Increasingly, more and more children and young people are encountering ‘adverse childhood experiences’ (Felitti et al., 1998) and are consequently struggling to cope with the impact of trauma, which can have lasting effects on their learning, as well as their health and wellbeing (Howard, 2021; SAMHSA, 2014). Thus, the impact of trauma on young people is becoming more significant for teachers, who are increasingly being encouraged to become trauma-aware practitioners (Thomas et al., 2019). Importantly, this also holds relevance for those teachers entering the profession, i.e., pre-service teachers (Brown et al., 2022). However, in becoming trauma-aware, there are likely to be different practices across specific subjects, and some subjects may need to be more acutely aware of trauma and its impacts than others. For example, in physical education (PE), which is the focus of this presentation, the centrality of the (performing) body and the need (at times) for physical contact, distinguish it from most other classroom subjects, and can make it feel ‘risky’ or unsafe for those young people who have experienced trauma (Quarmby et al., 2022).

Becoming trauma-aware will be a challenging endeavour for many in-service teachers. However, for pre-service teachers of PE (PST-PE), who are placed in schools for a relatively short period, learning to work with young people in PE who have experienced trauma will likely be especially challenging and stressful. There is a growing body of research supporting the need for PST-PE to be trauma-aware (Ellison & Walston-Fisette, 2022; Quarmby et al., 2022), but we currently know little about how these individuals learn about trauma-affected young people or  come to develop/enact trauma-aware approaches in the context of their school placement as well as the potential impacts of enacting trauma-aware pedagogies for PST-PE themselves.

Several authors have drawn from the work of Dewey (1958) to explore and understand PE teachers’ school-based learning (Armour et al., 2012; Armour et al., 2017; Coleman et al., 2021). From this perspective, learning is understood as growth, a continuous reconstruction of experience as teachers interact with their environment (Dewey, 1958). Central to this understanding of teacher learning is the role of reflection, a form of thinking and doing directed towards improving practice (Hall & Gray, 2016). While much of this research has focused on the learning of in-service PE teachers, we argue that this perspective is also relevant to the placement-based, trauma-aware learning of PST-PE.

Given the importance of placement experiences for PST-PE learning, we argue that further research is warranted to better understand how PST-PE learn about trauma during their placements, and how they plan for, and respond to, young people who have experienced trauma. Consequently, the purpose of this presentation is to report on a study we conducted to explore the placement-based learning experiences of PST-PE, focusing on those moments when they encountered young people who were perceived to  have experienced trauma. In understanding learning as growth – ongoing, in-context and social – we aimed to uncover how, where and with whom this learning takes place, to identify opportunities for initial teacher education (ITE), schools and mentors to better shape and support PST-PE learning around trauma in the future.

Three distinct groups of PST-PE (n=22) from a range of different institutions engaged in online professional learning designed to support PST-PE in becoming trauma-aware. The majority of participants were either on a 4-year undergraduate ITE programme that led to qualified teacher status, or were on a 1-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme from universities in the UK. In addition, we had one PST-PE from a university in Australia. A common feature of all programmes was that they included a combination of university-based and school-based (placement) learning experiences. The online learning consisted of two workshops (each lasting two hours). In workshop one, the PST-PE were provided with space to reflect on what they already knew about trauma and how it might shape pupils’ engagement with school and with PE. To support these reflections and discussions, we purposely invited the PST-PE to engage in the workshops during their school placement, and encouraged them to share and reflect on their placement learning. In workshop two participants were invited to critically reflect on their learning from the first workshop, their own practice, and the five principles of trauma-aware pedagogies (see Quarmby et al., 2022). They then considered how these principles could be enacted in practice during various ‘PE moments’ (e.g., transitions into PE, getting changed, responding to incidents). Reflections and discussions generated in each of the workshops were recorded using Microsoft Teams, and subsequently converted into an audio file for transcription. Text from the Microsoft Teams ‘chat’ function was transferred to a Microsoft Word file. All audio file transcripts, and copies of the ‘chats’ were made anonymous to protect the identity of the participants. Data analysis involved highlighting all those instances where the PST-PE discussed their experiences of working with young people who may have experienced trauma while on school placement. Then, guided by our understanding of learning as experiential, situated and social, this text was examined to extract the following detail: • A description of the incident/experience • A description of how the PST learning occurred (e.g., by observing, experiencing, reflecting) • Others involved in this learning experience • Where this learning experience took place • Any policies, processes, materials or objects involved in the participants’ learning. Once all the relevant detail had been captured, authors engaged in a form of inductive coding, looking for patterns across the coded data to generate emergent themes (Sparkes & Smith, 2014).

