as a safe person in their life. Always try to provide options for children so that they have choice and some sense of control/empowerment. 6. Children are learning to regulate their bodies by co-regulating with you. Start with yourself and learn the skills necessary to be self-regulated so you can help your students regulate their bodies. As you work out your own personal and emotional growth, it will be easier for you to be there as a positive present person in your students’ lives. Provide your students with ongoing opportunities to practice self-regulation through teaching them introspection, reflection, and self-monitoring. 7.

Learn art and play techniques to help children self-sooth, learn strategies for redirecting behaviours, understanding emotions, and having a safe way to talk about feelings and trauma. Later in this book we provide many art and play techniques that can be incorporated into the everyday school schedule. The art and play techniques that help students grow emotionally also lay the pathway for learning readiness and cognitive skill building. The by-product of children learning self-soothing

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and regulating behaviours is that they are then ready and able to focus and concentrate on academics. For issues that are too big for the classroom setting, bring in an Art Therapist or psychologist to work with the child. 8. Create a sensory rich environment. Movement activities, manipulatives, and other tools can be used to help children self-regulate and satisfy sensory issues. This will be discussed further later in the book. Schools and the accompanying classrooms need to have calming zones, sand trays, water tables, painting areas, clay areas, lots of fidgets, different design chairs and furniture, and objects for physical engagement like rocking chairs and sitting balls. The classroom should be welcoming, stimulating and inviting for children to learn, play and feel safe. 9. Work with children’s narratives to help reframe trauma stories. Educators can help move children out of narratives of feeling stuck, helpless, and hopeless into narratives of strength and hope. In this book, we provide examples of reframing to help teachers move away from asking, “What is wrong with this child?” to “What happened to this child and how can I support them?” Children who have undergone trauma lived through terrible realities by developing strong survival skills. Often children need help to recognise their strengths and resilience. Teachers can be an active agent of change to help children deconstruct stories in which they see themselves trapped in memories of being; the bad one in the family; the victim who desires the worst; or a failure who desires to be punished. Teachers can help the child reframe the story to what really happened, which was they survived a terrible adult crime committed against them, had to hold onto painful secrets in order to protect the family, lived through an awful disaster, and/or showed bravery and intelligence in face of a situation that was life or death. 10.

Use brain based strategies for classroom management not authoritarianism. The classroom should be a place that fosters collaboration and support. Brain based strategies like using concrete visual images for teaching makes good sense as we now know that for most students, information is absorbed the best visually. Using project based assignments, using art to teach, adding pictures and graphics to information all provide a better way for students to access information. Using repetition and giving students choices, and asking open ended questions helps students stay regulated and calm when learning. Scaffolding information and linking new knowledge to what students already know help them move forward. Using brain teasers, letting children solve and

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experiment through pretend play’s What if…positioning help shift students into creative problem solvers. Using music and humour help soothe and calm students. Creating a social atmosphere in the classroom through collaboration, as small group projects help students learn social skills and strengthens their ability to form relationships. Physical movement is important to mental and emotional wellbeing. Children learn better when they have movement opportunities through outdoor play, drama, dancing, running or scrambling. There has also been new research looking at the connections between the arts and neuroscience research that are suggesting the importance of the arts are greater than previously thought. Research is showing that “…certain arts boost attention, working memory, and visual spatial skills. Other arts such as dance, theatre and drama boost social skills, empathy, timing, patience, verbal memory and other transferable life skills” (Jenson, n.d.). Vignette I did art and play therapy with a young girl of 5 years, who was removed from her house due to domestic violence and drug use. She was very violent at school, swore at teachers and had delayed language and reading skills. She was stuck in fight mode and it seemed like everyone and everything made her reactive. One of the women who worked with her at school brought her to art therapy every Friday and also made it a special day to connect with her. They had ice-cream first, then both would come to the studio. This routine and show of positive regard and commitment to her by her teacher went a long way in helping me in the work of freeing her of the grip of her trauma. She came from a home in which all the adult voices were loud, violent and threatening. We both constantly used clear precise language and eye contact when her behaviours escalated. The routine and repetition of this helped reverse the threat alarm that the amygdala was sending her brain; that any time an adult corrected her behaviour or said no that she needed to escalate and go into fight mode because chaos was going to break out. She was intelligent and curious, but did not like to show that side of herself. The sessions were scripted the same each time; begin with a game; move to the art table and talk about feelings; break and play time in sand tray or water tray. Remember the three R-s by Bruce Perry, repetition, rhythm and regulation. She was part of the collaboration of what activities we would do within this framework. When I asked her about her home life she always said, “Everything’s fine. Everyone’s nice.” She would not talk about her emotions or feelings. I

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designed group activities that the three of us could do to try to “talk about without talking” some of the fears that she would not verbalise. I have a small indoor tent and we played camping. She and her teacher would be asleep (lights out in the room) and I would pretend to come in with a flashlight and wake them up. Her job was to keep me out. She would yell and throw stuffed toys at me until I left. This was re-enacting an actual home situation where strangers would come into her house at night and she would freeze in fear. This activity helped move her anger into the right place and gave her an outlet for voicing what she couldn’t voice at home. We did not need to talk about what we were doing, she needed to feel it, embody the power of saying ‘no’ and to be supported by two caring adults. We also played protecting the mother bear in which other stuffed animals would try to attack the bear and she could fight them off. She watched her mother being attacked many times by her father and she could never help her mom, so this game was reframing that power dynamic. We never took her behaviours personally even when she directed profanities at us, knowing that she was acting out of trauma. We corrected her behaviours and language but did not personalise them. Through the session, I was actively listening to her verbal and nonverbal language, encouraging her to explore, make choices, and provide her with opportunities to strengthen her prefrontal cortex. This is encouraged by giving her choices, asking her to make goals for the next session of what she wanted to play or make, and giving her lots of space to self-reflect which she did on the car rides with her teacher. I also added lots of opportunities to be silly. She came from a very serious home and being silly was dangerous. Initially, she was afraid to laugh and do silly things like spraying shaving cream on a piece of paper and muck around with it. She had not had any sensory experiences at home and was not allowed to touch things or get dirty. This rich sensory diet of art materials, fidget toys, sand tray, and water tray materials helped give her nonverbal strategies to calm down and relax. Movement was also important for her. I have a trampoline that children use at the end of sessions. All this helped bring her back into her body awareness, lessen trauma flareups, teach self-soothing and self-regulating. Before we could work on the trauma (child’s workbook provided in Chapter 8) she needed to feel safe in her body and with me, and to develop the social and regulatory skills to be able to process past trauma. Until children show that resilience, they are not ready to go back into the past where the trauma lives. .

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What was also organically happening as we worked at play, art, and narrative was neural development and higher-order thinking. She became more curious, thoughtful and inquisitive. She was doing better at school and starting to get good grades. I picked her up alone one day and all the way to my studio she wanted to know what all the buttons in the car were for, how everything worked and why. Her brain’s plasticity was strengthening so she could engage in higher order thinking, as she was no longer preoccupied by and consumed by trauma. She had control over her emotional reactions and had an expanded repertoire of responses and words to describe them. Frustrated, ridiculous, and lackadaisical were her favourites. She also became excited about writing. I would tell her stories and then we would both write different endings. This is to teach children reframing and to encourage seeing things from a different perspective. The joy of watching this little girl move away from her angry hateful persona into a bright curious being was nothing short of inspiring.

References Bloom, S., & Farragher, B. (2011). Destroying sanctuary: The crisis in human service delivery systems. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Brain Balance. (2018). Signs and symptoms of sensory processing disorder. Retrieved from https://blog.brainbalancecenters.com/2012/04/signs-and-symptoms-ofsensory-processing-disorder Brenner, H. (2003). I know I’m in there somewhere: A woman’s guide to finding her inner voice and living a life of authenticity. New York, NY: Penguin Books. CDC (Centers for Disease Control). (2016). CDC-kaiser permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study flyer. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html CDC (Centers for Disease Control). (n.d.). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/ acestudy/ Cozolino, L. J. (2014). Attachment based teaching: Creating a tribal classroom. New York, NY: W.W. Norton Craig, S. (2016). Trauma-sensitive schools: Learning communities transforming children’s lives, K-5. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Drewes, A., & Bratton, S. (2014). Play therapy. In E. Green & A. Drewes (Eds.), Integrating expressive arts and play therapy with children and adolescents. Hoboken, NJ: Willey & Sons.

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Frey, D. (2014). Self-esteem. In C. Schaefer & A. Drewes (Eds.), The therapeutic powers of play: 20 cores agents of change (pp. 295–318). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons. Heller, D. (n.d.). 8 elements of healing through psychotherapy. Retrieved from https://dianepooleheller.com/ Jensen, E. (n.d.). brain based learning. 10 Most Effective Tips For Using Brain-Based Teaching & Learning. Retrieved from http://www.brainbasedlearning.net/10-mosteffective-tips-for-using-brain-based-teaching-learning/ Klinic Community Health. (2013). Trauma-informed: The trauma toolkit (2nd ed.). Winnipeg, MB: Klinic Community Health Centre. Retrieved from https://gbsurvivors.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Trauma-Toolkit.pdf Levine, P. (1997). Waking the Tiger. Healing trauma. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. Lyons, I. (2015). How to de-stress in 7 steps. Retrieved from https://irenelyon.com Perry, B. (2001). Maltreated children: Experience, brain development. And the next generation. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Perry, B. (n.d.). Bonding and attachment in maltreated children. The ChildTrauma Academy. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2WzpSZ5 Rossen, E., & Hull, R. (2013). Supporting and educating traumatized students: A guide for school-based professional. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Sadoff, R. (2015). The evolution of forensic psychiatry: History, current developments, future directions. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Siebert, A. (n.d.). The resiliency center. Retrieved from http://www.resiliencycenter.com/ cgi-bin/resquiz.cgi Sorrels, B. (2015). Reaching and teaching children exposed to trauma. Lewisville, NC: Gryphon House. Stewart, J. (2017, June 28). War, terror, neglect: How Canadian schools could tackle child trauma. National Post. Retrieved from http://nationalpost.com/pmn/ news-pmn/war-terror-neglect-how-canadian-schools-could-tackle-child-trauma Van der Kolk, B. (2017, March 9). How trauma lodges in the body. On Being (with Krista Tippett). Retrieved from https://onbeing.org/ Yehuda, R. (2015, July 30). How trauma and resilience cross generations. On Being (with Krista Tippett). Retrieved from https://onbeing.org/

CHAPTER 5

Teachers Self-Care and Resiliency Teacher self-care is critical to this program. In a perfect world, each teacher would have a therapist to be able to process with when they were unable to hold the stress and emotional overwhelm involved with performing this job. The level of emotional detachment needed when a child is acting out and directing their anger towards you, overloaded work schedules, lack of support, and daily exhaustion of working with a large group of children, can easily result in what Susan Craig (2016) terms “compassion fatigue [which] occurs when professionals feel there is nothing that they can do to help the children they are responsible for no matter how much effort they expend” (p. 90). Teachers need to know their own trauma history, recognise their own triggers and be working on their own trauma resolution. Most of us have unresolved trauma. That does not mean we can’t work with children. We need to be doing our own healing work, and to be aware of when we get triggered into fight/flight/freeze mode and be able to bring ourselves back to self-regulation. “Just as traditional behavior management techniques fail to address the complexities underlying the behaviors of children exposed to trauma, conventional explanations of teacher stress do not capture the depth of distress experienced by teachers working with this population” (p. 89). One of the great effects of using PAN to help students resolve trauma is that teachers benefit vicariously from the process. Just as teachers can experience vicarious trauma by hearing their students’ trauma stories they can also benefit vicariously by experiencing the joy and aliveness of children who move away from feeling victimised into feeling resilience. Karen has been working for over twenty years with clients who have experienced trauma. Part of the reason that she has stayed healthy doing this work is that she also engages with play, art, and narrative as part of her self-care program. Working with trauma in this way, is a gentle but powerful way to grow and learn.

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Educator Self-Care

One of the biggest challenges working with traumatised children is the human ability to dissociate. It is natural and happens quickly. We dissociate when the body feels or senses that something fearful is about to happen. If a child is

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dissociated, it is easy to dissociate vicariously. If you notice that this has happened, you just gently bring yourself back by having a glass of water, walking or moving your body, naming things that you see or hear around you, and feeling your feet on the ground. These seemingly simple things will bring you back to presence. You may be triggered by your students’ behaviour and dissociating if: 1. Your rate of breathing changes, you are holding your breath, if you are sighing. 2. If your heart rate increases. 3. If you are perspiring (hands, feet, armpit, forehead and back). 4. If your muscles are contracted (hands, feet, shoulders, stomach). 5. If you feel flushing in face or throat. 6. If suddenly you become sleepy or irritated and you are not sure why. 7. If you feel out of your body. 8. If you start intellectualising or talking too much. 9. If you have no idea what to do and are wondering: “What just happened?” 10. If you have a difficult time staying focused and concentrating. Consequences of being dissociated and in a fight/flight/freeze state: 1. The teacher is now out of attunement for the child, which means the child feels unsafe. 2. The teacher is no longer able to use higher brain functioning and is in the reactive mode (reptilian brain). 3. The child feels the attachment disruption and “rejection” which is a replay of childhood. 4. The teacher cannot stay grounded in their body consequently, neither will the child be able to stay regulated or grounded. How to avoid this situation: 1. Being aware of your own specific unhealed grief, and traumas and working to heal them. 2. Ability to use grounding techniques and acknowledge what is happening to your own neurophysiology and ability to bring yourself back into presence. 3. Ability to self-soothe, calm and do deep breathing (adapted from Schwarz, 2015). Grounding is a term used for feeling solid in your body and connected to the surrounding world. It helps one be present in the here and now. The following

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quiz helps situate yourself in knowing if you are grounded in the present surrounding world (focused, balanced, present, awake) or if you dissociate (drift off, phase out, daydream). Quiz: Are you adequately grounded? 1. Do you get lost easily getting from point A to point B? Yes/No 2. Is it difficult for you to pay attention in the classroom? Yes/No 3. Have you been called a space cadet, airy-fairy, or similar? Yes/No 4. Do you lose time? For example: Do you ever find yourself in places— strange or familiar—but don’t remember how you got there? Yes/No 5. When asked to wiggle your toes, do you have to make a conscious effort to do this? Yes/No 6. Do you spend a lot of time dwelling on past situations, finding it difficult to move out of those thoughts and live in the present? Yes/No 7. Do you avoid putting yourself in situations that require your full attention? Yes/No 8. Is it difficult for you to concentrate? Yes/No 9. Are you prone to accidents? Yes/No 10. Do you have difficulty staying on topic during group conversations? Yes/ No 11. Do you feel that you are more often ‘out of body’ than ‘in body?’ Yes/No 12. Are you often scheming or daydreaming about the future because you are unhappy with the status quo? Yes/No 13. Do you tend to trip over your own feet while walking, or bump into furniture while moving about in your home or office? Yes/No 14. Do you believe that you might be addicted to having astral flight experiences? Yes/No 15. Do you retreat to the bedroom, choosing excessive sleep, in order to avoid uncomfortable life circumstances? Yes/No 16. Do you routinely display bursts of anger or frustration in front of others? Yes/No 17. Do you duck for cover—energetically or physically—when things get ugly in life situations, preferring not to get caught in the crossfire? Yes/ No (Desy, 2017)1 Answering yes to more than a few of these gives an overall idea of perhaps not being too grounded, however, if you really want to see a score result, you can complete the quiz online. All the modalities discussed in this book, such as Mindfulness, Focusing, therapeutic play, art, and narrative help ground life and work. Being grounded

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is also critical to be self-regulated. It means feeling present and orientated to the world in the moment. In teacher self-care, it is also important to be watchful for burnout. Although burnout is a lay term, it is now a recognised diagnosis by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the International Classification of Diseases, or ICD-11 (2019). It is referred to as “occupational phenomenon” and is “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” (WHO, 2019). Importantly, the ICD-11 emphasises that “burn-out table 5.1  Symptoms of burnout

Walking out of conversations Irrational fears Lack of insight into own behaviour Cynicism Raising our voices Not breathing Inability to make decisions Inertia Feeling grouchy and snappy Complaining Hibernating, lying in fetal position Using inappropriate language Being negative Insomnia or wanting to sleep all the time Losing perspective Inability to empathise with others Shortness of breath Vagueness Always being busy Feeling trapped or boxed in Feeling diffferent from everyone else Martyrdom Feelingdisconnected, disempowered Nagging Shutting down and ignoring people Nausea and queasiness Beating yourself up

Source: Quest for Life (n.d., pp. 17–18)

Feeling helpless Craving distractions Diminished concentration/focus Impatience/intolerance with people Blaming Total apathy Making rash statements and decisions Chest pain Ignoring intuition Becoming suspicious of self/others Asking “why me?” Planning suicide Desire to run away Losing your spatial ability Feeling sick Feeling unmotivated Sitting with a glazed look Exhaustion Feeling numb Relying on takeaway food Having inappropriate conversations Shut-down of automatic pilot Adopting pesky behaviours Self-sabotage, self-resentment/hate Lack of attention when driving Decrease in hygiene standards Loss of perspective Road rage

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refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life” (ICD-11). We all have different symptoms when we start to feel overwhelmed and exhausted. The following lists are descriptions of burnout symptoms and some suggestions to regain back health and resiliency. table 5.2  What helps reverse burnout?

Spas Long walks along the beach Dancing Listening to music Inspirational reading, poetry Loving someone Pursuing a creative outlet Achieving goals Drives in the country Using aromatherapy Taking bubble baths by candlelight Laughter Visiting gardens and gardening Sport and exercise Going on picnics Good communication Contemplation Having times of solitude Gratitude—keeping a blessing book Yoga, tai chi, chi gong Drawing and sketching Craftwork or hobbies Curling up with a book Staring into the distance Sitting in starlight or fijirelight Lighting a candle Being in the company of animals Playing with children Being in nature Singing, Making music Source: Quest for Life (n.d., p. 19)

Enjoying our work Doing things for other people Laughter Giving someone a compliment Sitting and relaxing Having ‘down’ time Giving someone a massage Keeping to a routine Spiritual practices or rituals Eating a healthy diet and drinking juices Being in the company of animals Playing with children Being in nature Singing, Making music Meditation Keeping a diary Spending time with our pets Writing a journal, poetry Spending special time with special people Buying ourselves something special Learning or studying something new Strategy and planning Giving love to family Being silly with/without the kids Dressing up Going to the theatre Contact with good friends

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1.1

Am I Getting Burned Out? Find balance Too much of anything, even a good thing can be harmful. Find a way to balance the time you devote to yourself, your relationships, and your commitments to avoid feeling burned out by one thing or another. Draw a scale and on one side draw your commitments. On the other side draw your hobbies and downtime activities. How balanced are the scales? Add variety to your routine While routine is important, especially for children, the constant repetition of the same activities can sometimes lead to feeling burned out. Keep in mind that there are ways to add variety without major adjustments to your routine. Make a list of three activities or hobbies that you always wanted to try. Prioritise them. How could you fit the first one in? If you can, schedule it in for the next three months. Get your “me time” in Between work, school, family, and chores, time for yourself is usually the first to go. Make self-care a priority. If you don’t, no one else will! Schedule in “me time.” Exercise, eat right, and get plenty of sleep Your physical health and emotional health are linked so optimise your chances for no burn out by taking care of your health. Feelings of fatigue and irritability are warning signs you may need more attention to your health. Think positively Negativity will spread like a disease so pay attention to your own thoughts, as well as the comments of others around you. One negative person can quickly infect the group, bringing down morale and robbing the joy of others. Review who in your life adds negativity and assess how it affects you. Remain self-aware Being self-aware refers to paying attention to your own thoughts, feelings, and physical symptoms. Being busy, it’s easy to ignore the signs of impending burnout and stress, but eventually you experience fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and irritability. How can you be more mindful? Try to add a five-minute mindfulness practice to your day.

