Schools across the country — and in Illinois — are facing drastic teacher shortages. One researcher says trauma-informed training could help.
By Arieon Whittsey
Chicago Teachers Union vice president Jackson Potter speaks during a Chicago Board of Education meeting at Jones College Prep in the South Loop on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Talia Sprague/for City Bureau)
Lara Altman is searching for better ways to train teachers — not just to improve learning outcomes, but to make things better for the teachers themselves.
And it couldn’t come at a better time. In the 2022 fiscal year, Chicago Public Schools saw an 85% increase in teacher resignation and retirement, according to Chalkbeat. It’s a reflection of the larger statewide teacher shortage spurred, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic — but one that persists even years later.
With over 90% of Illinois schools reporting a teacher shortage for the 2023-2024 school year, it’s vital to rethink the way teachers are supported, advocates say. Teachers are juggling emotional challenges that touch their classrooms — from global warming to genocide and everyday issues such as neighborhood violence and housing instability — and help their students navigate them at the same time.
To better support both teachers and students with mental health concerns, Altman, a fourth-year doctoral candidate at Northwestern University in the School of Education and Social Policy, is researching trauma-informed care with a community lens.
“If we're not supporting people across their lifespan in healing and thriving in ways that really respect community, then we're failing,” Altman said.
Altman’s past work delved into the intersection of education, social work and public health at organizations such as the Illinois Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Collaborative and Chicago Public Schools’ office of Student Health and Wellness.
City Bureau spoke to Altman in 2024 about how she thinks trauma-informed learning could benefit students and teachers.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
How do you define trauma-informed care?
A lot of people use the definition provided by the [federal] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration which, in summary, is the process of recognizing trauma, responding, promoting practices that prevent trauma, preventing retraumatization, and promoting resilience. There has also been a move to add the promotion of healing. It’s an organizational change process, so it gets applied to thinking about trauma-informed teaching or trauma-informed care, but it really is also about trauma-informed organizational change, which is more holistic.
How do you think trauma is affecting classrooms in Chicago?
So many kids in Chicago have experienced traumatic events, whether it's [being] around neighborhood violence, living through the pandemic, or being unhoused — there are all sorts of types. A lot of teachers are doing their best to support students, but they are also very burnt out, and there is a lack of appropriate mental health support in schools. Teachers are leaving the profession at high rates.
What essential knowledge or training should teachers working in divested neighborhoods be aware of?
Everyone needs anti-racism [training]. Part of being trauma-informed is being equity-centered and anti-racist. [It involves] thinking about how to work with families and think about families as partners in their kids’ education. How do you create a community among your students, so that students feel psychologically safe so that they can support each other, instead of just relying on exclusionary disciplinary practices or punitive systems?
There needs to be institutional support. A teacher can't change the whole culture of the school in which they're working. If there aren't those supports for them — if they don't feel psychologically safe or supported — it's very hard to create that [sense of] safety for their students.
Is there enough focus on the South and West Sides on trauma-informed care and ensuring students and teachers are supported through restorative practices?
Trauma is a systemic issue. We will not be able to prevent trauma and childhood adversity, unless we are creating an equitable and anti-racist society with policies that address the social determinants of health. So there's not going to be enough. We need to think about what we're asking trauma-informed care to do. What can we expect it to achieve?
If we don’t have city policies or state policies or federal policies in place, there's only so much that we can do. We can certainly support students and connect them to services, but if there aren't enough mental health services or there isn't housing support, we're running up against a wall all the time.
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