Our analysis uncovered that PST-PE learning emerged from the participants’ experiences of, and reflections upon, working with and observing young people who were perceived to have experienced trauma which, at times, they found challenging and distressing. School-based learning is clearly important in becoming trauma-aware, but given these findings, we argue that this learning should not be left to chance. Indeed, the results of this research point towards some of the ways in which PST-PE might be better supported in becoming trauma aware during their school placements. For example, our analysis uncovered that understanding the context of the school is critical to becoming trauma-aware, both in terms of the geography of the school (the physical and social location) and the structure of the school (leadership and policies). Related to this, the PST-PE revealed that their learning was not limited to their classroom but took place across multiple sites throughout the school (corridors, staffrooms and changing rooms). We argue that this information is useful for schools (PE teachers, mentors and senior leaders) to support PST-PE placement experiences, encouraging them to explore and engage in dialogue around the broader context of the school, including relevant policy. Importantly, participants noted that learning from others in this way was key to becoming trauma aware. Indeed, many of the PST-PE discussed how they learned from other teachers through, for example, observing how they responded to challenging situations, or by receiving feedback and having informal professional learning conversations. Here, we see the potential of the trauma-aware principles developed by Quarmby et al. (2022). The principles could be used to engage in reflective dialogue, supporting all parties to better understand trauma, how it manifests through the behaviours of young people and to co-develop pedagogical strategies to support their learning and development in PE.

Armour, K., Makopoulou, K., & Chambers, F. (2012). Progression in physical education teachers’ career-long professional learning: Conceptual and practical concerns. European Physical Education Review, 18(1), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X11430651 Armour, K., Quennerstedt, M., Chambers, F., & Makopoulou, K. (2017). What is ‘effective’ CPD for contemporary physical education teachers? A Deweyan framework. Sport, Education and Society, 22(7), 799-811. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2015.1083000 Brown, E.C, Freedle, A., Hurless, N.L., Miller, R.D., Martin, C., & Paul, Z.A. (2022). Preparing Teacher Candidates for Trauma-Informed Practices. Urban Education, 57(4), 662-685. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920974084 Coleman, V., Gray, S., & MacIsaac, S. (2021). Being an early-career teacher-researcher in physical education: A narrative inquiry. Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/25742981.2021.1990779 Dewey, J. (1958). Experience and Education. The Macmillan Company. Ellison, D.W., Walton-Fisette, J.L., & Eckert, K. (2019). Utilizing the Teaching Personal and Responsibility (TPSR) Model as a Trauma-informed Practice (TIP) Tool in Physical Education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 90(9), 32-37.https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2019.1657531 Felitti, V., Anda, R., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D., Spitz, A., Edwards, V., Koss, M., & Marks, J. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8. PMID: 9635069. Hall, E.T., & Gray, S. (2016). Reflecting on reflective practice: a coach’s action research narratives. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 8(4), 365-379. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2016.1160950 Howard, J. (2021). National Guidelines for Trauma-Aware Education. Queensland University of Technology and Australian Childhood Foundation. Quarmby, T., Sandford, R., Green, R., Hooper, O. & Avery, J. (2022). Developing evidence-informed principles for trauma-aware pedagogies in physical education. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 27(4), 440-454. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2021.1891214 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014). SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Thomas, M. S., Crosby, S., & Vanderhaar, J. (2019). Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools Across Two Decades: An Interdisciplinary Review of Research. Review of Research in Education, 43(1), 422–452. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X18821123.