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Build a support system Whether it’s family, friends, community, church, or paid help, you need people around you for support. You will eventually need someone in your life who will be there when you need them. Draw or write your support system. Do you need to try to expand it, use it more or is it effective for you? 1.2 Implementing a Trauma Informed Policy for the School This requires change, education and commitment. Once everyone in the school culture is familiar with and used to the vision and reality of working this way the resistance to trying something new will be greatly outweighed by the positive health outcomes. This will take regularly scheduled training and coaching, collaboration, and assurance that the new play, art, and narrative techniques will be integrated throughout the school day. It requires a transition into a whole new mode of operating for some professionals. These are some guidelines that will help ease teachers into feeling comfortable and confident with making this transition. Working therapeutically with students means that you should have some degree of belief in children’s ability to change. I have worked with clients whom I felt did not benefit at all from art therapy then years later they told me how much it helped them. You need to have a belief in the process. This belief helps build your confidence that what you are doing is meaningful. You might not see a big change, but be confident that you are doing a piece of restorative work for a child. A small piece of healing goes a long way. Boundaries are important in this work. If you find it difficult to set boundaries, this would be a good area to seek professional help for yourself. Working therapeutically with the children in your class will have a curative impact on their personal wellbeing and your own. It requires that you know your cultural biases (including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexuality, religion, physical/mental ability status, and citizenship status), and are aware of your own cultural privileges. The students you work with are responsible for their own change, through negotiation and collaboration they will take responsibility for using the tools and insights you provide to them. It is crucial to work and share with other teachers, administrators and other professionals in your school. This is a collaborative process. Your approach to this process should be flexible, curious and open-ended. Your like or dislike for a student should not affect how you work therapeutically as you can still do strong effective work with a student who triggers you or you may not like. It is your responsibility to know why you react to them, is it something in your past that you are projecting on them or is

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it something else? Change is slow and gradual and students trapped in trauma are often resistive. You can still do good work. Sink into the work and “trust the process” (McNiff, 1997, p. 210). table 5.3  Self-care on the go (partly based on Bard, 2019)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Give your body mindful attention every three hours. Notice your feelings, body sensations. During the day oxygenate regularity by taking three deep breaths whenever you remember. Move (or walk, depending on your current physical health) for a few minutes every few hours. Or go up and down the stairs three times a few times a day. Narrow your food choices. Pick two healthy breakfasts, lunches, and dinners and rotate for the week. Activate your self-soothing system. Find three ways to self-soothe. Drink an extra glass of water each day whenever you feel you need to. Forest bathe whenever possible. (Take a walk through a forest.) Get fifteen minutes of sun, especially if you’re in a cold climate. Inhale a soothing smell. Try lavender to calm mood and relax. Imagine you’re your best friend. If you were, what would you tell yourself right now? Practice gratefulness. Say three things each morning or night that you are grateful for. Check in with your emotions. Sit quietly and just name without judgment what you’re feeling. Practice Focusing. Write out your thoughts. Write for fifteen minutes on anything bothering you. Then let it go. Choose who you spend your time with today. Pick positive people. Petting a pet.

Moving toward self-care means that you take healthy control of your higher brain, and listen more closely to your reptilian brain, so that you can regulate and release stress. Healthy nervous system pathway wiring happens when we practice Focusing, Mindfulness, play, art, and narrative exercises, and include physical exercises. When the brain and nervous system are wired well (not living in the past trauma and fear) the release of stress can occur immediately. Most people live in fight-flight-freeze responses, which means that we are responding to old patterns imprinted in the body caused by past traumas. Releasing daily stress starts with tuning into the body and its inner landscape

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to know whether or not a survival response might not actually be necessary for a particular situation. Then the body can know what kind of stress response is needed for that situation. Being present and quieting the mind is key; by using Focusing and turning inward, asking what am I feeling and where do I feel it in my body begins the process. However, staying with that, being with it, which means you are present and with the part of you that is angry, afraid, etc. in your body, carries us toward calm. Next, we bring compassion to that part of our body where we feel that. It could be something like, “Oh yes, I am feeling angry with him because he reminds me of a person in the past who was aggressive with me. Of course, I would feel like that.” This ‘being with’ yourself helps quiet the mind, calm the nervous system and bring you back to the present. The mind can now refocus on reality not the ‘what-if.’ It’s also key to allow yourself to go through the natural biological process your body needs to experience, in order to digest and release the stress, including the emotions that may come up. It is super important to be able to tune in to your body and its inner landscape to know whether or not a survival response that is happening might not actually be necessary for the situation you’re in. (Lyon, 2015) Bringing yourself into your body sensations is what helps you self-regulate. Feeling all you’re feeling, good and bad helps us release stress. Learning to ‘be with’ your emotions and body sensations gives you agency and ability to calm yourself. We form patterns of how we move through the autonomic nervous system and we have internal and external cues that tell us where we are in the process. There will be shifts in facial expressions, breathing, swallowing, changes in skin tone, shifts in muscle tone, movement of the neck, body posture, tears, shifts in eye movement and gaze. When the sympathetic component of the autonomic nervous system is activated, it results in increased heart rate, blood pressure and respiration. We are hyperaroused. If not soothed and regulated the hyperarousal can move into extreme distress signals, this hyperarousal switches to hypoarousal or dissociation. We disengage from the stimuli in the external world, freeze and lose contact with ourselves, others, and the environment. Numbing, avoidance, compliance, and restricted affect follows. Hypoarousal is an escape for the body and mind. It conserves energy, and allows us to rest. This is a metabolic shutdown. The dorsal vagal medulla in the brainstem increases dramatically, lowering the blood pressure and heart rate. When under attack, this is a last resort defensive strategy. Initially dissociation is used to cope with traumatic events, but under stress the body can use it to defend against a broad range of daily stressors. When under the burden of

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mental pain the right hemisphere of the brain collapses, there is a loss of the sense of self, numbness to body pain and disconnection from the body. Learning the basic skills of Focusing provides the framework for building effective skills for acknowledging, being with, and working with emotions. Recall the ABCs (based on Brenner, 2003 and Cornell, 2005) mentioned earlier in Chapter 1 to use with children—this is also an effective way to work with yourself and adults. When feeling an emotion, first turn inward and ask yourself what you are feeling and where you sense it in the body. Acknowledge it, Be with it and have Compassion for the part of you that is triggered, angry, or upset. In this way, you can stay present and contained in order to be there for your students and not go into reaction mode. 1.3 Attunement Attunement is vital in a trauma informed environment. So, teachers need to be attuned to their students. This means knowing that all behaviours have meaning and not be reactive, but curious and empathetic to the student when facing difficult behaviours. Having a consistent response to students is important because children coming from a background of trauma often live or lived in uncertainty and inconsistency. The classroom rules and the teacher’s actions, including non-verbal cues need to be predictable and safe. Routines and rituals help build consistency because “environments and situations that are familiar, predictable, and consistent allow these youth to ‘let down their guard’ and focus their energy on more positive developmental tasks such as learning” (Rossen & Hull, 2013, p. 15). This means attending to the quotidian of life in the classroom—how the day begins and ends, transitions from activities, recess, lunch time, moving about the classroom and the school, or catching the bus. As classroom teachers, we have to think carefully about even the seemingly smallest of things in order to help children. Consequently, as teachers you must remember that the children in your classroom attune to your body language, facial expression, tone of voice and movements. Your “own nervous system communicates directly with your child’s nervous system” (Levine, 2008, p. 17). Teachers need to attune or know their own body sensations of what is comfortable, safe and calm before they can help their students attune to and know what helps their bodies feel comfortable, safe and calm. This helps us become resilient and grounded. Having healthy supportive relationships with the children you work with is one of the most influential things one can provide to help them recover from trauma. 1.4 Cultural Responsiveness Culturally responsive teachers are integral to a trauma informed classroom. This means knowing your own biases and educating and challenging yourself

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when those biases emerge. It also means identifying and working with your students’ biases. It means challenging the institutional systems and structures that contribute to the positive and negative reinforcement of biases. If you are white, it means understanding white privilege and how that affects the children in your classroom. Children need to be given the skills to be able to negotiate the differences between cultures and socio-economic backgrounds if we are going to move toward a social justice education and world. The school needs to have programming and workshops to educate and guide teachers and administrators through this process. This can be a challenging and fearful journey if you have not engaged in confronting your own bias. The school cannot provide safety for all children if you do not do this critical personal work. Briefly, cultural/racial discrimination can be described as a differential treatment of an individual specifically due to certain negative beliefs about that person’s cultural/racial group membership and has been found to be linked to negative psychological outcomes (Chou et al., 2012). Teachers need to ask themselves how their worldview and cultural background may affect the children in their classroom. They also need to be aware of how the children in their classroom’s worldview and cultural background may affect the other children in the room. When working with traumatised children who immigrated to North America, it is helpful for teachers to know the immigration history, racial and cultural identities, family concerns, history of discrimination, and trauma. Many children who come from war zones and refugee camps may have intergenerational trauma. Teachers need knowledge of gender roles and family expectations, traditional healing practices and beliefs about wellness. Many cultures have different approaches to cultural holidays and rituals. Ideas vary about family structure, power, and outside help. Family myths, stories, and rules all affect how your students will adjust to the classroom. How trauma has affected different families across generations and what traumatic events before or after the migration is all valuable information that you as the classroom teacher need to know.

2

Talking to Children about Racism

In a trauma informed classroom we need to talk to children about racism. This is the only way we can disrupt unhealthy messages and paradigms, and encourage children to be kind and compassionate. “Research clearly shows that children not only recognize race from a very young age, but also develop racial biases by ages three to five” (Winkler, 2009, p. 1). When a child is being racially profiled they have to work harder to be seen. This means that they

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hide or go into a freeze response or try to be the best at sports, school, music etc. Racial bullying often becomes internalised in a child as feelings of shame, fear, and self-hatred. At a young age children learn what it means to be black or brown and what it means to be white. These ideas become engrained in children’s minds. White children learn and maintain the stereotypes. Black parents have the extra task of reframing their children’s reality. These ideas have a huge impact on children. Trauma informed educators know that these conversations need to happen. Children need to deeply know what different coloured skin means. Children understand at a young age that there is a set of advantages due to being white. The white children in your classroom need to understand how to be a good ally and the black and brown students need to know how to navigate this cultural and historical narrative. Unfortunately, a significant number of children and youth do not see themselves in the curriculum nor do many of their teachers speak to or teach of their lived experiences. As one observer noted “we have avoided in recent years talking openly and honestly about race out of fear that it will alienate and polarize” (Sokowler, 2014, p. 61). Trauma informed educators have to start talking with children, even at a very young age to help children: – Develop critical thinking: Questioning racist comments, really trying to understand why other people act as they do. – Listening skills: Teaching children to respect and listen to people different from them. – Make mistakes and make amends: We will be ‘called out’ and get it wrong, have a growth mindset and keep going and not going into victimhood. – Show up and show empathy: Teaching child to use their privilege and show up. Not to save the day, but because it’s their responsibility to become a good person. These classroom discussions and exercises help reduce trauma from happening, bullying from erupting, and explains the invisible laws of society to children in ways that they can help change them. It’s never too early to start anti-racist talks. It helps build resiliency, relationships and promotes autonomy. It helps children to feel comfortable talking about race and empowers them to call out racism when they see it. For older children, it helps them develop a deeper understanding of the unresolved layers of race. Using the creative arts, helps children who feel marginalised, unseen, or unheard develop a voice, and become self-expressive. As Quintero (2007) explains, because of engagement with the arts, “through their play, especially when immersed in an environment of literature, art, and story, can provide us with perspectives of possibilities of what is and what can be” (p. 202).

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It is clear that the engagement with art and play facilitates children’s development of higher order cognitive skills becoming more critical in their thinking and finding self-expression through active experience (Bentley, 2013).

3

LGBTQ+2 Children and Youth

Trauma informed teachers need to support LGBTQ+2 children and youth and help them in navigating not just the school landscape, but life beyond the school. If a LGBTQ+2 students comes out to you: listen and support their courage for talking, offer supports but don’t assume they need them. Confirm and respect confidentiality. At the school level, advocate for professional development and help educate your colleagues. As a trauma informed educator part of your reflective practice is to acknowledge the social privilege you have if you are part of the dominant culture in being cisgendered. To use this social privilege to help your students you can challenge the status quo of heterosexual centering or heteronormativity. Heteronormativity means always naming and keeping heterosexual couples and cisgendered students the norm. You may simply do it by asking students about their mom and dad, assuming that female looking students identify with being female. Micro aggressions can nullify a queer student’s reality. Micro aggressions are all the small ways we disrespect and don’t acknowledge another person. These bias and aggressive remarks are often framed as the person just joking or not meaning anything harmful when really, they are. A micro aggressive remark by a parent may be something like asking you to tone it down because an Uncle is visiting and even though they understand your choices, the Uncle will not. How to be a trauma informed ally to your LGBTQ+2 students: – Assess your own beliefs, bias, and knowledge. – Familiarise yourself with the proper and respectable LGBTQ+2 terminology and inclusive language. – Make your classroom a safe place for all children. – Make your curriculum LGBTQ+2 friendly. – Celebrate LGBTQ+2 history, PRIDE, and role models. – Plan LGBTQ+2 inclusive events like dances. – Make sure that there are LGBTQ+2 friendly and informative books in the library. – Make sure your school has some support groups and clubs. – Confront anti-LGBTQ+2 behaviour and bullying.

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Anger

Most of us have a conflicted relationship with anger. Generally, most people have learned from a young age that it is not okay or ‘good’ to be angry. We have been told to supress it, deny it or worse; we have been taught to turn on ourselves for becoming angry in the first place. What we need to understand is that anger is part of being human and that we need to learn how to use anger in more appropriate and beneficial ways. The following is an abbreviation of “Preparing for Resistance” in Harriet Goldhor-Lerner’s (1985) book Dance of Anger: A woman’s guide to changing the patterns of intimate relationships: 1. Do speak up when an issue is important to you. 2. Don’t strike while the iron is hot…. 3. Do take time out to think about the problem and to clarify your position. 4. Don’t use ‘below-the-belt’ tactics. 5. Do speak in ‘I’ language. Learn to say, “I think…” 6. Don’t make vague requests. 7. Do try to appreciate the fact that people are different…. 8. Don’t participate in intellectual arguments that go nowhere…. 9. Do recognise that each person is responsible for his or her own behaviour…. 10. Don’t tell another person what she or he thinks or feels. (pp. 199–201) 4.1

Anger Identification Exercise I know I am angry when… I usually feel my anger in my… When I am angry, I often act… When I am angry, I think the following about myself… When I am angry, I also feel… When I am angry, I wish I could…

Anger is a painful, powerful and complex emotion. When it overwhelms us, we often want to push it away, stuff it down, ignore it, or forget it. Not dealing effectively with anger only increases its potential to be destructive in the classroom. Our emotions are interconnected. If you suppress anger you also suppress your passion, energy and joy. Traits that we see in our students that anger us are often those that we reject in ourselves. When you hold on to resentment, you freeze yourself in a victim’s role. Anger is a signal that your rights have

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been violated, your needs are not being met, or that you are compromising yourself in some way. Let anger be a catalyst for you to learn more about yourself. Transform your anger into energy for change by way of five actions: 1. Acknowledge your anger; 2. Recognise its cause; 3. Decided what you can do; 4. Express your feelings through art or play; 5. Let it go. As teachers, we must be honest with ourselves and recognise and acknowledge that sometimes we will get angry in our classroom because of different dynamics that will emerge through human interactions and behaviours. This is particularly so when we have traumatised children in our care, and we are only beginning to learn about it. Furthermore, often as teachers, we tend to overwork and over give because we feel this is the right thing to do—help someone. However, over time this can become mentally and emotionally exhausting, which can result in our becoming not very helpful to anyone, including ourselves. Answer the following questions as a way to assess and evaluate your helping behaviours, try to be honest with yourself in your responses. How often do you say yes when you want to shout no? Do you say yes because you will feel guilty if you don’t? Saying no in an assertive, non-aggressive table 5.4  Helping addiction test

1) I almost always listen to others who need emotional support, but I seldom ask anyone to pay attention to my emotional needs. Y/N 2) When someone helps me I usually make sure I do as much or more to help them in return. Y/N 3) When I don’t respond to someone else’s needs, I often feel selfijish. Y/N 4) I try hard not to hurt other people’s feelings. Y/N 5) Once I say “yes” people can count on me to get the job done, even if it costs me personally. Y/N 6) I avoid conflict whenever possible. Y/N 7) I tend to get myself in over my head by saying “yes” too much, too often. Y/N ______  ____ TOTALS Yes   No Source: Loving Tubesing and Tubesing (1994, p. 44). © 1994 Whole Person Associates, Inc. Reproduced with permission.

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manner is difficult. The person making the request is asking you for something. That person wants you to say yes. Don’t look to them for help when making your decision. Ask yourself, is this a reasonable request? Check your body. Are you breathing shallowly? Are you perspiring? Do you feel trapped, pushed into a corner? No one is going to hate you if you say no when you need to. Visualise yourself saying no. Practice saying the word aloud, perhaps in front of a mirror. Do this before you talk to someone you know will try to pressure you into saying yes. Abolish “I’m sorry but…” before you say no. Forget long-winded excuses. Simple, direct explanation will do. Some people will try to make you feel guilty. Just keep repeating no. You have a right to choose what you will and won’t do. 4.2 The Importance of Self-Esteem Self-esteem is like good nutrition-the more you have, the healthier and stronger you become. To esteem yourself is to feel respectful and valuable toward yourself. When you value and respect yourself you recognise your strengths, talents, and uniqueness. Defining your self-esteem is identifying your worthiness. Choosing to feel positive about yourself is your decision. There is no shortage of literature about improving self-esteem, however, Diana and Julia Loomans (2003) provide a basic set of ideas as a guide to developing more esteem with children and yourself: – Compassion: Honor all of your feelings, and listen with empathy to each other. – Clear Communication: Express your emotions simply, and speak from the heart. – Creativity: Try new things, be playful, and invite the unexpected. – Consistency: Do what you say, and say what you mean each day. – Challenge: Approach problems with positive expectancy, and learn from the challenges. – Cheerfulness: Embrace the day with lightheartedness, and learn to enjoy life. – Confidence: Trust and believe in your own talents and in the abilities of others. – Calmness: Breathe and live from a calm center within yourself each day. – Clear Agreements: Create clear agreements and rules that everyone understands and feels good about, – Commitment: Be committed to being true to yourself and honest with others each day. (Loomans & Loomans, 2003, p. 2)

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In a trauma informed school environment when you have successes in your classroom it is important to share those experiences with supportive friends. We all need self and outside encouragement when doing challenging work. The more you give, the more you need to look after your own needs. That is not being selfish, that is being wise. The more we know about ourselves and what we need, the more self-esteem and self-worth we have. As we lose our vagueness about yourself, our values, our life situation, we become available to the moment. It is there, in the particular, that we contact the creative self….Art lies in the moment of encounter: we meet our truth and we meet ourselves; we meet ourselves and we meet our self-expression. (Cameron, 2002, p. 82) 4.3 Working with Fears Another issue we must address as teachers is our own fears. Working with students’ traumas and overwhelming emotions brings up fears. As a trauma informed professional you need to be aware of past and present fears. What are your fears? Are they fear of losing present security, fear of failure, fear of personal rejection or the disapproval of others? Do you have a fear of succeeding? Do you fear change? When you are working with your students’ fears, it is critical that you know your own list of fears and anxieties. 4.4 Working with Art The art process is a great way to relax, de-stress and feel regenerated. All the art exercise in the chapter on therapeutic art making are good ideas for you to do on your own. Keeping an art journal is a great way to be able to quickly do some visual writing, colouring or scrapbooking. In the summer institute that we teach together at the University of Regina called “Play, Art and Narrative” most of the teachers become enthusiastic about having a personal art practice again or for the first time. Taking an art class, having an art club, doing art weekends are all good ways to use art therapeutically. One of the art activities we teach our students in our graduate class is to create a HALT box for their desk. The acronym H.A.L.T. stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. It is a technique that you can use, asking yourself if you are feeling one of the four states to help shift your mood. Having a snack, acknowledging if you are angry, recognising that you crave a conversation with a friend or colleague, and sensing into your tired body instead of ignoring it means that you can look after your needs before your mood escalates into anxiety. Staying mindful and checking in with yourself by asking yourself if you feel in one or more of these states, helps you do self-care and moves you out of reaction. As

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teachers, it is easy to ignore our body sensations and signals. Inside the box the students put tea bags, stress balls, positive quotes, chocolate, and other things that remind them to take a break and chill. Guidelines for Art Making – Trust yourself in your art-making process; there is no right or wrong way. – Your art is a reflection of what you may be feeling right now. You are always changing. – Resist comparing your art to others’. Your creative style is unique. – Give yourself permission to experiment, play, take risks and be curious about the process. – Give yourself permission to reflect on and accept your real feelings before you engage the art materials. – Don’t let preconceptions about what art is or should be interfere with the pleasure of creating. – Allow yourself to let go of negative judgments from past experiences; they don’t matter anymore. – Give yourself quiet time afterwards to reflect on the experience of making art. This reflection may include journal writing, note-taking or simply thinking about your experience. What is needed at this moment? It is important that we always respect our own boundaries of personal comfort and readiness to confront what may be difficult issues. – Above all, have fun, invite pleasure and curiosity and allow yourself to experience the simple joy of working with the art materials. (Wallace, 2018, pp. 5–6) Vignette For many years I worked with a young man in his twenties. Mentally and emotionally he was about four years old. He had lived in a group home most of his life and had brain damage. He didn’t like many things, but he did like art. He did very rote drawings of things he thought were cool, such as cartoon pictures, superheroes and other images that I found on the internet for him to draw. Then he discovered cars. He loved cars. I broke the drawing process down to simple steps, getting him to draw the hood, body, headlights, wheels etc. One of his diagnosis was ADHD and it was difficult to find ways to help him focus, but drawing in simple steps allowed him to slow down, breathe and concentrate. He was always very proud of

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the drawings. He would not do meditation, breathing exercises or grounding exercises. But drawing helped him become present in the moment, mindful and grounded. I would send him home with colouring sheets of animals, mandalas, and nature for him to use when he felt anxious or agitated. The simple combination of repetition, and rhythm in colouring helped him self-regulate. Another client I saw for a long time who also lived in a group home was diagnosed with autism and FASD. Colouring and drawing were her favourite way to relax, de-stress and focus on the here and now. I would take her out for coffee and colouring was the way she could manage being in public places. As long as we had markers, colouring books and art supplies she could stay focused on having a meal or a coffee out in public without yelling at people, or getting up and running around. She had severe anxiety and social issues. Something as simple as colouring books and markers were all she needed to help settle and regulate her system so that she could enjoy being with other people in a public place. Simple ways to create rhythm and repetition to help calm the nervous system as throwing a ball back and forth, colouring together, knitting, working with clay or goop, playing a card game can all quickly help a child or adult de-escalate when they are feeling overwhelmed, or stressed. I personally like colouring as a way to quickly regulate and de-stress. Other teachers enjoy knitting which is an easy portable craft to carry. Visual journaling, sketching, and collage journaling are all easy art exercises to have on your desk if you need and have a few minutes to regroup.

