Abstract

Trauma, including abandonment, neglect, poverty, or abuse, affects students. Because of this, a classroom community is vulnerable to the sheer unpredictability of behaviors. Students who have experienced trauma need support in order to create a classroom community where they can thrive and learn. This study examines a Whole-Child Approach purposely used in a sixth-grade classroom. A whole-child observation checklist was used to provide pre- and post- data in four areas: Relationship Building; Restorative Practices; Behavioral Recognition, Reminders, and Redirects; and Social-Emotional Skill Building. A teacher journal and mindfulness lessons were also used to triangulate data. This study shows that building a thriving classroom community where students learn can happen with students who have experienced trauma.

Keywords: community, whole-child

How to Cite:

Wells, J., (2024) “Building Classroom Community Using a Whole-Child Approach”, Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research 25(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.4148/2470-6353.1390