Trauma-informed Education Practices
Trauma-informed approaches recognise that many students carry invisible injuries from adverse experiences, and that punitive responses often compound rather than resolve these wounds. Rather than asking “what’s wrong with this student?”, trauma-informed practice asks “what happened to this student—and how can we help them feel safe enough to learn?” Rooted in neuroscience, human dignity, and educational equity, trauma-informed schools prioritise relationships, regulation, and repair. They shift from compliance-based control to compassionate co-regulation, acknowledging that dysregulation is not defiance, but a nervous system in survival mode. This approach equips educators to respond to challenging behaviour with curiosity and care, transforming classrooms into spaces of healing rather than harm.
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The problem with the appeals process
When something goes wrong at school—when a child is excluded, harmed, or unsupported—families are told to “work it out with the school first.” That sounds reasonable on paper. But in practice, it’s vague, unstructured, and often retraumatising. I’ve gone through the Vancouver School Board (VSB) appeals process more times that I’d wish upon anyone. Here’s…
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When school discipline undermines trust at home
There’s a problem in our schools. You’ll see it on a child’s face when they come home. You’ll hear it in the way they describe something that left them feeling humiliated, angry, or confused—and often, all three at once. It happens when school staff use discipline strategies that completely contradict the values a student has…
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On moral injury and collective punishment
I did not want to file a complaint. I still don’t—not in the sense that people imagine, with anger or vengeance or a desire for punishment. What I wanted, what I asked for again and again with patience and clarity and increasing despair, was for the district to acknowledge that collective punishment is not just…
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Whose barriers get counted in Vancouver School District?
When I first opened the Vancouver School Board’s Accessibility Engagement Summary Report, I did what I always do with these kinds of documents—I made a beeline for the methodology, the numbers, the breakdown of who actually got to speak. On page 10 I discovered that 2,855 people had participated; on page 11 I discovered that…
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How regressive school policies limit inclusion
On the first day of school, it all looked so promising that it seemed almost too good to be true—the hallway bulletin boards overflowed with vibrant slogans about kindness, leadership, and community belonging, while the principal’s welcome message spoke in glowing terms about student voice, shared responsibility, and the promise of a positive school culture…
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Profound loss amplifies calls for better training
I was in the car with my children when I first heard the story of Chase, the 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police, in Surrey. It’s deeply distressing to hear this, knowing full well that my kids are recalibrating their worldview. Kids can be shot. My children sometimes process auditory information more…