5

Resiliency

Resiliency is generally described as the ability or capacity to recover from adverse challenges. When we become emotionally, physically and mentally healthier, we are moving towards being more resilient. This is what we want for teachers, children, administrators and the whole school culture. “But the good news is that trauma doesn’t have to be a life sentence” (Levine & Kline, 2008, p. 220). We are both resilient and vulnerable. With proper support and work we all can become more resilient to recover from stress and trauma. When we surround ourselves with supportive friends and mentors, take responsibility for our health, feel optimistic about life and believe in something bigger than ourselves then we are rooted in a resilient practice. “Building resiliency is a constant and dynamic process and is integral to preventative mental health care” (Rossen &Hull, 2013, p. 296).

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5.1 What’s Your Resilience Score? This questionnaire was developed by an interdisciplinary team of health providers, ECE providers, doctors, and psychologists. It consists of 14 statements to be responded to with a Likert scale from Definitely True to Definitely Not True and the range in between. The scoring system is based on the ACE Study and over 4 decades of research literature. The authors of the quiz below indicate that it is for limited use and not meant for research purposes. Nonetheless, it is a useful tool to use with yourself to ascertain your own level of resilience. The questionnaire may be taken online2 and is reprinted here to facilitate easy access: 1.

I believe that my mother loved me when I was little. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

2.

I believe that my father loved me when I was little. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

3.

When I was little, other people helped my mother and father take care of me and they seemed to love me. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

4.

I’ve heard that when I was an infant someone in my family enjoyed playing with me, and I enjoyed it, too. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

5.

When I was a child, there were relatives in my family who made me feel better if I was sad or worried. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

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When I was a child, neighbours or my friends’ parents seemed to like me. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

7.

When I was a child, teachers, coaches, youth leaders or ministers were there to help me. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

8.

Someone in my family cared about how I was doing in school. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

9.

My family, neighbours and friends talked often about making our lives better. Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

10.

We had rules in our house and were expected to keep them.

Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

11.

When I felt really bad, I could almost always find someone I trusted to talk to.

Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

12.

As a youth, people noticed that I was capable and could get things done.

Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

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13.

I was independent and a go-getter.

Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

14.

I believed that life is what you make it.

Definitely true Probably true Not sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True

How many of these 14 protective factors did I have as a child and youth? (How many of the 14 were circled “Definitely True” or “Probably True”?) _______of these circled, how many are still true for me? ______ (Southern Kennebec Healthy Start, 2006/2013) It is important to remember that we, and the children in our care, can become more resilient through actions and behaviours.

6 1.

2.

3.

4.

Self-Assessment for Becoming a Trauma Informed Teacher Trauma informed teachers demonstrate warmth, attunement, and empathy. They are authentic with their students. They are interested in learning about how their students feel, think and sense. They use language that their students can understand. Trauma informed teachers establish a classroom of trust, safety, and containment. They communicate both verbally and non-verbally that they are someone the student can trust. They are self-regulated, present, and have clear boundaries. Trauma informed teachers have a commitment to developing consistent and acceptable plans and goals with their students so that they can be successful in the classroom. Trauma informed teachers have a commitment to professional and personal growth. They are able to separate their own issues from those of students. They are committed to working on their own traumas and to be able to identify and manage their responses to the issues their students present to them. They are aware when students trigger their own issues and they are willing to seek therapeutic help for themselves.

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5.

Trauma informed teachers have developed effective anger management, and communication skills and self-care skills. They can work through conflict with their colleagues and students. They have self-reflective practice and are committed to their own self-growth and healing. 6. A trauma informed teacher is flexible in adapting therapeutic play, art, and narrative to respect cultural needs and to the particular student’s characteristics. They are engaged in learning more about their own cultural bias, prejudices and/or privilege. They have sensitivity toward their student’s cultural background. This includes showing respect for and being aware of attitudes within your student’s culture or community toward family relationships, religious practices, and appropriate behaviour. They are informed of their student’s gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or cultural background. 7. A trauma informed teacher is optimistic about their student’s ability to grow and learn. Becoming a trauma informed teacher requires a wholesale commitment to working in challenging and at times painful circumstances. However, we can’t not take up this work given the data which indicates the increased number of children who live with trauma every day in our classrooms. Trauma knows no boundaries, it travels across socio-economic lines and geographic frontiers. Teachers have to become trauma informed practitioners.

Notes 1 Take the quiz online at https://www.learnreligions.com/quiz-are-you-adequatelygrounded-4070052 2 See https://katercst.typeform.com/to/L5opGG

References Bard, E. (2019). Tiny Buddha: Simple wisdom for complex lives. 45 Simple Self-Care Practices for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Soul. Retrieved from https://tinybuddha.com/ blog/45-simple-self-care-practices-for-a-healthy-mind-body-and-soul/ Bentley, D. F. (2013). Everyday artists: Inquiry and creativity in the early childhood classroom. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Brenner, H. (2003). I know I’m in there somewhere: A woman’s guide to finding her inner voice and living a life of authenticity. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

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Cameron, J. (2002). The artist’s way. A spiritual path to higher creativity. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC. Chou, T., Asnaani, A., & Hofmann, S. (2012). Perception of racial discrimination and psychopathology across three U.S. ethnic minority groups. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(1), 74–81 (Online). doi:10.1037/a0025432 Craig, S. (2016). Trauma-sensitive schools: Learning communities transforming children’s lives, K-5. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Desy, P. (2017). Learn religions. Quiz: Are you adequately grounded? Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/quiz-are-you-adequately-grounded-4070052 Goldhor-Lerner, H. (1985). Book dance of Anger: A woman’s guide to changing the patterns of intimate relationships. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers. International Classification of Diseases. (2019). QD85 burn-out. ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics. Retrieved from https://icd.who.int/browse11/lm/en#/ http://id.who.int/icd/entity/12918021 Levine, P., & Kline, M. (2008). Trauma-proofing your kids. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. Loomans, D., & Loomans J. (2003). 100 ways to build self-esteem and teach values. Tiburon, CA: H J Kramer Book. Loving Tubesing, N., & Tubesing, D. A. (Eds.). (1994). Structured exercises in stress management (Vol. 2). Duluth, MN: Whole Person Associates, Inc. Lyon, I. (2015). How to de-stress in 7 steps. Retrieved from https://irenelyon.com Quest for Life Foundation. (n.d.). Recovering from trauma workbook. Retrieved from http://www.questforlife.com.au/_literature_161866/Trauma_Recovery_Workbook Quintero, E. (2007). Critical pedagogy and young children’s world. In P. McLaren & J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Critical pedagogy: Where are we now? (pp. 201–209). New York, NY: Peter Lang. Rossen, E., & Hull, R. (2013). Supporting and educating traumatized students: A guide for school-based professional. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Schwarz, L. (2015, October). The Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) training. Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Sokowler, J. (2014). Schools and the New Jim Crow. In W. Au (Ed.), Rethinking multicultural education: Teaching for racial and cultural justice. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools Ltd. Southern Kennebec Healthy Start. (2006/2013). What’s your resilience score? Retrieved from https://katercst.typeform.com/to/L5opGG Wallace, K. (2018). Everyday art therapy. Unpublished manuscript. Winkler, E. N. (2009). Children are not colorblind: How young children learn race. PACE, 3(3), 1–8. Retrieved from https://inclusions.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ Children-are-Not-Colorblind.pdf

PART 3 Using PAN in Trauma Informed Teaching

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Introduction to Part 3 In this final part of the book the following chapters are explaining how to setup, teach from, and be centered in a trauma informed perception and environment. We start Chapter 6 by describing how to set up a trauma informed art and play environment. Having the right equipment, art and play supplies will make moving into a trauma informed classroom and mindset easier. Then we provide play, art, and narrative exercises to help you facilitate the program. Goals for each different therapeutic area for a child’s growth are provided. The exercises are designed to help children gain: – Emotional self-control and self-regulation. – Self-esteem. – Relationship skills. – Social skills. – Developing attention and focus. In Chapter 7 we talk about and give examples of how to integrate mindfulness into the trauma informed classroom. This is an important part of the program. We provide exercises describing: – Different kinds of breathing. – How to do a body scan with children. – Different meditation, imaginary, and visualisation exercises. – Mindful play, art, narrative, and movement exercises. We explain the therapeutic practice of Focusing. This beneficial practice helps children be present and process their thoughts and feelings. We provide focusing exercises to work with: – Developing body awareness. – Talking about feelings. – Art and focusing ideas. The last resource we provide is the Trauma Informed Workbook. This workbook will help teachers and professionals working with children work through trauma. This workbook provides exercises for: – Self-soothing and calming exercises. – Working with trauma triggers: fight, flight, freeze. – Working with breathing. – Working with night mares and flash backs. – Working with the brain.

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Trauma Informed Art and Play Environments A foundational concept supporting studio designs and equipment used is that it should be body centred. When setting up play and art spaces, they should be designed to help reduce and resolve trauma. Sensory based spaces promote self-regulation and free expression and that helps with attachment repair and bonding. The classroom should invite students to have varied optical, acoustic, olfactory and tactile experiences. Students who spend time in multi-sensory rooms experience increases in concentration, focus, alertness, and improvement in mobilisation and creativity. The classroom should also be culturally responsive, artistically inviting and sensory rich but not overwhelming. The space needs to communicate to students that they are safe, cared for, and respected here. When children feel safe they then feel liberated to explore and play. There should be spaces where students can retreat and self-regulate, such as tents or corner areas with blankets and fidgets. There should also be spaces to encourage students to create, explore and ask questions. Clutter should be eliminated so children do not feel overwhelmed by stuff. All art materials should be grouped together that are related, i.e., all clay and play dough supplies together, all paint supplies together all paper related crafts supplies grouped together. There could be some permanent areas like a painting centre. It’s important to ensure that art materials are non-toxic because many children with sensory challenges will explore materials with their mouths, feet, arms, legs, and hands. Tables and chairs should be positioned so the teacher can comfortably access students either from behind or directly across from them. The seating should ensure that children have adequate workspace at the table. Younger child will have to have more space in order to explore materials and create art. Younger children are in the kinaesthetic stage of development so will need large sheets of paper so that they can explore and experiment with their gross motor skills, moving in large movements. As the children grow and develop so too will their fine motor skills, then they will be able to work with smaller paper. Table easels should be available because students with certain vision impairments can see vertical work surfaces better than horizontal ones. Providing children with a suitable workspace for creating art is imperative. It should be a quiet, well-lit space with a sense of comfort, large tables, and counter space or other work surfaces. There needs to be a variety of materials with an assortment of colours and textures, which serve to engage their © koninklijke brill nv, leideN, 2020 | DOI: 10.1163/9789004432734_009

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interest in the art process. Rich assortment of materials may result in a rich, deep exploration of their emotions through their artwork. Materials: – Good supplies and lots of variety to fit a diversity of needs. – Materials should be arranged attractively, for accessibility and be inviting. – Be aware of skill level and have media appropriate to children’s skill levels. – Have lots of recycled materials, things that are fun to work with. – Collect natural materials. table 6.1  Suggested ideas for supplies

Washable markers Glue sticks Fabric paints Knitting needles Crayola fabric markers Crochet hooks Crayola markers All types and sizes beads Acrylic paints and brushes Fancy beads for teens Watercolour paint sets Letter beads Oil pastels Pony beads—all shapes and colours Charcoal Coloured pencils Jewellery making supplies Tempura paint pots Blank books, non‐spiral Watercolours Stamp pads

Watercolour paper blank Canvas tote bags to decorate Construction paper Craft scissors Clay child Crayola Model Magic Wiggle eyes All colours scrapbooking supplies Foam shapes All colours pipe cleaners Stencils 3D wood shapes to paint Boxes, bird houses Craft pompoms, all sizes Sand art kits Blank tee shirts for tie dying and fabric painting Wooden picture frames to paint Adhesive foam craft kits Greeting card supplies

Almost all art and play activities will have a therapeutic impact upon children or adults. Most art making exercises are relaxing, regulating and calming. Many physical and psychological skills are learned. A by-product for children working with art or engaged in play is that they have a stronger sense of who they are and what they can achieve in the world as they learn to be creative and expressive (Wallace, 2015). The expressive arts and play help students focus on their competence and that builds their resiliency. Working on an art project

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and engaging in deep play can help provide physical and mental stabilisation. Making art and/or pretend play are something everyone can do, and it gives children a feeling of accomplishment and pride. It can also give them a sense of optimism, because they create something they feel good about (the art or the play). When children engage with their innate creative processes it helps them reconnect with themselves and enhance their self-esteem. Creating art and pretend play can help foster hope for children. The following art exercises I have developed myself, learned from other teachers, or found in the practice of friends and colleagues. Many art therapists have written about the same exercises. The exercises have been used in classrooms, art therapy studio, and in groups with people of all ages. I encourage you to play, have fun and be creative with these exercises. If any of the exercises bring up issues or concerns for your students, you can use some of the strategies suggested throughout this book, however, that is just to contain, please refer them for sessions with a registered art therapist or counsellor. Most of these exercises will be easy to recreate from the brief instructions. If you need a more in-depth explanation, the internet has a wealth of information with more detail step by step instructions. The following play, art, and narrative exercises will help children achieve emotional self-control and self-regulation. Mindful meditation techniques and Focusing techniques are part of these exercises to help children feel relaxed and work with their feelings.

1

Exercises for Emotional Self-Control and Self-Regulation

Goals for children: – Can identify emotions. – Has gained skills to self-soothe and ability to be with overwhelming emotions and anxiety. – Knows when to practice calming exercises. – Can bring self out of fight/flight/freeze response. – Can tolerate change and transitions. – Can use skills to lessen hyperactivity and lower impulsive behaviour and gain self-control. – Can wait, take turns and listen to others. – Has body awareness and coordination. 1.1 Calming, Centring and Grounding Exercises These are for all children to help teach self-soothing, regulating, calming and grounding techniques. They could be used in the morning as part of the

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opening routine. If a child becomes activated or emotionally overwhelmed during the day, they can be reminded to use one of these activities to re-centre and calm themselves. Grounding is a technique of stabilising energy and being present. It helps children feel that they have a right to ‘be here’ and show up. Centring means that a child feels balanced in their body and life. Calm means that they are able to be present and relaxed. These states help move children out of hyperarousal and emotional overwhelm. A quiet space or corner with some pillows, maybe a weighted blanket and a canopy for privacy is a necessary part of the classroom setup so a child can calm down, self-regulate and take a break if over stimulated. Having a tactile sensory box with fidget toys, tactile toys like rubric cubes and puzzle balls help a child who is over stimulated. Playing nature music or soft soothing music and using aromatherapy such as lavender can also help relax an anxious child. Repetitive and rhythmic movement calms and relaxes most children and having a rocking chair or exercise ball can help to provide this. Making grounding stones This has children finding a stone and painting a symbol on it that represents power or hope. Do a morning ritual where children stand in a circle while holding their stone and saying one thing for which they are grateful. Asking the child to say where they feel this in their bodies helps them with embodiment and helps their ability to start letting in positive feelings and thoughts. The stones can be used when children feel afraid, upset or nervous. Making circles of support This is having each child think of four people that support them in life. If they can’t think of four people they can use superheroes, or imaginary beings. One by one the children stand in the middle of the circle and ask four children to represent their four support people. These four children surround the child. This can also be done as a painting exercise at their desks if that is safer for the children. This is an exercise that helps a child embody the feeling of support. Often when children are abused or traumatised they are left with the feeling that no one supports them. This helps reframe that narrative. Tree visualisation This is an exercise that can be done after a nature walk outside or looking at trees in a picture book or slideshow. Each child picks a favourite tree. This is a tree that helps the child feel safe, solid and strong. It can be used as their image during a visualisation or in an art exercise. Have the children lie down, and visualise their tree. Use the following script:

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Take three deep breaths, slowly in, slowly out, slowly in, slowly out, slowly in, slowly out, on the last breath imagine your feet growing into the ground like roots. Release that breath. Feel the soft warm earth like cosy blankets around your feet. Now imagine your legs become the trunk. Feel how solid and strong they are. Now breathe in, see your arms becoming strong branches and beautiful leaves. Straighten your back and feel the Earth’s energy rising through you. Keep breathing slowly in, slowly out…What colour or colours do you see? What do the other trees around you look like? What are the sounds around you? What images do you notice? What do you feel?

When they are ready, ask the children to open their eyes and then draw their trees. Going on a sensory walk Make sensory bags for hands or large trays for walking through. These are bags or trays with buttons, thread spools, shells, leaves, tin foil, crumbled up paper, beads, tissue paper, material, fur and other sensory rich objects. Have several of the same objects in each bag. Have the children in pairs go on the walk together where one child is the guide and the other the experiencer. The child doing the sensory walk could close their eyes. They put their hand in each bag or feet in each tray and then try to guess what they are feeling. They can say how it feels and where they feel it in their body. This experience helps develop sensory awareness and integration, body connection and awareness, and is a fun grounding experience for all. Safe place visualisation In this exercise children are asked to visualise a safe place real or imaginary. Make the exercise sensory rich by having them visualise the odours, sights, sounds, and feel of the room, or place. Ask them where in their body they feel it. Invite the children to paint the place. When a child feels overly activated you can have them imagine their safe place to help them relax and self-soothe. This could also be a project that could be created in 3D form. The children could create a safe community or a safe world. Creating a power animal This becomes a resource to help children to feel protected and empowered. The teacher can suggest a purpose for the animal as being a protector, friend, or buddy. Have children lie down or close their eyes. Then use the following script:

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Let’s take three deep breaths, slowly in, slowly out, slowly in, slowly out… Imagine being in a safe peaceful place. Notice what you feel, what you hear, what you smell…notice what you see in this place. You might be sitting on a rock or lying down under a tree. Reach out and touch things around you in that place. Now sit calmly in that place. Soon a power animal is going to come to you, an animal just for you that can protect, play or have fun with you. It may be strong, wise or bigger than you. Be quiet and listen to your power animal softly walking towards you. Notice the kind of animal. Notice the colour of the animal’s eyes. It will give you a special gift. Notice where in your body you feel a connection to this kind powerful animal. Ask it some questions…Now breathe in slowly, out slowly…it is time to go but remember that any time you need support you can call to your power animal… When you are ready we are going back to our tables and we are going to paint our power animals…

Learning to do ocean breathing This exercise teaches children different ways of doing deep breathing and provides them with self-soothing and calming skills. First, children imagine a beautiful ocean. Next, they imagine the waves coming in and going out, coming in and going out, coming in and going out…. Now they breathe with the waves, coming in and going out, coming in and going out, coming in and going out…. Count to four for the incoming wave, then count to four as you release the breath on the outgoing wave. Repeat four or five times. Learning to do fire breathing Fire breathing is an exercise that helps people release their anger. Use the following script and ask children to: Imagine your anger and sense where in your body you feel that anger. Once you locate it, breathe it out like a dragon would. Now breathe as you normally would…, breathe out like an angry dragon. On the out breath, if you want to, make a dragon sound. Repeat this several times.

Learning to do heart breathing Heart breathing is an exercise that helps to create a sense of belonging and connection. Children stand in a circle and breathe into the heart of the child next to them. Teachers would guide the exercise by way of saying,

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Close your eyes, take a slow breath in, now slowly let it out. Continue slowly in, slowly out. Breath is our life force and now we are going to share that force by doing heart breathing. On your next breath as you breathe out imagine sending that breath into the heart of your neighbour.

If this does not work with the current dynamics of your classroom you can ask each child to envision a person that they want to connect to and then do the heart breath with that imagined person. Learning to meditate Teaching meditation through short guided meditation is an effective way to help children centre and calm. This is a short guide for you to use with your children. You can do this short exercise anywhere, anytime with your eyes open or closed. Be aware of your body. Notice the weight of your body sitting in the chair. Notice the feel of the floor beneath your feet…notice the touch and texture of your clothing against your skin. Listen to all of the sounds within and outside of where we are. Become aware of your breath, as it flows in and out of your body. Focus on the rising and falling of your abdomen as you slowly breathe in and out.

With this practice, the mind immediately comes to rest. This exercise can be done several times in a day. It could become a ritual to start the day, before lunch, and to end the day. You can bring mindfulness to every task you do throughout the day. This brings one into the present and calms the mind. Children could draw or paint a picture after they meditate. Doing resourcing Resourcing allows children to identify a person, place or thing (resources) that makes them feel happy, safe or calm. The children can create resource journals in which they draw and write about people or things in their life that make them feel good. Ask the students that you work with to list as many people, things, and places that they feel enriched, joyful, safe or happy being attached or connected to.

