4: Leading Trauma-informed Learning and Teaching

A leader of teaching and learning has key practices to enact, which include improving instruction in the classroom, monitoring student learning, and using data to inform decisions towards school progress (Leithwood et al., 2019). These practices can also support the creation of an orderly and supportive environment in the classroom (Robinson et al., 2008). Based on iterative appreciative inquiry action research cycles, leaders prioritised goals towards increasing teacher capacities and capabilities towards effective instruction. However, it was noted in coaching sessions that leaders continually stated how important it was to deliver instruction with and through trauma-informed positive education (TIPE) strategies. This would support students with complex unmet needs for learning who have significant and longstanding struggles to understand themselves as progressing learners.