Exploring children and young people’s experiences of trauma-informed school provision: A psychosocial study

Trauma informed practice (TIP) is an approach to working with individuals that aims to increase understanding of the negative impacts of trauma. The six principles of a trauma informed approach are safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, empowerment, cultural consideration. Predominantly deployed in health and care settings, TIP approaches are now being implemented in schools to support not only pupils that have experienced trauma, but all pupils; Trauma Perceptive Practice (TPP) is but one adapted model. The evidence base for the impact on school outcomes as a result of TIP is extensive, yet exploration of children’s experiences of the model are distinctively lacking, with research regarding TPP being absent entirely due to its relatively new inception. Via a psychosocial methodology and principles drawn from the free association narrative interview method to inform data collection and analysis, three separate focus groups involving 12 secondary school pupils from years 7 to 11 were completed. Participants each engaged in two focus groups organised according to year group (year 7, year 8-10, year 11) to explore the experiences of children and young people within TPP trained schools. Analysis of the available data revealed TPP to be hard to discern from school experiences and relational encounters in general, in which participant experiences were shaped by adults. The findings of this research highlight areas for change in the delivery and implementation of TPP so that children and young people’s agency is centralised. Moreover, the methodology employed holds implications for the way in which children and young people’s voices are accounted for in practice, research and policy in addition to EP statutory working and wider role. The current research provides a foundation for understanding the nature of experiences within TPP trained schools, for which further research is needed.