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Making an autobiography collage Telling their story through images helps children begin to reframe experiences. Use collage materials such as old magazines, old art papers, glue, scissors, and paper. Have the children collect images that represent their life or they connect to. The pictures could show happy memories and feelings. This helps build self-identity. Sharing the drawing space with another With this exercise use paper, markers, pencil, crayons, and pastels. Invite two students to have a back and forth nonverbal dialogue by drawing different images and communicating through drawing. This is a trust building exercise. Creating a body map This activity uses a ginger bread person outline (in this book) which has children draw where they feel emotions in their body. Start with happiness. “What colour is it? Where do you feel it in your body? On a scale of 1–10 how big is this emotion right now for you?” Then move on to sad, angry, creative, anxious, or any emotions that you want to work with. This exercise can be used throughout the school year to help children recognise their emotions, know where they hold them internally and how big or small the feelings are in that moment. Explain that feelings are always changing and shifting. Having several body maps helps children realise that feelings come and go. Drawing emotions Invite children to draw quick abstract responses to different emotions like love, hate, anger, depression, joy, sorrow, and hope. For example, anger may be a black exploding ball, a sun for happy, and a tear drop for sad. This helps children begin to expand their emotional vocabulary. Making a safety net It is as simple as inviting children to draw or paint things that make them feel safe. Begin the exercise by giving them a photocopy of a large net and the children can fill it in with images that make them feel safe. This helps build on the children’s sense of belonging and safety in the world. Making a body outline This is on a large scale which has the children lie down on the paper and have other students or helpers trace their body outline. Next, invite the child to

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collage, paint or colour in the body. This exercise will help the child with selfexpression and identity. Inner and outer me collage In this activity use collage materials in 3D and flat, box, hot glue gun, and paints. Invite children to collage or paint the box inside and out showing inner and outer image of self, private and public ideas of self. Exercises like this one help children explore their inner and outer identities. After it is complete they could talk about the differences and similarities. Making a story necklace Making a necklace is a repetitive movement that requires threading beads, which help children feel calm and relaxed. Have children create a counting story or a cumulative tale with them counting the beads as they build the narrative. Clay, play dough, and plasticine These materials are sensory rich and soothing for children. You will need airdry or regular clay, clay modelling tools, cutters, stamps, textured rollers and a rolling pin. If you are using regular clay, you will have to find a kiln to fire the created objects. Air-dry clay dries without being fired. Creating with clay is grounding and centring. The earthy feel and smell of clay is comforting. Working with a piece of clay helps reduce stress. There are many ways of creating with clay, a few are listed below. As with all the exercises, if you need more instructions, please do some research online. Creating shapes with cookie cutters Cookie cutters are great for using with clay. Roll out the clay with a rolling pin and use the cookie cutters to create different shapes. Make a hole in the top of each shape using the end of a chopstick or knitting needle. When the shape is dry, they can be hung. Students enjoy making hearts, animals, people or trees. These pieces can be painted once they are dry. Creating necklaces with air-dry clay Roll small bits of clay into balls the size of a bead. Use a knitting needle to make a hole in the middle. Use clay tools to carve designs into the bead. Let them dry, and paint them if so desired. Making clay bowls Invite your students to create a bowl. Create designs on the outside or inside using clay tools or textured rollers. Once their bowl is dry, they can paint it.

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Soapstone carving This particular stone can be relaxing and fun to work with for children. Technical expertise is not needed to begin working with soapstone. Working with stone is a grounding and calming activity. Small pieces of soapstone are needed and a set of basic soapstone carving tools to experiment with (rasp, round file, flat file, mini hack). While working with soapstone, it will get dusty. However, by simply soaking the stone in water occasionally will reduce the dust levels. Look online for more ideas with carving. Making jewellery Many kinds of jewellery making are relaxing, creative and fun activities. In her studio, Karen has huge containers full of jewellery and beads from people who have given her their old or unwanted jewellery. There are a variety of shapes, colours and sizes. The rhythm and repetition of stringing beads is a calming, self-regulating exercise. You will need jewellery string or thread, basic jewellery tools, clasps, wire and an assortment of beads. Go online to get ideas or let children explore and make their own creations. Knitting and weaving These two activities are great ways to help students feel calm and relaxed. The steady, flowing rhythmic movement of using the needles or the loom helps the nervous system self-regulate. Crafts like these are restorative for the mind and body. If you don’t know how to knit a YouTube video will help. Creating a loom from a wooden picture frame Take a picture frame that is 8 ½ inches by 11 inches (21.6 cm × 28 cm) or larger, and insert nails ½ an inch (1.27 cm) apart along the top and bottom of the frame. Make sure the nails line up. You now have a weaving loom. Grab some string or yarn and make a small knot on the first nail to hold it in place. Then, run the string back and forth from nail to nail until each nail has thread or yarn wrapped around it. Tie the end of the string to hold it in place. If you weave a ruler through every other string, it will make the weaving easier and faster. Get an assortment of string, yarn, rope or twine and start weaving back and forth. There are many weaving stitches. A simple one is to go under and over and then reverse the process on the next row so that you go over and under. Children can experiment and make up their own designs on the loom or do a patterned design they learn online or from someone who weaves. Learning to knit Knitting, once learned is a calming and fun activity. Students should start with a beginner project like a simple scarf. All you need to start is some yarn and a

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pair of knitting needles. For beginners, I suggest larger bamboo needles with a 10-mm diameter. To begin, find a knitting tutorial online or ask someone to come into the classroom to demonstrate. 1.2

Sensory Rich Play Materials and Play Water beads Put them in large jars and add the appropriate amount of water. Once they have absorbed the water they provide a rich exploratory tactile experience that many students will find soothing. Kinetic sand This kind of sand can be moulded into many shapes and it holds the shape for a long time. It will slowly fall apart and will appear to “breathe” as it moves apart. It is soothing and calming to the touch and to observe. Kinetic sand is gluten, wheat and casein free and is made of a nontoxic, germ and bacteria resistant formula. You could have various moulds for the students to use with the sand. Stress balls These simple little balls are great to use when students are upset, frustrated or nervous. They are easy to make. Get a balloon, a funnel and some flour. Put the bottom of the funnel into the mouth of the balloon. Use a spoon to add the flour. Don’t fill it up all the way to the top. Remove any air, and tie tightly. Fidgets are things that students can squeeze, feel or move in their hands when they need some extra support or a way to release stress. Important to note that Fidgets can also be large, like a trampoline, which is useful for children to use when they are stressed or nervous. Special equipment Earmuffs, wobble chairs, wooden uni-plane rockers, disc ‘o’ sit cushions, weighted compression vests, tangle fidget toys and geo twisters are some of the items that can help children release stress and reduce anxiety. Making worry beads These are a good fidget for slowing down racing thoughts. Students can make their own worry beads by stringing beads that they like the feel of. When they have a worry or fear, they can slow down their thoughts by touching a bead as they go over the worry. Ask students to allow five beads for each worry. Then, for the next five beads, invite them to think of a positive thing in their life.

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Making malleable materials Cloud dough, slimes, putties and other tactile materials are very effective for sensory hand play. You will need 4 cups (1 litre) of flour and ½ cup (125 ml) of oil. Mix together for five minutes until the dough holds together when squeezed. You can add lavender drops to the dough. Play with this as you would play dough. This recipe makes a strong dough. If you have silicone moulds, they are good to use with this material. Making slime The basic slime recipe requires ¾ (175 ml) cup of cold water, 1 cup (250 ml) of white glue, ½ cup (125 ml) of hot water, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of borax, and food colouring. Mix these together, the cold water, glue and food colouring. Set this aside. In another bowl, mix the hot water and borax until the borax is dissolved. Slowly combine the two mixtures. Mix well. Pour off any excess water. Making quicksand The generic quicksand recipe requires ¾ cup (175 ml) of water in a plastic measuring cup. Add a couple drops of food colouring to the water. Measure 1 cup (250 ml.) of cornstarch into a plastic bowl. Slowly add the water and mix well for about 10 minutes—may need to add more water or cornstarch to get the right consistency. Finger paint Finger painting is relaxing for students because they get their hands messy spreading paint around in small and large movements on the paper, which engages their large and fine motor control. There are many recipes available online as some of the store-bought finger paint may cause allergic reactions. Making a mandala Either with a standard design that has been photocopied or one drawn by students on their own, this meditative symbol can easily help children relax as they colour in. Drawing in the dark The teacher turns the lights off and allows the children to draw or paint in the dark. When children can’t judge what they are drawing or worry about whether or not it’s “right” this becomes liberating. Playing soft meditative music works well with this exercise (note, it is not pitch dark!)

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Drawing different sizes Ask the children to draw something huge, then something very small. This continues for some time moving back and forth changing sizes. This exercise can also be done with changing colours or shapes. Getting their bodies involved and moving around can help children release stress as they draw. Playing music as the children paint This can help with creativity flowing and is a great way to let out feelings and relax. Some music will lend itself to children engaging their movements with the rhythm and beat. Be a keen observer of your children as they respond to different music. Making a scribble drawing In this activity have students scribble, then fill in the spaces with designs and colours. The result is a simple scribble turns into something beautiful, using line, colour and creativity. Playing with colour Using coloured blocks, coloured glass, or beads provides students an opportunity to explore and manipulate colours. Invite the children to make arrangements with the materials based on their own sense of colours. Painting with calm colours Invite the children to pick two or three colours that they find calming. Guide them to create a drawing or a painting using only colours that they find calming. Drawing in sand In a sand table or outside in sand have children draw as one would in a Zen garden. Invite students to draw designs and scenes, which can be very meditative and relaxing, helping clear the mind. Drawing outdoors This activity has the teacher move the children outside to draw. Working en plein air can be enjoyable to get in touch with nature while using the art of drawing to connect children with their environment. It is another way for children to ground, centre, and focus. Drawing the perfect day Invite children to draw their vision of a perfect day. Get them to think about what constitutes a perfect day and draw or paint it. Ask, what about this drawing can you make happen today?

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Inviting children to take photos By providing children with a camera and an invitation to take photos of their surroundings and what they find interesting or beautiful we discover new things about them. Print and frame them to have constant reminders of the interesting and beautiful things they see in life. Drawing favourite story Ask students to make a drawing related to a story that they like. This is most effective if it happens right after you have shared a story with the children. They simply respond to the story through images, adding words is optional. Creating soft art The activity of soft arts has students using only soft or comforting objects to create a work of art. This could be a doll, stuffy, or any creation that the students design. But they only use soft materials, and there is lots of latitude for what may be determined to be soft material. Building a “home” This activity invites children to explore: What does home mean to each child. This activity will have the children create a safe, warm place—it doesn’t have to be practical, it can be based on what a safe place or home would look like to each student. I feel exercise This exercise helps children notice the sensations, images, feelings and thoughts within them. Ask questions to help children get to know their body sensations, such as: “What body sensation do you notice when you are hungry? What image do you get when you feel hungry? What feelings do you have with hunger? What do you think of when you are hungry?” Have children write their responses to the following statements. Then give them a blank body outline and they can fill in with colour how they feel. I feel scared when… I feel happy when… I feel angry when… I feel safe when… I feel confused when… I feel weak when… I feel strong when…

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Playing Self-Regulation Games

Many games help children regulate. Games like red light/green light, Simon says, obstacle courses, duck/duck/goose, freeze tag, hide and seek, wacky relay, musical chairs, mirror/mirror, and parachute play. Counting down and anticipation activities help teach children to develop patience and pacing. Hand clapping, rhythm dancing, singing, physical activities such as balloon volleyball, and all sports help teach children when to wait, and when to move. Teaching children sequencing motor tasks like 3 hops, 1 spin, and then 2 backward steps, repeat are effective exercises to help children learn regulation through movement. Games such as spot it, and bop it work well. Yoga is a great way for children to learn regulation. 2.1 Anxiety and Fear The fabric of fear has been woven into our brains. It has many faces, perfectionism, obsession, insecurity, shyness, and guilt. The reptilian brain holds instinctual fear. The mammalian brain contains the amygdala. This is the memory centre for emotion. It stores all your frightening and painful memories. Creating art and giving students tools to feel resilient and strong helps reprogram and reframe thoughts of fear. Remind children that feelings come and go and that feelings are temporary states. Help children reframe, “I’m scared,” to “something in me feels scared.” Children need to be reminded that not all of their being feels afraid, but something in them or some part of them feels afraid. This helps children understand that even when they are afraid, there is always a part of them that is feeling safe or okay. In this way, they learn that they are not just their feeling but only a part of them has that feeling. Making a worry collage This activity works to help externalise worries. Children worry more when they hold stressful thoughts inside and do not talk about them. Ask your students to create a collage of their worries. Have children cut out pictures from magazines to represent these worries. Talk about worries and how the children can use positive self-talk to help reframe worries. Make a list for the class of thoughts that help when worried, e.g. “I am loved” “I am safe.” “My family protects and loves me.” “God loves me.” “I am always in the right place at the right time.” “Good things happen to me all the time.” “I am loved and protected.” “I feel calm and relaxed.” “I am kind to others and they are kind to me.”

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Making worry dolls This activity invites children to use material, pipe cleaners, and embroidery thread to make worry dolls. Form the pipe cleaner into a stick person shape. Wind thread around the pipe cleaner to make clothes and use bits of material also if you have some. Each child should have three. Tell them to place them under their pillow at night and tell their worries to the dolls so the dolls can hold the worries so the child can sleep. Note: prior to taking up this activity teachers will need to spend time teaching children the origins of worry dolls. Making an emotion wheel The teacher provides students with markers and a paper cut in the shape of a circle. Have children name different emotions like happy, sad, angry, curious, depressed, excited, and whatever other emotions that the children bring up or that the teacher wishes to focus upon. The children then pick an emotion for each colour and fills in their wheel with the different emotions/colours. Making a stress painting Invite your students to name three things that they find stressful. Review the stressful situations or things and have them identify where in their body they feel the stress or anxiety. Next, have them paint or draw three possible solutions or things that would help relieve or reduce the stress. Creating a feeling journal Using this variation of journaling, has students focus each day on a different emotion. They draw the emotion using an image, shape or colour and talk about when they felt that particular emotion. Students could then write words or stories to accompany their feeling images. Making sock puppets This activity requires using socks, beads, ribbons, and other craft supplies to create puppets. Invite your students to act out scenes that may have upset them in the past. Next, have the children use the puppets to explore solutions to the stress. Making line art Line art is one of the simplest and most basic aspects of art, but it can also contain a lot of emotion. Ask students to use line art to explore/demonstrate visually how they are feeling. A piece of paper and something to draw lines is all that is needed.

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Making emotion postcards This imaginative activity invites students to design a postcard and write a letter that they will never send. Guide them in writing how they are feeling as if it is a letter to a fiend which lets them talk to their emotions as if writing to a person, but they never send it to anyone. Painting a mountain and valley The teacher asks students to paint a mountain and then a valley. Next, they can journal or write about how the mountain represents a time when they were happy and the valley represents a time when they were sad. Painting a heart Provide the children with a heart pattern outline. Have the children think about emotions that they are feeling and have felt in the past. Invite them to draw or write in different parts of the heart the emotions that they are feeling at the moment. Making gratitude art Doing this activity helps children document their gratitude. Invite them to paint or collage a work that represents things for which they are grateful. They could all have gratitude journals. Invite your children to have a gratitude day where they make something for someone else in the room. Making something for someone else can be an effective way to feel good and help someone else do so as well. Make sure all children are involved.

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Self-Esteem

The language that you use in your classroom can help build your student’s selfesteem and lower fear and anxiety. Using phrases as the following helps build confidence. – “We all make mistakes.” – “I like listening to your ideas.” – “You are valuable.” – “I’m so glad that you are in this class.” – “This class couldn’t be the same without you.” – “Thank you for being you.” – “That’s a great question.” Self-esteem builds as children feel accepted, connected and attuned to the adults in their lives. Self-Esteem and Self-Worth Goals for children:

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– Has a healthy amount of self-esteem and confidence. – Does not engage in negative self-talk. – Does not engage in self-harming practices. – Respects and likes self. – Is able to express feelings, wants and needs. – Is able to be creative, involved in activities that are of interest. – Can identify positive qualities and talents. The following play, art, and narrative exercises will help children achieve healthier self-esteem and self-worth. Mindful meditation techniques and Focusing techniques are part of these exercises to help children feel relaxed and work with their feelings. Making an appreciation painting In this activity the teacher guides students to draw or paint one thing they appreciate about another child each week. Share the drawing to help build a safe appreciative atmosphere in the classroom. Making a needs painting By discussing what needs are and how needs can be met in healthy ways children can learn about themselves and others. Ask your students to identify their needs. For example, to be listened to, to be treated with respect, to be talked to nicely, to have friends, to have food and shelter, physical safety, emotional security, nice clothes, people who love me, etc. Have them list whatever they feel is a need, however provide guidance to learn the difference between a need and a want. Next, have your students draw a picture of how they would feel when their three top needs were met. If this exercise triggers any deep emotional response from a child please attend to the child and if needed refer to a specialist. Making an important painting Ask children what is important to them. Invite them to think about and articulate the top three things of importance to them in that moment. Have children draw three pictures that show what are the most important things to them right now in their life. Knowing what is important helps a child form their sense of identity and self. It also helps a child name their own uniqueness and learn from children in the classroom that others have different priorities and needs and wants. Making an I like myself painting This requires the teacher to discuss with the class what it means to like yourself. Have the children paint the things they most like about themselves. You

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may want to combine this with photos of the children. The second part of this exercise is to list three things that they do that show that they are kind/like to themselves. Making a kind friend painting Kindness is related to empathy and this activity invites children to first talk about what being a kind friend means. Next, have them draw one thing that they like their friends to do that shows that they are kind. Then they can paint one thing that they do to show kindness back. Making a proud painting Guide your students to review their successes and what they take pride in. Have them all think of one thing that makes them feel proud of themselves. If they can’t think of something then have them imagine something that they would like to be able to do. Next, have them close their eyes and see themselves doing that activity. While their eyes are closed have them stand in their ‘power stance.’ A power stance is standing in a way that shows you feel proud of what you can do. They can then draw or paint their power stance. Learning positive self-talk In this activity it necessitates brainstorming with your class about the concept and practice of self-talk. Self-talk is what you say to yourself every minute of every day. Explain to the children that they are constantly telling themselves things that affect what they think, say, and do. For example, if they are afraid, they can say to themselves, “It’s okay, there is nothing to worry about.” They can help themselves concentrate by saying something like, “I can focus on what I am doing.” In pairs the children can practice reframes. Reframes are reframing a negative thought with a positive one. Have them pick examples and do reframes. For example, “I will fail the quiz tomorrow” becomes “I will do my best on the quiz.” “Nobody wants to play with me” becomes “I am a good friend and fun to be with.” Making a changing painting Doing this exercise helps children understand that problems are never permanent. Remind children of times when something bad happened then things got better. Have them draw or write about how things are always changing in their lives. Explain that positive thinking helps create new, better things to happen in their lives.

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One thing I believe About myself statements begin with helping a child articulate, “One thing I believe in is…” Other children stand behind the child to show that they support that child’s belief. The child does a movement dance that all children in the line follow. Move on to the next student and repeat. Creating power shoes Have students take a pair of plain running shoes, flip flops, or old shoes that they no longer wear and recycle them. Have them paint the shoes, use glitter, jewels, collage items, etc. Give the shoes a theme. They can be power shoes, strength shoes or any theme that helps build self-esteem. Dealing with teasing Begin with brainstorming about teasing with your class. Invite the children to think about good-natured teasing and mean teasing. Good-natured teasing is when a person is trying to have fun and mean teasing is when people are trying to hurt your feelings. Mean teasing includes name-calling and other forms of ridicule. It is usually easy to tell whether the person teasing you is trying to be mean or funny, but not always. Discuss if the students can tell the difference. Brainstorm ways to help children be able to stop the teaser if they need to. Have the children do charades and use these techniques to stop teasing: ignore it, visualise the words bouncing off you, or laugh. See if the students can come up with other ideas. Affirmation mirror With this exercise, you will need small mirrors that students can glue onto a piece of heavy cardboard or wood. Guide children with writing affirmations and words that inspire them around the mirror. Embellish the frames with recycled materials, jewels, paints and other materials. When they look into the mirrors, they are surrounded by the positive words. Making grounding art This activity provides an invitation to children to stand with a piece of paper under each foot. Have them close their eyes and guide them in imagining a place or situation in which they feel really rooted, safe, and grounded. Ask them to open their eyes and draw the images around their feet. They could then imagine an unsafe place under their feet and draw that on a fresh piece of paper (or the flip side of the paper). After they talk about it and notice the differences, end with another fresh piece of paper and another good place or situation that they stand in and draw that.

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Knowing personal space Have one child stand in the middle of the room and have another child pretend to be a stranger. The child standing in the middle has their eyes closed. The other child comes toward them and when the child in the middle feels they should stop, they say stop. Ask them how they knew to say stop and where they felt it in their bodies. Do this activity with the child walking towards the front, middle, back, and sides of the child standing in the middle of the room. The child walking towards the child standing in the middle can pretend to be a friend, teacher, parent or someone else. This is to help children have a bodily awareness of their boundaries. It demonstrates how boundaries are flexible and change with people and space. Grounding Invite students to sit in pairs and identify and name three sounds that they hear around them. They can say them out loud to their partner. Next, they look around and name three things that they see. Then, they identify three smells. Lastly, they touch three things and name the sensations out loud. Ask them to switch so the partner gets to experience the grounding sensations. Making appreciation art Invite children to list all the things that they appreciate about themselves and other children in the classroom. Invite your children to make appreciation art. It could be a collage, painting, clay, found art or whatever you want to work with. Have an appreciation day where they tell each other what they appreciate about each other. Personal power stories This particular activity teaches students about their personal power and helps them take responsibility for their life. Read books about children who have undergone hardships and then get your students to act out how they would have survived the same hardship. They could also write their own story about being brave, helping others and surviving a hardship. When children focus on their strengths they think clearer and keep their body from going into high arousal. Have the class brainstorm resiliency scenarios pretending to be heroes in their stories. Language and story has the power to alter perception. Creating a heart hug pillow This is an exercise that would work for your classroom if you had older students or adult helpers. You could sew by hand or use machines. Invite your students to cut out a heart on cardboard to use as a pattern or if they are young,

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have helpers do it with them. It can be any size. Sew the sides together, leaving a small area of about 4 inches (10 cm) on each side of the heart for stuffing and adding arms. On a slip of paper, write affirmations such as “I love you” “You are wonderful.” Stuff your pillow with polyester or other stuffing. Trace your arms and hands to make a pattern for your material. The arms and hands also need to be stuffed. Sew them on the pillow. Embellish the pillow with whatever your students desire, such as buttons, jewels, beads, etc. They can write on the outside of the pillow with fabric markers or create designs with fabric paints. You can find video instructions on the internet as well. Creating a microwaveable neck wrap These are wonderful for relieving tension from muscles once it is completed. You can use household ingredients along with recycled fabric to make aromatherapy neck wraps. Students can also use a long sock. Be sure that it doesn’t contain any wires, beads or metallic threads, as these will arc and catch fire when microwaved. Use long-grain rice, flaxseed, buckwheat, barley, or millet. Do not use instant rice because it is likely to cook when heated. Add essential oils. Ask your students to use approximately five drops of an essential oil like lavender, peppermint or rose. Next, add rice through a funnel. However, you will need to test the amount, trying to aim for ½ to ¾ but do not fill it all the way. The less full it is, the more it will conform to the student’s body. The bag can be heated in the microwave for 90 seconds. Place around the neck until the wrap cools. Creating a class comfort quilt This activity requires buying a solid-coloured blanket or quilt that children can decorate with fabric pens and fabric paints. Encourage children to cover it with positive sayings and affirmations. When it is complete they can wrap themselves in it. Creating a super cape Use a bedsheet or another appropriate piece of cloth. It should be large enough to go over the student’s torso and shoulder area. Cut the cloth into a rectangle or square. It will have to be stitched around the edges to prevent fraying. Children can add fringes, braids, ribbons, belts, etc. they can use fabric paints and add designs and images. If budget allows, press-on decals can be added. Use any embellishments that can be found. Children can make up role plays or stories about being a super hero. Creating a power t-shirt Students will need a white t-shirt. Ask students to think of words that are affirming to them. Record the words so that everyone can see them. Students

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can then choose their own word(s) and then use fabric paints, airbrush, or fabric markers to write them on their t-shirt. They could add designs and images. Again, if budget allows, press-on decals can be added. Use any embellishments that can be found. Creating a yarn doll Making dolls is a comforting, healing activity for most students. It is a soothing object for students to hold when they are upset. If the instructions seem unclear please look on the internet, there are several ways to make this simple doll. We have made it with children of all ages and most children can make it with only a little help. Have children start with a ball of yarn and a book or a piece of cardboard for the wrapping board. The size of the book or cardboard sheet should be 8 ½ inches by 11 inches. Tape the end of the yarn at the bottom of the cardboard. Begin wrapping the yarn around the board. Wrap the yarn around the board about 70 times being careful not to stretch the yarn while wrapping it. Cut a piece of yarn about 10 inches long (25 cm). Take that piece and slide it under the yarn at the top of the board then tie a snug knot. The yarn loops should slide off the board now. The tied section is the top of the head. Cut another piece of yarn 10 inches (25 cm) long. Keeping the yarn straight, tie at the top, wrap the piece of yarn around the doll’s neck to create the head and neck. Make a secure knot. The head will be about 1 ½ inches long (3.81 cm). Making the arms requires wrapping yarn around the board about 35 times, then tie it of 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom of the board. Cut the yarn on the front of the board ½ an inch (1.27 cm) below the tie. The yarn will come off the board. It will not be a series of loops like the body; rather, it will be a long bundle of yarn. Divide the bundle into three sections and tightly braid them. Temporarily tie off the other end. The arms need to be the length of the doll. Measure 7 inches from the first tie, and place another tie on the braid. Cut through the braid ½ an inch (1.27 cm) away from this tie. Attach the arms by carefully finding the middle of the doll’s body and spread it open. Insert the arms so the middle of the arm braid is centred between the loops directly under the head. To get the arms out of the way lift them over the doll’s head, then tightly tie the body directly under the arms using 10 inches (25 cm) of yarn. Cut the loops at the bottom of the doll’s body. You can now braid the legs to make pants or leave the bottom as a long skirt.

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Create a talisman Invite children to think about and to create a symbol of safety for themselves. This could be something they wear or leave on their desk. The choice of material is open, they could use clay, paper or paint. Secrets in your pillow This activity will require pillowcases which can be found at a second-hand store. Use fabric markers to write supportive, comforting and affirming messages inside the pillowcase. The idea is to suggest that while the child is sleeping they will absorb the positive thoughts. Walking on love Have children use a Sharpie or another permanent marker to write words on the bottom of their shoes. Help children envision these words giving them strength and support as they walk on them. Doodle art Doodling is often a centring and calming activity. Have some paper hanging in the classroom for free doodle time or cover some table or desktops with paper. Let your students doodle. Have a variety of pencils, markers, or pens. Inch art Cut paper into 1-inch × 1-inch (2.54 cm × 2.54 cm)squares. Invite children to create mini art pieces on the small squares. Once they have finished quite a few, they can be used to glue into journals, mail art or for card making. Rubber band art You will need painting canvas for each student and rubber bands. Have the students stretch rubber bands around/across their canvas. Once they are satisfied with the number of rubber bands on their canvas they can paint. This creates lines on the canvas when it is painted over. Let it dry completely before removing the rubber bands. Design your own buttons This requires a button kit from a craft store. These kits enable the user to design their own buttons. Create a personal calendar There are a variety of ways this can be done. The easiest is to download or buy blank calendars. Using photos, paint, or other medium, children can decorate each month of the year.

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Making art cards This activity will require collecting beautiful and inspiring images, postcards, and magazine images that can be made into cards. Making affirmation cards This activity simply requires printing off some positive affirmation words or sayings and use them to make cards with paintings and collage. Making a yes jar Begin with decorating a jar with a variety of materials. They can paint the glass, glue objects to it or use markers to create designs. Then, invite students to write down compliments that they have received or things that have happened to them that made them feel good and add these to the jar. Invite them to reach inside, take out one of slips of paper and read the comments when they need some positive reminders. Feel good songs These are any songs that resonate with a person and make them feel good. Ask each of your students for one song that makes them feel good. Play the songs during art time or at other times when the group is engaged in different activities. Make breathe signs Invite the children to create breathe signs to place in random places in the classroom to remind everyone to breathe, to help everyone calm down in times of stress. Decorate a water mug or glass This is a simple activity that encourages students to drink more water, invite them to decorate a cup or water bottle with a variety of materials. Not only does water rehydrate and replenish, it can be used as a distraction tool when your emotional thermometer runs high. Henna your hands Taking up this activity requires buying your classroom a henna kit. Encourage the students to create some creative and meaningful designs on their hands. Note: prior to taking up this activity teachers will need to spend time teaching children the origins of henna art and practice across cultures. Start a natural objects collection Work with the children to create a classroom collection together. Each time your students visit a beach, walk in a forest, or visit a beautiful place, invite

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them to collect natural objects to add to your classroom collection. Use it to make art or do other inspiring projects. Create masks In this mask activity, you will need to purchase plain paper or plastic masks. The alternative is to have the children make them out of thin cardboard. Children can then adorn it with paints, markers, beads, feathers, jewels or any other materials that are available. Create a calming mantra Work with children to create and use a mantra that helps them feel safe and calm throughout the day. It could be something like, “I am safe in this moment” or “I feel calm and safe in my life.” Create a magic wand This exercise allows children to engage with imaginative play and have fun. Use a stick, a piece of dowelling or a thin piece of bamboo. Children can use jewels, beads, feathers, paint and any other materials in the classroom to adorn the wands. Singing while painting Working with the children paint while singing along to known music/song or make up their own music. This can be done in large or small groups. Making instruments This does not require any level of expertise. Lots of information is available on the internet for making musical instruments for your classroom. For example: It is easy to make your own rain sticks. You need a strong cardboard tube and small pebbles. Use strong cardboard to make the ends of the tube. Shakers can be made from tin cans, beans or other small items. Bells can be added to sticks and cardboard rolls. Once constructed children can paint and adorn the instruments. Painting words from a song Work with students to think about favourite songs and their lyrics. Then invite students to pick words from a song that are meaningful to them and use them to create a painting. Create refrigerator magnets This activity only requires buying a few sheets of magnetised paper for the class. Invite students to create their own magnets. Brainstorming with children

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to write inspirational words/statements or think of images, students can then write and draw. They then cut them out and attach to the magnet. Create a special pen This is very simple. Before starting a project or some other task ask students to create a special pen or pencil for writing. They could take a pen/pencil and embellish it with ribbon, jewels or anything else appealing to make it into their special pen. Customising a phone case This activity enables students to learn that they can use paints, embellishments or markers to design their own phone case, making it unique from the plethora of cases sold!

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Relationship Skills

Goals for children: – Can share, negotiate and work with peers. – Knows how to avoid a power struggle. – Knows how to be a good friend to others. – Can listen to and value another person’s opinions. – Does not engage in aggressive or passive behaviours. – Can take responsibility for their actions. – Knows who to trust and who not to trust. – Shows empathy towards others. – Shows compassion towards others. – Trusts others. Using group art activities are an effective way to teach children social skills and build relationships. Children have to learn to share, work alongside each other, communicate, negotiate, and cooperate. Meeting others Teachers will have to explain and discuss with students that this role play teaches them how to make friends. Explain that when we meet someone it is polite to tell each other your name, to be friendly, and show interest in the other person. In pairs students take turns pretending to meet each for the first time. One student stands up, looks the other student in the eye, smiles and says, “Hi, I’m _____” then the other student does the same. You can work with the children to build upon this role play to learn and practice social interaction of building relationships.

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Creativity musical chairs Set up 30 (number can change) different art activities on long tables that students can move around and experience. Play different kinds of music and after each song (about 3½ to 4 minutes) they move to the next activity. Children have a lot of fun with this activity. They often find that different music inspires them to create differently, as do the materials, and the other children that they are working beside. Once in a while interrupt the process and have them close their eyes and imagine a favourite place and then return to their art making, get them to use their non-dominant hand, or hop on one foot, etc. Students find that having a variety of materials to explore, different music to inspire them, and no rules opens up their creative abilities in surprising ways. Set up work areas that have some of the following art ideas. 1. Painting with water colours. 2. Painting with acrylic paints. 3. Drawing with charcoal. 4. Drawing with chalk pastel. 5. Creating a cloth doll. 6. Creating with pipe cleaners. 7. Chalk marbling. 8. Ink string drawing. 9. Working with clay. 10. Working with plastine. 11. Writing with prop cards. 12. Spray paint and stencils. 13. Working with stamps and inks. 14. Creating with tissue paper. 15. Working with material. 16. Drawing with oil pastels. 17. Foam marbling. 18. Creating a collage. 19. Working with found material to create an art piece. 20. Working with wooden blocks. 21. Working with Lego. 22. Doodling. 23. Mandala making. 24. Creating a “me” box. 25. Making musical instruments from found materials. 26. Making balloon animals. 27. Water colours and saran wrap. 28. Weaving. 29. Making paper puppets.

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30. Spin art. 31. Crayons and water colour. 32. Card making. 33. Working with foam. 34. Post cards. 35. Altered book. 36. Making art using numbers. 37. Making art using letters. 38. Masks. 39. Starting a story that children can add on to. 40. Starting a poem that children can add on to. Have a play list and whenever the song changes, they go to the next station and make art. Some projects as painting, children add on to what the last person made. They travel around the table until all children have experienced all the stations. This exercise teaches working collaboratively, being able to change focus, and not being attached. This exercise takes a lot of preparation time but it has great teaching opportunities. It can be done several times throughout the year to help build on their ability to make transitions and work in a group experience. Making friendship bracelets Make friendship bracelets with your students. Ask your students to make a bracelet for another student in the class. There are many different styles and patterns that you can find on the internet. You can do a simple braid using wool or embroidery thread, or move on to something more elaborate. Guessing the special person This exercise has the teacher hand out paper and writing materials and ask the students to write a few things that they think are either special or unique about themselves. It could be a talent, a hobby, a unique or special experience. Have students write at the bottom of their paper two or three of their physical traits (e.g., black long hair, blue eyes) to make it easier for the others to guess whose paper is being read. Put the papers into a basket, and have the students take turns choosing a paper to read aloud. The other students guess who it is. When one of the children correctly identifies the “special person,” that person speaks more about what they have written. What is a friend Work with the children to brainstorm about what makes a good friend. Have them write down the characteristics of a good friend. It may be being loyal, being kind, listening. Next have them list what they do to be a good friend.

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Then they could write five things they like to do with friends. Finish this exercise by having the students draw some scenes of their favourite activities to do with friends. If you really knew me This is a game where the children sit in a circle and take turns saying “If you really knew me_” and each adding something about themselves to the phrase. This helps children practice attentive listening and share about themselves. Making a future self-portrait Invite children to create a future self-portrait. This drawing or painting should reflect where they see themselves in the future. Now ask them to add in the friends they wish to be with. Talk about the characteristics of long healthy friendships. Making gift art Have the children choose the people who matter most to them in their life and create a piece of art for each of them (parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend). This is a way to acknowledge what really matters to them, and express their gratitude. Making important person art This exercise provides children with an opportunity to draw a portrait or picture of someone who changed their life. Next, they can write a short paragraph or story about this person. Drawing yourself as a warrior Ask students to draw themselves as warriors. Remember to discuss the characteristics and values of what it means to be a warrior. Talk about what makes people strong, healthy, and kind. Ask them about other children or adults that they identify as warriors. Drawing yourself as a superhero This imaginative activity lets children draw themselves as a superhero. Ask them if they had a superpower what would it be? Next, have them add three friends to their superhero group. Invite them to write about what good this group would do in the world. Then the group could role play this for the class.

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Drawing your good traits Through this exercise teachers can discuss with students their good traits. First talk about what a good trait may be in a person. Ask your students about their friend’s good traits. Ask your students if their traits are the same or different than their friend. Talk about the similarities and differences. After the discussion have children draw one or more of their good traits Drawing yourself as an animal Is there an animal that your students have a special interest in or feel is a kindred spirit? Once they have decided upon an animal they can draw themselves as that animal. Now ask them to draw their friends as animals. They could write about or create a comic strip about their adventures together. Drawing using hands Work in groups and have the children first trace their hands on large sheets of paper and then have everyone make art around the hands. Explain that their hands are as unique as they are. Have each of them write five personal traits on the five fingers. End this exercise with one big drawing of all the hands together. Drawing self as a tree Let the children draw themselves as a tree. Arrange the trees together as a forest and have a discussion of what each child brings to the forest. Drawing box of values In this activity, you will have to spend time exploring and discussing values with your students before. Then, they will collage or paint a box that represents them. Then, place items inside the box that represent the things they value the most about themselves. Have the children share with each other what is in their box. Invite the children to make each other gifts Make sure everyone in the class is involved in the project in the making and sharing of gifts. The gifts can be made from recycled art materials and papers and objects from your classroom. Children can add messages to the gifts. Developing empathy This requires that you first engage in discussions with your class about what empathy is and what it might look like. Explain that empathy is putting yourself

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in the shoes of another person and understanding and feeling what they might be feeling and thinking. When we see, and feel things the way other people do, we can get along better with each other. Invite your students to role play with the following scenes: “Ann did not get invited to a party that she wanted to attend. Show how she may have felt.” Ask your students if they have ever had anything like that happen to them. “Kathy did not get picked for a team. Show how she may have felt.” Ask your students if they have ever had anything like that happen to them. Continue to brainstorm with your class different situations so they can begin to empathise with others. Likes and dislikes Have students write down a list of things they like and dislike. Next, ask them to walk around the classroom and find people that have listed similar things. At the end have your class discuss what they learned doing this exercise. Teaching your partner a new craft This activity helps create new pathways into our brains. As we learn, specific dendrites grow so that neurons connect at certain synapses to create large, complex networks. The more you practise what you learn, the stronger the dendrite connection will become. Learning something new also helps us emotionally. The body produces endorphins when you relax, exercise and learn new things. When you are under stress, it helps if you know how to create endorphins. If you practise a craft when you feel stressed, the endorphins that are produced will help shift your body out of stress mode into a calmer state. Learning is all about empowerment. The brain is our survival organ. Invite students to decide on a craft that they already know how to make or something new from a book or the internet or a class outside of school. On the day have children pair up and teach each other a craft. This can be a great activity for students to learn to collaborate and work together.

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Anger Control

Goals for children: – The child can identify when they are angry and where they feel it in the body. – The child has ways to calm and lower frustration levels.

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– The child can practice emotional self-control. – The child does not display rule-breaking behaviours. The following play, art, and narrative exercises will help children achieve some control or awareness of their anger. Mindful meditation techniques and Focusing techniques are part of these exercises to help children feel relaxed and work with feelings. The more we move the more opportunities a child has to release anger and be regulated. Most children need one hour of physical activity a day for good self-regulation, attention, and cognitive skills. Being outside lowers blood pressure, and sooths an over stimulated nervous system. If you can’t go outdoors, lowering lights and offering headphones helps an upset child settle. Moving to a peaceful place in the classroom and taking five deep breaths also helps to bring a child out of panic and anger. Drinking a glass of water helps the system relax. Deep pressure such as using a weighted blanket or an aerial yoga hammock triggers the body’s relaxation response. Discuss classroom anger rules with the children in your classroom. For example, they could be as follows: – Don’t try to talk when you are angry. Ask yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 where is my anger? If it is over a six, walk away, have some water and wait until you cool down. Practice ABC. The worst time to speak up may be when you are feeling angry. – Take time out to think about the problem. Before you speak out, ask yourself the following questions. “What is it that makes me angry?” “What do I want to change?” – Don’t blame, yell, or say mean things. – Try to speak in “I” sentences. Learn to say, “I feel…” “I want…” – Listen to others, you can’t tell others what they should think or feel. – Get help from an adult if you need it. Once your class decides on the anger rules, have them practice the rules until they remember them. The students could break into groups and each group draw a picture for each rule and be responsible for explaining that rule to the others. Children need to be able to identify what anger feels like in their body if they are to learn to manage it. On a blank body picture, like the one in Figure 6.1, have the students fill in the following: – I know I am angry when__________ (what signals does your body send you?) – I usually feel my anger in my_________ (What part of your body?) – When I am angry, I often act_________ – When I am angry, I think the following about myself________

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figure 6.1  Blank body outline

Explain to your class how the pain of anger can be turned into energy for change. First, have them talk or draw their anger and identify three things that cause it. Next, have them determine three things they can do to change or help the situation. Then, on large sheets of paper have them paint the expression of their feelings, and then have them turn around three times to symbolise letting it go. Invite students to answer the following questions. My Typical Anger Triggers are when: 1. Someone lets me down. 2. People are unfair. 3. Something ruins my plans. 4. Someone embarrasses me.

Yes   Maybe   No ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____

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5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

I am stopped, held up. I have to take orders. I have to work with mean people. I have to do something I don’t like I don’t get credit for what I’ve done. Someone puts me down. (other)_____________________

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___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____ ___   ___   ____

Have a discussion of what the students can do to help themselves change the situation from being angry. Teach your students “I” language: When you _____________________________ (non-blameful description of behaviour) I feel _________________________________________________ (description of feeling) I imagine _________________________________ (assumptions about their behaviour) Making anger sculptures Invite students to create a sculpture of their anger. They can give it a name, describe what it is like and what it wants. Then, have them make a sculpture of what they wish their anger would look like. Talk about the differences and explain how to make changes. Thought stopping This exercise has children envision that their index finger on their right hand has the power to stop their thoughts. When you are trapped in a thought that is upsetting, press your index finger into the middle of your forehead and allow it to stop the thought. Mixed emotions Begin by discussing with students how it feels to have many emotions at the same time. For example, you may be excited, afraid and nervous to be involve in some kind of performance or activity. Invite students to role-play situations in which they may have more than one emotion. The other students have to guess the emotions. Working with apologising Start with asking children about how to apologise to another person. Discuss that sometimes we need to apologise, an example may be when we have had a conflict with a friend and hurt their feelings. Apologising shows that you care

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and that you know how to take responsibility for your actions. Invite students to do role playing with each child taking turns to apologise. The class could make a list of things to remember when they apologise: – To understand how you hurt the other person. – To never blame others for your actions. – To understand that the other person might not want to be friends again right away. Then have a group discussion about why some apologies work and others do not and how to work through these difficulties. Developing self-control As teachers, you have to begin discussions about what self-control is with your class. Explain that when a person has self-control, they decide how to act rather than acting without thinking. It might only take a second or two, but a person with self-control stops, thinks, and remains calm, even if they are very upset or angry. Before they act, they think about the situation and what might happen if they react impulsively/without thinking. In groups have the students practice self-control. They can think up role plays as someone trying to take something off their desk, someone throwing paper at them, someone calling them a name and take turns showing what a self-controlled action looks like. Making fast creative art When we are working with big emotions and anger it is good to have the child or children use their whole body and do free, open ended creative art that involves lots of movement. Movement art is releasing and relaxing. Have a large roll of paper that all the children paint or provide each child with a large piece of paper. Playing lively music for this activity may enhance the movement creativity. Invite your students to: – Make as many images as quickly as you can across the paper. – Change directions: paint from the top of the page, side, bottom, middle. – Paint together with a partner, change when the bell rings to the next partner. – Paint using wide arm motions to small movements. – Paint from different parts of your body—hands, elbows, feet, mouth. – Paint to different music. – Paint with different sizes of brushes and materials as pine cones, sticks, cloth pins. – Starting with a circle and changing colours as you repeat a circular motion. – Using left hand then the right hand, then both hands

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Social Skills

Goals for children: – Has good social skills. – Can adapt to changing situations and people. – Can compliment others and show kindness. – Has ways to deal with fears and social phobias. – Can communicate with others. – Have people in their lives that they trust to share feelings with. – Can perform simple daily tasks in a safe and efficient way. – Can reflect on behaviours and make good choices. – Can control and maintain behaviour and mood. – Can understand consequences. – Can forgive others. In the classroom, you can use conflict as a way to teach about and build essential relationship skills such as seeing the other student’s perspective, learning to read nonverbal cues, guessing what is important to other people, and making repairs. There are many playful ways that children learn social skills. The following play, art, and narrative exercises will help children learn social skills. Mindful meditation techniques and Focusing techniques are part of these exercises to help children feel relaxed and work with/through feelings. Learning assertive/aggressive/passive behaviours This is a play therapy exercise that helps children try to understand the difference between being assertive, aggressive or passive with their behaviour. Being aggressive means not trusting people, acting loud and angry. Being passive means letting people be mean to you, tell you what to do, and not speaking up for yourself. Being assertive means speaking up for yourself, making sure that others treat you respectfully and talking to others about your feelings if you feel you are not being treated fairly. First, have the children roleplay each behaviour. Have them describe how the behaviours made them feel and how they think others felt when they were roleplaying. Next, have them paint what they felt. Explain to the group how it is their right to protect themselves when something seems unfair. They are the one who best knows their own discomfort levels and their needs. Learning about voice tone Voice tone and understanding the intent and meaning embedded in it are important social skills. This is an exercise that helps students recognise that how things are said can be just as important as what is said and to be aware of

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how they communicate. Brainstorm with the students about what they think “tone of voice” means. Explain that the tone of how your voice sounds communicates what you feel. Often, your tone of voice can give a stronger message than the actual words. In a circle invite your students to play with saying the same thing in a different tone of voice. Example: The first child in the circle says, “I love school” in a bored voice. The next student then says, “I love school” as though they really do. Think of other examples. Learning about voice volume Talking about the volume of your voice is to explain the difference by demonstrating a soft, normal, and loud voice. Discuss and explore with children about when each voice-volume is appropriate. To get along with others it is important to control your voice volume. Set up stations with different cards and ask children to travel around the room talking to each other in partners in the appropriate voice. The cards could say: library, store, playing outdoors, movie theatre, lunchroom, etc. Making value art This helps children learn a sense of their own values and then they are often more likely to understand and have empathy with others. Have a class discussion on values and what they are. Brainstorm values: dependable, kind, empathic, artistic, faithful, cheerful, helpful, flexible, compassionate, humorous, courageous, trustworthy, creative. Have all the children discuss why they think they have the values they choose. They can draw, paint or collage their values. Making eye contact Invite the children to travel around the room and talk in pairs. Each student has a piece of paper with blank eyes all over it. Each time they talk to a different student they take a few minutes to fill in the student’s eye colour before moving on to the next person. Playing with facial expressions In this exercise have children in pairs, inviting one child to make a facial expression and the other child to draw and name the expression and what they think the person is feeling. Then switch. Playing with postures Our body language speaks loudly. This is a game that helps students learn about the messages our body postures and gestures convey. Talk with students about body language and how it gives others clues to how someone is feeling.

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Play charades, having all the students one at a time strike different poses and have the other students guess the feelings. Do the same type of charade game with facial expressions and emotions. Borrowing rules In this activity, it requires a discussion with your class about what it means to borrow/lend something. Ask them if it is important to have a person’s consent first and why? Ask them what is the difference between borrowing and just taking? Ask them how it feels to lend someone something. In pairs have children draw pictures of when they feel comfortable lending and when they don’t. They can also write about their experiences of taking something without asking and how it made them feel. Have the class think of other borrowing/ lending/taking scenarios to discuss. Personal space Have the children get in pairs to begin. In the first pair have them decide how much personal space they need between themselves and others to feel comfortable. Remind them that it is that invisible bubble which changes size with different people and situations. Once they establish that space in their first pair they move on to the next student until everyone has paired up with everyone else. Offering to help others Here is an exercise that begins with asking children to write or draw three scenarios in which they have helped others. Next, have them write or draw three scenarios where others have helped them. Talk about how to ask for help, how to offer help, and when it may be appropriate for either. Cooperation game In this game, it starts by exploring with your class what cooperation means. Explain that in this game we will have fun by working together to accomplish something. When you cooperate, you save time by putting your heads together. Taking a ball of string, groups of three students have to wind it around them to make a string sculpture. They can name their sculpture. Now each human string sculpture has to walk across the room together and do a task such as pick up books or write something on the board (without destroying their string sculpture!). Nesting game Here is a game that involves making up packages for your students with one small toy animal and several small random objects and materials. In this game

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pretend that this animal is lost and needs a home. Invite your students to create a new environment or home for their animal and think about what is important for its survival. After, they can name the animal, write a short background or story about it. Have a class discussion about what is important to each student about having a home. Flexible/fixed Rule game This is an important activity that talks about rules. Start by discussing with children what they know about rules. Ask the group, “What does it mean to follow rules? What would happen if people didn’t follow them?” Explain that rules help us get along, treat others respectfully, and know how to behave. Have volunteers in pairs act out flexible and fixed rules and the others guess which one they are pretending to break. Example “Mom says it is bedtime at 9:00 but you know you can stay up later if you start getting ready now.” “You hit someone.” Have a discussion about rules after the game. Learning to be a good sport Explain to your class what it means to be a gracious loser and winner. Have the student’s role play a sore loser, a gracious loser, a boastful winner, and kind winner. Talk about how it feels and why it is important to be a gracious loser and winner. Learning about the impact of your behaviour on others The importance of this exercise is that it helps children learn that their actions and words can have an impact on others—both positive and negative. For example, if someone helps someone else do their homework, how would that make the other person feel? If someone called another person a name, how would that make the person feel? Have the students explain the difference between positive and negative impact. Have each child make a list of the positive impacts and the negative impacts they know of that they caused on others in the past week. Understanding each other Explain to students how we are all different and how we can’t really know how another person views something unless we ask them. To understand others, we need to listen to them, watch them, and think about what they say and what they do. Have children pair up. The first child should describe something about what they did recently and the other child listens. The other child then repeats back to the first child what they heard. Then the first child explains why they wanted to share that story. Then the second child repeats that back to the first child.

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Showing kindness Here is an activity about what kindness looks like. Ask children for examples of kindness. Start the day with kindness check ins and ask students to share a kind act that they did or received. They can draw pictures and write stories or keep a kindness journal.

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Attention and Focus

Goals for children: – Ability to maintain necessary levels of attention. – Ability to focus on one activity for 5 to 10 minutes. – Ability to stay with a conversation for 5 to 10 minutes. – Lower impulsivity and able to self-settle. Knowing what kind of environment best supports students is important for increasing attention and focus. For some, it needs to be soothing and calming, however, other children may thrive in an environment that has a lot of hustle and bustle. Soft instrumental music and soft lighting help most students selfsettle. Routines help children self-settle and concentrate. Rhythm and routine to a child’s day helps the brain focus. The following play, art, and narrative exercises will help children increase their focus and attention. Mindful meditation techniques and Focusing techniques are part of these exercises to help children feel relaxed and work with/through feelings. Playing When humans play, it helps build concentration and attention. Because children learn more through playing, it is much better to try and orchestrate activities through a play and exploration lens. Let children play with regular toys, activities that improve concentration, and concentration exercises. Play is a way to strengthen a child’s ability to concentrate and focus. Concentration games require thinking, memory, and planning. For improving attention to words, pictures, and numbers, use puzzles, crosswords, and card games like ‘Memory’ and ‘Uno.’ Picture puzzles are good for younger children as they have to look for things that are ‘wrong’ in the picture or explore for difficult-to-find objects. All of this improves attention and increases concentration. Playing ‘statue’ Playing this game helps build concentration and focus. Pretend that it’s night time in a museum filled with statues. Turn the lights off and one child has a flashlight. All the other children are frozen statues. The child with the flashlight

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is a night guard and they flash the light on the frozen statues and if a child moves or laughs, they have to become the guard. Number dance Here is another great movement activity that plays music that children enjoy dancing to. When it is shut off all children have to form the shape of a number, animal or letter. The teacher guesses what the students are. Then turn the music back on and continuing with different letters or numbers. There are many variations of this game, including putting children in pairs to make the shapes. Intentions in your feet Invite students to reflect on their top five goals. Then have them assign a goal to each one of their toes on one foot. Then explain to the students that when they walk forward, they can envision themselves walking towards their goals. Shaking it out This exercise involves getting students to reflect on any thoughts or memories that they would like to let go. Ask them to assign one thought/memory to each one of their fingers. Next, they reach their hands out behind their back and shake them out. Then, they imagine the thoughts and memories flying out into the air. Creating a tiny teacher You will have to find any small kind of action figure and ask your students to make them into their tiny teachers. They could paint them and place them anywhere that they could see them. They would make up a back story for the tiny teacher and how the tiny teacher can help them. When they have a problem, they could reflect on how their tiny teacher would help them solve it. A creativity playlist for the classroom As the teacher/adult you are making a playlist of songs that the children agree on for playing when you are painting or doing movement activities. Plaster casting Using cast material to make hand, feet and/or face forms of the students. Students like this activity and they learn patience, pacing and focus through the process. You will need to buy plaster cast material (found at medical supply stores), scissors, towels, petroleum jelly (VaselineTM), and tubs for water. You will need paints and materials for decorating the casts after they are dry.

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Casting parts of the body is a fun way to work with self-image. Two students can work together, one doing the casting on the other one and then reversing the process. Once the cast is made, there is a ten minute waiting time when the casting materials dries. During that time, they can read a book, play a game or talk. This is a good collaborative project. However, with very young children you will need extra adult help. – Casting Faces: Invite students to work in partners. One partner covers their face in Vaseline. It helps to use hairbands so the cast material does not stick to the hair. Cut the plaster bandages into 5-inch strips for the larger areas on the face and 3-inch strips and for the smaller places. Dip each strip in water before you apply it to the face. Next place the bandages on your partner’s face, completely covering it. Smooth out the surface of the strip before you go on to the next one. Before all the bandages dry, add another layer. It works best to do three layers. Wait for about 15 minutes until the cast comes off easily without cracking. The cast can be painted before it is completely dry. This mask can be decorated with sharpies, paint, beads, feathers, etc. Whatever you wish. – Hand casts: The process is the same as above. Only do the tops and sides of the hands so the cast can be slipped off. – Foot casts: The process is the same as above. Only do the tops and sides of the feet so the cast can be slipped off. Making origami You will need a collection of origami paper for this activity. It is fun to transform a plain piece of paper into a container, animal, flower, etc. There are many books and instructional videos that you can watch on the internet. Working with origami helps students focus and concentrate. Mindfulness relaxation With an increasingly distracting world children need tools to help increase attention and focus. Mindfulness practice can be one of those tools. You could do a guided meditation at regular times during the day to make a routine practice. Deep breathing and simple relaxation techniques improve concentration. Following is just one example of guiding a meditation with children. Alright let’s relax. Sit in a chair or on the floor. Take a deep breath in, close your eyes…and now exhale slowly. Breathe in slowly…exhale slowly…breathe in slowly… Continue breathing in slowly like this…and…out….and in… Relax into your breathing…

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Take your hands and make closed fists. Imagine you are squeezing a small ball in each hand…Grip them a little tighter…squeeze even tighter…Feel how tense your muscles are… Alright, now relax your grip…hands go limp. Your hands are relaxed. How do your hands feel? Notice how tense feels compared to relaxed. Imagine that you are a balloon. Breathing in, feel your sides and chest expanding, just like a balloon you are filling up with air. Breathing out, imagine your balloon shrinking with the release of your breath. Like a balloon filling up with air, breathe in. Slowly breathe out, letting the air out of your balloon. Slowly releasing the air through your mouth. Slowly breathe in through your nose, filling up your balloon, pinching the end closed…and now let the end of the balloon go, all the air is rushing out through your mouth. Put your arms above your head as you breathe in…breathing out, bring your arms down. Breathe in. Raise your arms over your head, stretching high up…stretching… and now bring your arms down by your sides, relax breathe out. Slowly put your arms up and breathe in…arms slowly down and breathe out… Slowly put your arms up and breathe in…arms slowly down and breathe out… Relaxing, arms at your sides, continue breathing slowly and deeply…in… out… Remember tense and relaxed muscles. Tense up, squeeze your leg muscles. Squeeze tighter…tighter…and now relax. Let your leg muscles go limp, very relaxed. Your legs have a heaviness. Your leg muscles are loose. Now tense up your arm muscles. Tighter and tense. Tighter…and now relax. Relax your arms, they feel limp, loose like a piece of string. Notice how it feels relaxing your legs and arms. Now relax your whole body. Sink into making your whole body relax… loosen all your muscles…release all the tension… Relax, feel the weight of your body Notice your breathing again…slowly in…slowly out…notice the calmness… in…and out…in…and out… Continue breathing…relaxing into your body. Notice the calmness. It feels good to relax. Keeping your eyes closed for a little longer, slowly begin to wake up your body and your mind. Start by wiggling your fingers…now your toes…slowly move your arms and legs…

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Now sitting still for a moment, slowly open your eyes, slowly look around the room. When you feel ready, slowly get up, but still feeling relaxed and calm. Get yourself comfortable, maybe adjust your clothing to feel comfortable.

Relaxation painting Following a guided meditation like the one above, a relaxation painting can be done. Invite your students to move to the painting area and think about how they are feeling after the meditation. Then invite them to paint how they feel. Colour relaxation Colours are another way to guide students into relaxation. The following script can be used: …Notice how your body and mind feel. Feel your body begin to relax slightly, as your shoulders drop a little lower… your jaw loosens so your teeth are not touching…and your eyelids start to feel heavy. Take a deep breath in…hold it…and slowly breathe out… Allow your body to relax and your mind to focus on the calming colour relaxation. Create a picture in your mind of the colour red. Imagine all the shades of red… You might picture red objects, a red landscape, or just a solid colour… Now allow the colour you are imagining to change to orange. See the shades of orange…flowers…pumpkins…carrots… Enjoy the colour orange. Now visualise the colour yellow. See in your imagination all the various shades of yellow…lemons…flowers…autumn leaves…the sun. Imagine yourself surrounded with the calming colour yellow Next, imagine you see green. Fill your imagination with the colour green. Imagine being surrounded by beautiful green…plants…leaves…grass… Now see in your mind the colour blue. Surround yourself with beautiful blue…shades of blue…water…sky… Enjoy the colour blue. Allow the colour in your imagination to become violet…flowers…eggplant… sunrise… Enjoy violet. Imagine the colours again, one at a time…starting with red…

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Orange… Yellow… Green… Blue… Violet… Now picture whatever calming colour you wish. Do you have a favourite? Now it’s time to end this relaxation. Stretch your muscles…and open your eyes. Fully alert and calm. (St. Benedict’s Hospice, 2017, pp. 18–21)

Invite your students to create a painting of this relaxation. Play breaks These breaks are an easy and powerful tool. Children who find it difficult to focus for very long will often benefit from having short breaks to engage in active play. Stopping to bounce on an exercise ball, outdoor play, quick break stretching or jumping times will assist the child who struggles to stay focused. Before a lesson, children will be much better focused for longer periods if you start with at least 15 minutes of active play. Memory games These exercises help hone that focus for children in an enjoyable and engaged way. When something is enjoyable a child is better able to focus and take up challenging activities. Scheduling regular periods of time throughout the school day for memory games such as red-light-green-light, I-Spy or Simon Says helps children concentrate. Memory matching cards or the game Concentration can also be used to increase attention. Talking to students about their art Talking with children about their art work can be an effective way to build relationships with students. In a trauma-informed classroom teachers should use every opportunity to build relationships with the children. Once you learn their likes and dislikes for art and play activities, you can reinforce the likes and build on them. Find the strengths of your students and celebrate them. Remember to not take things personally and change the way you work instead of expecting the child to change. When explaining art activities use simple clear language. Remember that some children only hear every fourth word and they hold on to the last word that you say. Use positive reinforcement

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whenever possible. Be mindful when talking to your students about the art that they make. Stay away from saying things as, – “What is that?” – “I like this or don’t like this.” – Use open ended questions that encourage students to tell stories. The following statements help children talk about what they have created: – “I am curious about the feelings in this picture, can you tell me more?” – “Can you tell me more about the lines and colours and/or shapes in this art piece?” – “This area looks interesting what is happening here?” – “Can you tell me more about this person, house, tree, etc.” – “If you made another painting (clay piece, etc.), what do you imagine would be happening?” – “If this red bird could talk what would she/he say?” – “I am curious about the pink; does it have a special meaning for you?” – “I am wondering what you are noticing about the corners” – “Can you tell me what this green horse may be thinking?” – “If the tears in the little girl’s eyes had a voice what would they say?”

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Summary

In this chapter, we provided many different ideas to create Trauma Informed Art and Play Environments in order to work with the children in your care. Remember these are just a few and many of them are ideas to get you started so that you can evolve them into activities that are congruent with the needs of the children in your care.

References St. Benedict’s Hospice. (2017). The breathless management group. South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct= j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjviNOP3creA hWI_YMKHVt0A4kQFjAAegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2F www.gasthealth.nhs.uk%2Fstft-leaflets%2Fleafletpotfolder%2F6905.pdf&usg= AOvVaw07jXzyODskQtWB9fhmbt7e Wallace, K. (2015). There is no need to talk about this: Poetic inquiry from the art therapy studio. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

CHAPTER 7

Mindfulness Activities for Children and Teachers Mindfulness activities help reduce stress, help with self-regulation, increase self-awareness, create stronger bonds in relationships, and build a good foundation upon which social skills grow. Mindfulness is an attitude that is not preoccupied with past thoughts or worrying about the future. Rather it is a perspective of mind that is keenly aware of the present and acknowledging and accepting your actions and thoughts with a non-judgmental attitude. When mindfulness is combined with art therapy children are focused on artistic expression that is more about the process of creating rather than some finished project. Science shows that practicing mindfulness-even minutes a day for a few weeks-can reap such positive benefits as boosting immune systems, reducing stress, increasing resilience, enhancing focus, stretching attention and improving memory. But mindfulness can also nurture empathy and compassion as well as increase children’s willingness to help others. It’s why thousands of educators…are adding mindfulness to their class routines. It also seems to help youth growing up in challenging environments. (Borba, 2016, p. 107) To explain mindfulness to your student’s first talk about it as being a way that can help them be calmer and more focused. Explain that it simply means to focus on the present moment. Being present means not thinking about the past or what happened at recess, or the future or what will happen when they get home. Start by asking them what they think about when they sit in the car, or eat breakfast, or wash their face in the morning. Ask them if they are present in the here-and-now when they are thinking these thoughts. Next, ask them about thoughts that get stuck in their head like someone saying something mean or someone taking away something from them or maybe someone calling them a name and ask them how many times they replay that thought in their mind. Explain how replaying hurtful thoughts in their minds reinforces the hurt feelings in their bodies. Being present means that they don’t have to keep repeating thoughts that make them feel sick or upset. When we worry about things that have not happened yet, such as failing a test, or losing a friendship we may get a headache or a stomach ache. Mindfulness is teaching our minds to stay in the present moment where past and future fears do not live. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi: 10.1163/9789004432734_010

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To practice mindfulness with your students they simply sit or lay down. Invite them to focus on taking deep slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. When their mind wanders, gently come back to the breath. Explain to the children that this helps calm their brain and focus their thinking. They can use it before taking a test, doing something challenging, at night if they can’t sleep or anytime they are upset. It helps if the practice is consistent in the classroom. It could be first thing in the morning, after lunch, after recess etc. Whatever works best for your students. After their mindfulness practice, have markers, coloured pencils, and paper ready so children can move into expressing after their meditation. The following exercises are some that can be used to introduce mindfulness to the students. Remember to pace the guided practices in such a way that it slows things down to enable children to engage with the practice. Also remember, like anything else it requires practice and experience to move toward mindfulness.

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Mindfulness and Meditation Strategies

Belly breathing This exercise has you invite your students to sit or lay down with their hands on their belly. Tell them to inhale deeply through their nose to the count of four and then out through their mouth to the count of four. Guide the children through this breathing for several minutes. This activates the vagus nerve and allows the body to relax. Next, ask your children to make a line drawing of the experience. They can pick a colour that came to them as they were breathing, and create a line representing the gentle in and out of their breath. A variation of this exercise is to place a small stone, cotton ball, or soft toy on the child’s stomach so they can feel the object rise up and down with their breath. Breathing meditation Breathing meditation is another breath exercise to use with children. The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design: Position yourself comfortably on a chair or the ground. Look straight in front, focus your sight on something, now shut your eyes. Start by breathing in slowly and out slowly, notice the rise and fall of your breath. Imagine that you are breathing in the smell of freshly baked cookies. When you breathe out, imagine you are cooling them with your breath. Observe your breath, is it fast or slow, are you relaxed or tense? Notice the surroundings, notice the odours. Now take some time to notice the sounds. Continue to breathe.

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If your mind wanders refocus your attention on your breathing. Continue breathing slowly and deeply, let yourself become aware of your surroundings, start to notice sounds, odours, your posture. Increase your awareness beyond your breath and your surroundings, now slowly open your eyes. Now move to your desk and to your art supplies. Notice how you are feeling right now. Start by trying to draw or paint that feeling. Have fun with the art and draw or paint whatever you are feeling.

Four senses meditation (Have the children bring their water bottles) The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design: Get into a comfortable position on a chair or the ground and settle in. Let’s begin with some ocean breathing. As you breathe in count to four…as you see the wave coming in to the shore, and then breathe out counting to four… as you watch the wave going back out to the ocean. Now, feel something around you. Maybe it is your clothes or the floor. Next, listen for a sound. Now see what you can notice with your eyes around you, the colour of the walls, or something else. What can you smell? Lastly, take a sip of water and notice how it tastes. Notice how you are feeling. Go to your desk and draw or paint your experience.

Heart meditation Here is another effective guided process. The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design: Get into a comfortable sitting position, now slowly and quietly breathe deeply a few times. Close your eyes and then place your hand on your chest, over your heart. Breathe in deeply, out slowly…in deeply, out slowly…in deeply and out slowly; notice how you are feeling at this moment (tired, happy, sad, angry, curious). Keeping your hand on your chest over your heart and imagine someone to make a heart connection with. Breathe in slowly imagining that breath is full of love and it is going to your heart. And as you breathe out imagine that love filled outward breath is going to another person. At the end of that breath move to your art materials and express what you felt.

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Body tense/relax Here is a guided exercise that is good to attend to our physicality. The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design: Before we begin, sit comfortably, notice how your body is feeling; is it tense, relaxed, in pain, restless, heavy, light? Observe your body’s whole feeling, now check in with different parts of your body. Check in with your toes, wiggle them and scrunch them up, now release them. Then our feet, feel your feet and scrunch them up and release them. Notice how they feel. Move to your legs, notice how they feel. Scrunch them up tightly and then release them. Now your hips, scrunch them and slowly release. Now notice how your whole lower body feels. Compare it to your upper body. Focus on your tummy and scrunch it and slowly release. Move to your chest and back. Tighten these areas, and slowly release. Next your fingers, hands, arms and shoulders. Notice how they are feeling and scrunch them up, hold and slowly release. Now your head, ears, nose and mouth. Wiggle them and then scrunch, hold, and release. Now ending, how is your whole body feeling? Has anything changed? Sense your body. Then when you’re ready move to your art materials. Using a body outline, draw what you felt.

Body scan This exercise is another guided practice that promotes body awareness. The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design: Start by getting comfortable, feeling grounded in your chair and noticing your feet and legs. Take a minute to notice how your feet are feeling. Take some time to relax your feet. If your feet had a colour inside them what would it be? Notice the chair under your legs and buttocks, and adjust yourself to get even more comfortable in your chair. If your legs had a colour what would it be? Take a deep breath into your stomach. As you pause here, staying with your stomach, notice how your stomach feels. Bring awareness to your back. Are you sitting in a way that is comfortable for your back? Do you see a colour here in your back? Now, move to your chest. Can you breathe freely? Move your awareness to your hands and arms. Take time to notice your hands, stretching your fingers. Is there a colour in your hands? Bring awareness to your neck and head. Release any tension in your jaw and neck area. Where do you feel the most alive? Does any part of you feel painful? Bring your attention to your heart. Think of a couple of people that you love. When you are ready go back to your desk and we will paint what you experienced.

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Stone meditation In this exercise invite children to pick a stone from a group of stones that you collected and brought into the classroom. Tell them this is going to be their special meditation stone. They can paint it a colour or add a symbol or design to it (use sharpie pens). When you are getting ready to guide the class through a meditation, each child can hold their stone and use it as an anchor to come back to when their mind wanders. Body tracking Through this exercise, you help students learn how to track their body sensations. Start by guiding your students to do some deep breathing. They can use their meditation stone as an anchor. Guide them through their body to ask them to identify sensations of comfort (expanded breathing, slower heart rate, muscle relaxation) and dysregulated states (constricted muscles, rapid breathing, heart rate). Help the students track their own body states by explaining the difference between regulated and dysregulated states. Next, if they have dysregulated states invite them to breathe into those areas of their body. If a student reports upsetting bodily sensations, ask: – “What would it look like if it had a shape?” – “What size would it be?” – “What colour would it be, if it had a colour?” – “What temperature would it be, if you could touch it? Hot or cold?” – “What sound would come from it?” After they are done they can paint or draw the experience. Relaxing imagery exercise In this activity, you are helping to encourage relaxation. First invite the children to do some deep breathing. The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design: I would like you to imagine some soft relaxing light moving in through the top of your head. Imagine it is your favourite colour I would like you to decide whether this light is warm or cool. Now imagine this light flowing through your face making your face feel relaxed and soft. It is moving through your neck and shoulders gently massaging and soothing your body as it moves. It is flowing down through your back relaxing your back muscles and down your chest and stomach. It is soothing and calming your stomach, arms and hands. You can sense it relaxing your legs and feet. It is like a massage by colours. When you are ready open your eyes and move to your desk where you can draw or paint your colour massage.

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Silent drawing Here is an exercise for communicating without talking. Do a breathing exercise and then in partners have children choose two objects from a bag full of different objects. Guide them to observe the texture, size, pattern, colour, and shape. Then guide them to have a silent conversation about the objects with each other through drawing and doodling about the objects. Mandalas These pre-made mandala templates offer a near ready-made design for mindfulness practice. Print out mandalas for the children to colour. Do a breathing meditation first, and then invite them to colour in parts of the mandala for ten or more minutes. Zen string Mindfulness with a creative twist is achieved through this activity. Do a mindfulness meditation and then have children work on large sheets of paper. You will need India ink, bowls for the ink, string, and large sheets of paper. To create designs with the ink soaked string, first dip the string in the bowls of ink and then use the wet string to paint. It can be pulled quickly, or moved slowly to create different shapes and figures. You can play soft music to encourage the children to stay mindful throughout the art exercise. (Children should wear clothes that can get permanent ink on them, alternate is to use black paint, however the ink works the best.) Creative movement Begin with a breathing meditation and then play soft music that the children can move to with their eyes open or shut. With eyes shut children will have to remain in one spot and move within that area only to avoid bumping into each other! Creative writing Start with a mindfulness meditation and then invite the children to write about: – What makes me happy is… – Five things I notice around me are… – The first three sounds I hear are… You can generate more writing prompts/stems with the children. Mindfulness music game This requires collecting lots of different musical instruments or objects that can make a variety of different sounds. Don’t let your students see the

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collection. Have them do some deep breathing. Invite your students to keep their eyes closed then play the instruments. You could use stones, plastic bottles, etc. Then after three or four minutes have them go to their desks and draw what they thought the instruments or objects were that made the sounds. A variation would be to do this orally. Walking meditation with an egg Like the name suggests this is of course an activity that requires a light step! It can be done with raw eggs, hard boiled or even wooden/toy eggs. Explain to your class that they are going to do a walking meditation. This is walking in a line very slowly. The children focus on lifting their feet and placing them back down on the ground slowly and mindfully. They will each carry an egg. This helps them stay mindful and in the present moment. When they get back to their desks, they can gently place the egg on their desk in front of them and draw it. Meditation and ice ball You will need to fill balloons with water and then freeze them in a freezer the night before. A camping cooler may be needed to transport and keep them frozen. First, guide the children through a five to ten-minute meditation. Next, they are given a frozen balloon with which to work. Each child can cut/peel the balloon off the frozen ball of ice and then use food colouring to colour the ice ball. They can see what affect salt, or adding hot water has on the ice ball. Try to get them to stay present as they watch the slow melting and changing of their ice ball. Place the balls in bowls so the water will not run on the desks and during the day have them return to see what state of thaw/transformation the ball is in. This is a slow meditative art experience. Worry bubble Invite your students to sit relaxed and to take some deep breaths. Guide them to think of a worry or disappointment and to imagine putting it in a bubble of any colour of their choosing. Then have them imagine it floating away. Now, have them think of something that they would like to happen today and put that into another bubble. Next, invite them to imagine seeing it in another coloured bubble floating towards them. When they are done, they can draw or paint this experience; bubbles floating away (worries) and bubbles floating toward (desire). Sun visualisation Ask children to sit relaxed and to take some deep breaths. The following script can be used with your students or a variation of your own design:

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Imagine that there is a sun in the sky just for you. Sometimes it is bright, sometimes small, or large. Its warmth is just for you. Feel the warmth of the sun on your forehead. All the worries in your head melt away with the warmth. Then imagine it on your face, your shoulders, and now feel light and free as it warms you. Feel it on your chest, back and stomach. It is filling you with happy warm feelings. It lights up your arms, hands, legs and feet. Your whole body feels warm, light and relaxed. When you are ready draw or paint your sun experience.

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Teaching Focusing to Children

Eugene Gendlin (1978) began researching and practicing Focusing in the 1950s and 60s while working with Carl Rogers. He published his findings and ideas in the 1970s. It is a body centred therapy and helps people learn to listen to their bodies and give words to their body sensations and feelings. By learning to be with and listen to their bodies children can start to reach a greater sense of trust in themselves and their own feelings. They also learn that we all have many parts. They learn that when they are upset it is just a part of them that feels upset and that by listening to and talking to that part of their body, they will know how to help themselves feel better. This helps lower the anxiety and fear that emotions can take over them, it might just be their stomach that feels upset and at the same time their head or legs or the rest of them feels relaxed or calm. Having knowledge of, and deeper understanding of how feelings can affect them gives children agency and tools to work with their bodily sensations and feelings. Through Focusing children learn to slow down, and really listen to themselves in a compassionate non-judgmental way. Children can listen to, and have a dialogue with their inner self and learn what they need to do to feel better. In Focusing language this is called being in touch with your body based wisdom. Similar to Mindfulness practice, Focusing helps children be present in the moment. When children are creating, and playing they are embodied. Once children are familiar with their feelings and know where in the body feelings are located they are better equipped to learn their feelings. When they tune into their body sensations they may learn that the feeling they thought was anger really was hunger. Or a feeling they labelled as angry is really sadness because someone called them a name. Having that knowledge means that the feeling can be expressed and looked after. Children become more regulated as they grow in understanding and knowing their own inner experiences.

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Working with Children Using Focusing and Art Therapy

– The body contributes to, and provides meaning to psychological states. – Emotions find their affective expression through movement and art. – Focused Centred Art Therapy provides a deep awareness of one’s whole being on a sensory level and an ability to work with parts or pieces of being while holding the totality of the whole self. – The teacher is helping the child stay present and self-regulated while working allows the child to safely experience and explore parts that may be hurt, fearful, ashamed, traumatised, or in pain. – The teacher provides the safe container in which the child moves into and out of her/his inner process safely. – Growth is a neuromuscular reorganisation. – Tapping into the creative flow helps children know who they are physically, emotionally, and cognitively. – Playing with and knowing what their creative expression looks like helps children know their health expression. It has a unique pattern, flow, as our creative expression has. – Focusing leads to embodiment and psychosomatic integration.

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Art Exercises for Children in Focused Centred Art Therapy

Developing body awareness exercise This is an activity that can be used at any time and can help children understand ‘body awareness.’ Guide your children with the following script or something similar: Look at your feet…Now close your eyes and notice if you can still “see” your feet in your mind. Look at your feet again…This time, close your eyes and try to “feel” your feet. What do they feel like? Can you describe the feeling? If there was a colour inside your feet what would it be? If your feet could be anywhere (walking in soft grass, running, in a warm bed) where would they want to be? Look at your feet again and on a scale of 1 to 10 how comfortable do they feel? This is called your “body awareness.” Let’s take this awareness to other parts of your body.

Then move through different body parts. When the activity has ended, have children paint their experience.

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Focusing exercise This an exercise you could do anytime during the day to help your children get body centred and in touch with their feelings. Guide your children with the following script or something similar: I’m inviting you to close your eyes and to take a moment to go inside. Ask yourself, “Right now, how am I feeling on the inside? Maybe something happened at recess or with a friend. Maybe something happened at home that you are still thinking about. Maybe you feel tired or happy. Just take some time to notice how it feels on the inside. What parts of your body do you notice any sensations in, a tingling, or a nervousness, a restless jumpy feeling or a soft calm feeling? Ask yourself, does any part of me need anything right now? Just listen. Notice if words, memories or an image comes up. Be gentle and kind with yourself.

A feeling I don’t like to talk about Explain that we all have feelings that sometimes we don’t know how to talk about or don’t want to talk about. Explain how we act might not match how we feel on the inside. Brainstorm with your class some feelings that the students hide. Have two blank body outlines on the children’s desks. One should be labelled inside feelings and the other one what I show on the outside. Play music and invite them to dance with the lights dimmed. When the music stops (every 1 to 2 minutes) ask the children to show on the outlines how they feel on the inside and what they show on the outside. You can make up different scenarios as: – My friend had a party and did not invite me. – I could not do that activity. – My friends were ignoring me. After, talk about the different pictures and how it feels to hide emotions. Feelings that I can’t show This particular activity is a way children can learn about showing feelings. Brainstorm with your class, feelings they experience that they can’t show and why. Hand out small boxes (old tea boxes) and invite the children to write the feelings that they feel they can’t show on slips of paper and put them in the box. Explain how feelings are neither bad nor good and ask the children what they think would happen if the feelings got out of the box?

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Large boxes A large cardboard box is a versatile play space for children. The box lends itself well to imaginative play. In therapy, boxes can become safe places, secret hiding places, vehicles and houses. Children can project themes that are personally meaningful and relevant to their life situation. The size and shape of a box is perfect for young children to use through play and the creative process. Children who have experienced a divorce, loss, trauma or any other disruptive life experience often feel that they are no longer safe or secure in the world. They may no longer trust adults or their home as a place of safety. Creating a safe place in the box is working with repairing the sense of physical, emotional and/or intellectual safety, disconnection or dissociation. This activity helps rebuild boundaries, the child’s sense of autonomy and self-safety. If the child is non-verbal, it can be a way for them to express through drawing and painting on the box, work with fears, and try new behaviours. Useful activity when: – Moving to a new house (2 boxes for 2 homes). – Working with car accidents (box is the car). – Working with abuse (box is a safe place). – School phobias (box is the classroom or place to escape class when needed). – Exploring what safe looks and feels like. – Working with separation anxiety. – Working with anxiety disorders. – Working with fear objects. Practice using Focusing language with the child while they are creating. The teacher could be asking the child about the part of them that feels mad, afraid, scared, confused (whatever emotion the child has said they are feeling). An example comment could be, “The part of you that feels confused about having two homes is drawing the boxes to look the same. I am curious about that. Does that part want the homes to look the same?” Another example would be working with a child who is building their safe place box. The child is using soft pink colours, lots of plastic flowers, stickers of animals and fairies. An example comment from the teacher could be, “I am curious about what you are making? How does it make you feel to use pink, flowers and lots of animal stickers?” The child may answer, “Happy.” The teacher asks, “Where do you feel that in your body?” The child may answer, “In my stomach and head.” The teacher asks “Does the box need anything else to be safe?’ The child may answer, “Lots of blankets and a night light.” Playing baby Sibling rivalry is something most families may have to explore. Sibling rivalry is common among young children following a birth of a new baby. Often

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feelings of envy, aggression, and anxiety can result. The desire to play out baby can help the children work through these feelings and help with attachment issues. This game can help children release fear and the anxiety of having a new family member. It can help the child return to an appropriate development level again. Playing baby allows the child to explore the part of them that wants to be a baby. Staying body focused and present with the child, they can tell you from the point of view of the “baby part” of them how they are feeling, what they want to happen and how they can move forward. Exercises like this one help the child dis-identify from being ‘in’ their emotions and gain distance to be able work with their emotions. Teaching children to say “something in me feels hurt, sad,” or whatever the emotion is, helps them have emotional strength and confidence to understand, process and move through overwhelming emotions. Useful activity when: – The child is having separation anxiety. – There is a birth of a new child in the house and the child is showing regressive behaviour. – Working with regression as a result of trauma, separation, divorce, abuse, family violence, fears, loss. Pretending to know This activity is another process oriented method. This method can instil confidence, skill building, self-esteem, and self-responsibility. Children often know some of the steps involved by observing others do certain activities. If we ask the child to pretend she knows and to show us how, they often can perform some of the steps or the whole activity. By using a fantasy play-situation the child may feel free enough to play at knowing. In the article, Acts of Art (Lewis & Wallace, 2006) it describes children attending art therapy who then teach the other children in their classroom some of the art that they were learning. The other children in the class began seeing them as experts, capable and helpful. This practice helped the children who were coming for therapy feel that they had valuable skills and talent. It helped the other children reframe or see these classmates differently. You could invite a child to teach you how to tie a shoelace, get a coat zipped up, find a book, etc. Children who aren’t comfortable talking to you about their anger, may be happy to teach their toy about anger, sadness, or any other feelings. You may invite a child to teach another child how to use a quieter voice or ask for something that they need in a polite/appropriate way. Useful for: – Helping child learn skills. – Creating a calm and fun atmosphere around learning a skill if the child is anxious helping the child feel confident.

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Playing with feelings This is an activity that helps young children explore and learn how to verbalise their feelings. Direct questions are often not helpful. By creating feeling games children have the distance to be able to verbalise feelings. Play is a form of expression and communication so it is natural for children to play out their feelings. Play allows children to enact thoughts and feelings of which they are aware, but can’t express in words. One way to start is to draw in blank circles the faces that the child feels show: happy, sad, mad, tired, etc. It is useful to have a collection of different pictures of faces to talk about the different feelings expressed. You can then make up different stories to go with the faces. Ask questions as, “Why do you think this girl would be happy”? “What makes you happy”? Knowing more about feelings helps children feel like they have some control over their feelings. It helps children understand why they feel as they do and they realise that they are not their feelings and that they can get distance from, and look at their feelings. They also sense that feelings change which helps lower their fear of overwhelming feelings. Some children have a hard time controlling their bodies. Play therapy helps “children develop expressive organisation on a physical, nonverbal level, and to develop active metaphor making from their more organized physical phrasing to help them develop emotional expression” (Harvey, 1997, p. 46). One technique is to use a large scarf and make it go up and down while the child is underneath. The child is given the instruction of moving when the scarf is up, and stopping when the scarf is down. Even children who have extreme difficulty inhibiting their movement can stop when they are covered with the scarf. The scarf helps provide the signal to help control the child’s impulse to move. Gradually verbal imagery or stories can be added. The story can have emotions added. The scarf play can turn into dance (pp. 47–48). This activity helps teach the child to have a different relationship with trust of, and knowing their body movements. This is helpful for working with body behaviour, hyperactivity and ADHD. This can be a wonderful tool for helping a child feel calm when they are overwhelmed.

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Resources

Children’s books on mindfulness: 1. Jenny Kellet. Mindfulness for Kids: Mindfulness Workbook for Children. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2016. 2. Eline Snel et al. Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and their Parents). Shambhala Publishing, 2013. 3. McLean, Kerry Lee. Moody Cow Meditates. Wisdom Publication, 2009.

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Grossman, Laurie et al. Master of Mindfulness: How To Be Your Own Superhero in Times of Stress. Instant Help Publishing, 2016.

References Borba, M. (2016). UnSelfie: Why empathetic kids succeed in our all-about-me world. New York, NY: Touchstone. Gendlin, E. T. (1978). Focusing. New York, NY: Bantam Dell. Harvey, S. (1997). The scarf story. In H. Kaduson & C. Schaefer (Eds.), 101 favorite play therapy techniques (Vol. 1). Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield, Publishers Inc. Lewis, P., & Wallace, K. (2006). Acts of art. Canadian Children: Journal of the Canadian Association for Young Children, 31(2), 10–13.

CHAPTER 8

Trauma Resolution Workbook 1

What Is Trauma?

Trauma is when something happened to you that scared you so much you still have memories of it. Sometimes you can’t sleep, sometimes you feel that you can’t talk, or maybe you feel angry for no reason. You might not feel safe at home or school. You may feel confused and lost. Sometimes you may get bad memories. This workbook will help you talk about it and release the bad feelings. This workbook will help you feel better. 1.1 Resources and Resourcing Before we talk about traumas that happened to you, we need to do something called resourcing. Resources are things that we can use to help us feel safe and happy. They can be memories or thoughts and feelings that we carry around with us so we can use them whenever we need to. Safe place Draw a picture of a place where you feel safe. It can be anywhere that is real or imaginary. It is a place where your body feels safe, relaxed and happy. When you think of a place that you feel safe in, what images do you see? What smells do you receive? What are the sounds? If you could touch it, what would it feel like?

figure 8.1 Draw your safe place © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi: 10.1163/9789004432734_011

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Power animal Sometimes when we experience awful things or feel very afraid, we are alone. Our parents, friends or pets aren’t there and can’t help us. A power animal is an imaginary animal that can help us feel safe and looked after. When we are talking about our traumas, we can imagine that our power animal is there with us helping us, so we don’t feel alone. Close your eyes and imagine a wise, kind animal walking towards you. See the colour, shape and size. What colour are its eyes? Does it have soft or rough fur? This is an animal that deeply loves and respects you and will protect you. Whenever you feel lonely or afraid, it can help you. I invite you to draw your power animal.

figure 8.2  Draw your power animal

Tree visualisation Feeling grounded means that you feel connected to the earth. Stand and imagine that you can feel your roots go down deep into the earth. Feel your feet

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solid on the floor. Feel your legs solid and strong like a tree trunk. Breathe into your stomach and notice what you are feeling. Imagine your arms and hands are like tree branches. Imagine your fingers like leafs. Feel strong rooted tree energy throughout your body. Go for a walk outside and pick a tree that can be your special tree. When you are ready, draw your tree.

figure 8.3 Draw your tree visualisation

Circles of support Think of all the people that support and care for you. If you can’t think of many we can make up imaginary people. Draw yourself in the middle of the circle and surrounding you draw all the people that love and care for you.

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figure 8.4  Draw your circle of support

Resourcing When we talk about trauma and feel big emotions, remember to resource. Use your safe place, grounding tree, power animal and circle of support. Breathing Deep breathing helps us feel calm and relaxed. When we remember to breathe throughout the day we feel better. Head/heart/stomach breathing Place one hand on your head and one hand on your heart. Take deep breaths into your hand on your heart for the count of three. Keep one hand on your heart and place one hand on your stomach. Take three deep breaths into your hand on your stomach. This helps you feel solid and safe in your body (Levine, 2017). Ocean breathing Breathe in, counting to four, while you imagine the water coming into the beach. Now breathe out, counting to four, while you imagine the water flowing back out to the ocean. Do this three times. Butterfly breathing Breathe in, counting to four, while you imagine a butterfly closing its wings.

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Breathe out, counting to four, while you imagine a butterfly opening its wings. Do this three times.

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Fight/Flight/Freeze

When bad things happen, our bodies act in smart ways. They fight off people who try to hurt us, go into flight or allow us to run away when we feel threatened or sometimes they freeze, which means they get quiet and small so others can’t notice us. These three things help us when we are under threat, like when a wild animal is attacking us, or a big angry person is saying bad things to us, or someone wants to hurt us. After we experience a frightening thing sometimes the trauma memory stays with us and our body keeps acting in these ways. That can cause us trouble. If a blue car hit you when you were crossing the road and you still have the trauma memory of that inside your body, you may get afraid every time you see a blue car and not be able to go outside or want to run away. Or if a mean person hurt you, you might get angry every time you see a person who looks or acts like that person. You can teach your body to let go of the impulse of wanting to go into fight/flight/freeze response and release the fear locked into your body. Fight/flight/freeze responses are great things for your body to know how to do but not all the time, only when you need them. Fight response: Lion (attack) This response may make you aggressive, act mean or feel anxious. When we need to calm the lion: – Seeing everything and everyone as a threat. – Becoming overly aggressive while anxious. – Bullying, impulsive. When we are angry all the time we know that our lion is holding on to fear and anxious feelings from the past. ABC: Feelings need to be felt A: First step, PAUSE and acknowledge/notice where the feeling is in your body. “Something in me is feeling___________________________________.” B: Breathe. Be with it, the hurt part. C: Care. Ask it what it needs? (based on Brenner, 2003 and Cornell, 2005) If it feels okay, draw a picture of what you are feeling:

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figure 8.5 Draw a picture of how you are feeling

1. 2. 3. 4.

While telling the story: Use a towel wrapped around other person’s arm and squeeze while you are talking. After you tell your story if your body feels like it, shake out the anger. Step back. Imagine running. Run if your body feels like running. Practice ABC. When we feel our feelings, we heal.

Flight response: Deer (retreat) This response might make you feel dreamy, numb or distant. When we need to move the deer: – Appearing shut down, bored. – Guarded, isolated, easily frustrated. – At risk for others hurting you.

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When we are feeling afraid, distant, like running away all the time, we know that the deer in us is holding on to fear from the past. ABC: Feeling need to be felt A: First step. PAUSE and acknowledge/notice where the feeling is in your body. “Something in me is feeling___________________________________.” B: Breathe. Be with it; the hurt part. C: Care. Ask it what it needs? (based on Brenner, 2003 and Cornell, 2005) If it feels okay, draw a picture of what you are feeling:

figure 8.6 Draw a picture of how you are feeling

Freeze response: Turtle (shutdown) The freeze response allows you to escape and go unnoticed. When we need to come out of our turtle shell: – Going blank (feeling like you remember nothing). – Clam up (unable to speak, not sure what to say).

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– Fainting. ABC: Feeling need to be felt A: First step PAUSE and acknowledge/notice where the feeling is in your body. “Something in me is feeling___________________________________.” B: Breathe. Be with it; the hurt part. C: Care. Ask it what it needs? (based on Brenner, 2003 and Cornell, 2005) If it feels okay, draw a picture of what you are feeling:

figure 8.7 Draw a picture of how you are feeling

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Trauma Response: Fight/Flight/Freeze

Lion: Fight – Where do you feel it in the body? – On a scale of 1 to 10, how strong can it be when you are mad, scared, angry? – How can we move it to a 6?

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Deer: Flight – Where do you feel it in the body? – On a scale of 1 to 10, how strong can it be when you are mad, scared, angry? – How can we move it to a 6? Turtle: Freeze – Where do you feel it in the body? – On a scale of 1 to 10, how strong can it be when you are mad, scared, angry? – How can we move it to a 6?

figure 8.8 Where do you feel it in your body

figure 8.9 Trauma response: Turtle freeze

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figure 8.10 Trauma response: Deer flight

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figure 8.11 Trauma response: Lion attack

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Body wisdom When we go through hard things our bodies gain wisdom. This means your body figured out how to survive in a tough situation. Sometimes our bodies get triggered and act in ways that don’t help us, like getting mad and afraid.

figure 8.12 Body wisdom

What are your triggers? These are things that made you react. Things like loud noises, someone being mean, someone taking your things, and other things. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

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What is your body wisdom? What smart things does your body know now because you went through a tough time and survived? Things you know such as whether to believe someone, you know when someone is sneaking up behind you, or you know if other people are feeling happy or sad. __________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Flashbacks Sometimes when hard things have happened to you, you get memories in your head that shock or surprise you. They can happen when you are listening to your teacher, reading, eating dinner or having fun. These memories are called flashbacks because for a moment you feel as though you are reliving that time. It feels like it is happening right now. The memory is still in your body and it enters your mind like a flash. When this happens, you have to bring yourself back to the present moment. Say to yourself, ‘My name is________________________ I am ________years old.’ – Have a glass of water – Move or go for a walk – Name three things that you can see around you, something that you can hear, something that you can touch, and something that you can smell. This is called orienting. It helps to bring you back to the present time. It can be scary to have this happen, but the more you work with this and talk about it, the less it will happen. It helps to do some butterfly or ocean breathing and say to yourself: I am safe now. It helps if you can see your safe place, tree, and power animal. After you have a flashback you need to be kind and help yourself feel safe again just as you would help a younger sister or brother. Your body has wisdom and it is letting you know that the memories need to be expressed (talking to an adult) and released (drawing it). Sometimes drawing the flashback helps take away the fear of it. After drawing, remind yourself that you are safe now and doing well. Here is an invitation to draw a flashback. By doing this you can leave this memory on the paper so you don’t have to think about it anymore (if you want, cut out another paper to cover up the image).

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figure 8.13 Draw the flashback

Practice ABC and ask the part of you that is holding the memory what it needs right now to feel safe. Nightmares and bad dreams Sometimes after awful or bad things have happened to us we can have nightmares. This is because a part of us is still afraid and wants to let the emotion out. That is why it is good to talk about our emotions in the daytime. The more we talk and look after our emotions, the less they will bother us at night. When we have bad dreams: – Remember your safe place, power animal and tree. – Do ocean breathing and butterfly breathing – Turn the pillow over to the good dream side

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Get a weighted blanket Use aromatherapy Play relaxing music Make a dream catcher for your room. Make a good dream rock for under your bed Make worry dolls Imagine a dream bubble with the bad dream inside it and watch it float away. – Tell yourself: ‘I am safe and this is not real it was a bad dream.’ Draw your star that watches over you at night. Imagine that one of the stars watches over you and when you have a bad dream you can send it to the star. What does your star look like?

figure 8.14 Draw the star that watches over you

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Upstairs and downstairs brain Our brains have many parts. Upstairs are the thinkers who solve problems, plan, regulate emotions and get creative ideas. Downstairs are the feelers and they want to keep us safe and they look out for danger. They sound the alarm for fight, flight, or freeze responses. It is better when they work together, but sometimes downstairs takes over (Siegel & Bryson, 2011). When would this happen to you? (feeling afraid on the playground, late for school, someone hit you) Sometimes the downstairs parts, they get it wrong and are responding from a past memory. How can the two parts work together? If it helps you can name the parts: Looks like Downstairs Brain may be set to pull the alarm. Let’s see if Upstairs Brain can send a message telling Downstairs Brain to take some deep breaths, and try to be calm. Draw your upstairs and down stairs brain.

figure 8.15 Draw your upstairs and downstairs brain

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Attachment styles and close relationships Attachment styles describe how you act with others. If you like being with other people and also enjoy being alone with yourself, then you have what is called secure attachment. If you don’t like people being too close, have a hard time trusting people or get nervous around people you know, you may have what is called avoidant attachment. If you don’t feel safe unless you are always very close with other people and you always worry that they don’t like you, you may have what is called ambivalent attachment. To be happy and feel safe you need to learn to feel safe when you are by yourself and when you are with others. Use this body outline and show me how that feels.

figure 8.16 Body outline to show how you feel safe

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Attachment games Silent drawing. See if you can talk to your partner by drawing pictures. Draw in pictures of what you want to say. Your friend will answer you in pictures.

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String structure. With your partner, you are going to make up a dance using string by wrapping it around you both. Check with your partner if it feels okay as you make the structure. 3. Eyes. You will go around the room looking in other people’s eyes and drawing them. Notice if you feel comfortable or not doing this. Eyes: Draw eyes and fill in with colour.

figure 8.17 Eyes: Draw more eyes

Self-esteem Sometimes when difficult things have happened, you have a hard time liking yourself. Sometimes you blame yourself and think terrible things happened to you because you think it was your fault or because you were bad. That is not true. When you are little and older people hurt you, it is never your fault. They are supposed to look after you and support you, not hurt or abuse you. If you were in an accident, that is never your fault. Sometimes terrible things happen and it is no one’s fault. If the adults in your life were not respectful or kind to you, you can learn to treat yourself with kindness and respect. Your opinions and feelings matter and you are worthwhile. You can have a good life no matter what happened, you are resilient and strong. You have many strengths and gifts. You are creative and strong.

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Draw or write the following: – I like myself because… – I’m an expert at… – I feel good about… – My friends would tell you I have a great… – My favourite place is… – I’m loved by… – People say I am a good… – I consider myself a good… – What I enjoy most is… – The person I admire the most is… – I have a natural talent for… – Goals for my future are… – I know I will reach my goals because I am… – People compliment me about… – I laugh when I think about… – I feel peaceful when… (Reeve & Breiner, 2009) Every day for a week fill in these sentences: 1. I felt good about myself when…. 2. Today I had fun when… 3. Something I did for someone… 4. I was proud of someone else… 5. Today was interesting because… Relationship skills Sometimes after a trauma or difficult thing happens to us, we forget how to be with our friends. All of a sudden it seems hard to play with others. Getting angry, having arguments, and feeling upset seem to happen easier. This can be because we have more confusing feelings inside ourselves and it is hard to be with others when we feel we have so many emotions inside of us. It takes energy and patience to listen to others, trust others and be a good friend. Sometimes we have to calm the storm inside of ourselves first before we feel calm enough to play with others. Mindfulness meditation Close your eyes and imagine a butterfly opening and closing its wings. Now count to four as you inhale to the butterfly opening its wings. Now count to four as you exhale to the butterfly closing its wings. Repeat this four times. Think about your top three feelings, thoughts or worries. For now, envision letting them go. Watch them float away. Write the three things in the balloons.

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figure 8.18 Feeling, thoughts, worry balloons

What makes you unique? Was it a talent, a strength, or your family, that helped you survive what you went through? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ What is something you know now that you did not know before? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

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How do you deal with big emotions? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ When others learn what you have gone through, how do they respond to you? How does that feel? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ What could you teach other people about what you have learned from going through this experience? __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

figure 8.19 Draw an image of how to be a good friend

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Focusing body scan: Naming what I feel, knowing where in the body I feel it – Tell me about the last time you felt happy. What colour was the happiness and where do you sense it in the body? – Tell me about the last time you felt sad. What colour was the sadness and where do you sense it in the body? – Tell me about the last time you felt curious. What colour was the curiosity and where do you sense it in the body? – Tell me about the last time you felt angry. What colour was the anger and where do you sense it in the body? – Tell me about the last time you felt irritated. What colour was the irritation and where do you sense it in the body? – Tell me about the last time you felt silly. What colour was the silliness and where do you sense it in the body? – Tell me about the last time you felt afraid. What colour was the fear and where do you sense it in the body? Use this body outline to colour while responding to the questions.

figure 8.20  Focusing body scan

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Self-symbol A self-symbol is an image or symbol that shows that you accept, trust, and like yourself. It can be something that you use when you feel afraid or need help. It can be your own private source of strength. Use this space to draw your self-symbol.

figure 8.21 Draw your self-symbol

The daily three Naming three things every day that we feel grateful for helps us feel more hopeful and happy in our life. You can do this every night before you go to bed.

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figure 8.22  Grateful thoughts

Write or draw one thing that you are grateful for in each of the three thoughts clouds.

References Levine, P. (2017). Treating trauma: 2 ways to help clients feel safe. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7zAseaIyFA Reeve, S., & Breiner, J. (2009). Toot your own horn worksheet. Self Esteem Experts. Retrieved from http://www.self-esteem-experts.com/self-esteem-activities-tootyour-horn.html Siegel, D., & Bryson, T. (2011). The whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

Index adverse childhood experiences (ACE) 69, 70, 88, 114 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 11, 21, 112, 182 anger 33, 35, 78, 84, 92, 95, 97, 108, 109, 117, 128, 130, 154–158, 177, 181, 189, 206 anxiety 20, 33, 34, 39, 73, 78, 84, 89, 111, 113, 125, 133, 137–139, 177, 180, 181 attachment 71, 74, 76, 78–81, 86, 89, 96, 122, 123, 181, 201

flight 39, 72–75, 81, 84, 89, 95, 97, 102, 121, 125, 188, 189, 191, 192, 194, 200 freeze 38, 39, 72–75, 84, 89, 92, 95, 96, 102, 103, 106, 108, 121, 125, 137, 176, 188, 190–193, 200

behaviour/behavior xv, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 20, 29, 32, 33, 38, 40, 51, 52, 54, 64, 69, 71–74, 76, 78, 81, 82, 88–92, 95, 98, 104, 107–109, 116, 117, 125, 155, 159, 162, 180–182 benefits of art xii, 37, 39, 40, 101 benefits of play xii, 4, 7, 21, 168 benefits of story xii, 47, 52, 95 brain xii, xv, 7, 14, 21, 36, 38, 39, 42, 63, 60, 71, 72, 74–79, 82, 83, 85–88, 90, 91, 93, 96, 102–104, 112, 121, 137, 141–143, 148, 151, 154, 163, 171, 179, 200

identity 6, 11, 36, 43–46, 52, 56, 80, 130, 131, 140 imagination xi, xiv, xv, 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 17, 25, 26, 28, 30, 33, 41–44, 46, 47, 51, 87, 167

creative xii, xiv, 10, 11, 25, 32–34, 36, 37, 39–41, 53, 56, 84, 91, 99, 106, 111, 112, 124, 125, 130, 132, 140, 147, 150, 158, 160, 175, 178, 180, 200, 202 creativity xi, xiv, 6, 7, 10, 21, 25, 26, 35, 36, 39, 43, 110, 123, 135, 150, 158, 164 development x–xv, 4, 6–10, 14–17, 21, 22, 25–32, 34, 39–41, 43–48, 50–52, 57, 69, 71, 73, 76, 78–80, 87, 88, 93, 104, 107, 123, 181 empathy xi, xv, 12, 16–20, 22, 35, 36, 43, 50–52, 57, 68, 81, 86, 88, 89, 91, 106, 110, 116, 141, 149, 153, 160, 170 fear 12, 21, 35, 38, 55, 65, 71, 73, 75, 76, 81–83, 89, 92, 106, 111, 133, 137, 139, 177, 180–182, 188, 190, 197, 206 fearful 13, 78, 82, 95, 105, 178 fight 19, 39, 72–75, 77, 81, 89, 91, 92, 95, 96, 102, 121, 125, 188, 191, 200

health 7, 21, 22, 32, 35, 36, 38, 64, 69, 70, 79, 80, 89, 99, 100, 101, 113, 114, 178 healthy xv, 19, 35, 36, 37, 53, 54, 64, 76, 79, 80, 83, 85, 87–89, 95, 99, 102, 104, 140, 152

literacy xiv, 7, 14–18, 26, 30–32, 45–48, 50, 51, 57 mental health 21, 22, 32, 35, 64, 79, 113 regulation 17, 18, 22, 26, 34, 40, 51, 69, 71, 74, 78, 80, 83, 84, 86, 89, 91, 95, 121, 123, 125, 137, 155, 170 relationship(s) 8, 17, 19, 20, 22, 35, 36, 40, 42, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 57, 64, 66, 67, 71, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 88, 89, 91, 100, 104, 106, 108, 117, 121, 149, 159, 168, 170, 182, 201, 203 repair xiii, xv, 40, 66, 70, 78, 79, 80, 87, 123, 159, 180 resiliency xv, 54, 75, 84, 85, 87, 95, 99, 106, 113, 124, 143 self-care xv, 69, 95, 98, 100, 102, 111, 117 self-esteem xv, 14, 32, 36, 37, 39, 53, 69, 75, 78, 85–87, 110, 111, 121, 122, 125, 139, 140, 142, 181, 202 story x, xiv, xv, 12, 14–17, 27–30, 38, 42–52, 54, 56, 57, 77, 87, 90, 93, 95, 105, 106, 130, 131, 136, 138, 143, 144, 152, 162–164, 169, 182, 189 storytelling xiv, 10, 14, 26, 42, 43, 45–49, 52, 87 symptoms xv, 11, 20, 75, 77, 82, 88, 89, 98–100

210 sensory 34, 38, 82, 83, 87, 90, 92, 123, 126, 127, 131, 133, 134, 178 teacher(s) xi, xii, xv, 9, 11–13, 16, 18, 19, 28–31, 33, 38, 45, 47–50, 53, 54, 64–67, 69–78, 80, 81, 83, 85, 87, 88, 90–92, 95, 96, 98, 101, 104–107, 109, 111–113, 115–117, 121, 125, 127, 128, 134, 135, 138–140, 143, 147, 149, 151, 153, 158, 164, 168, 170, 178, 180, 187

index therapeutic 16, 18, 32–36, 40, 71, 74, 75, 97, 101, 111, 116, 117, 124 therapy x, xiii, 11, 12, 16–20, 33–40, 52–56, 71, 75, 83, 89, 91, 99, 101, 125, 159, 170, 177, 178, 180–182, 199 trauma informed xii–xv, 11, 13, 39, 53, 64–68, 70, 71, 74, 82, 85, 87, 101, 104–107, 111, 116, 117, 121, 123, 168, 169