Trauma-Informed Care for Students from Teachers’ Perspective: A Literature Review from a Developing Country

This systematic review aimed to explore teachers’ perspectives on trauma-informed care (TIC) within educational settings, focusing on Vietnam as a representative case of developing countries. While TIC has received growing global attention, its implementation in resource-constrained, exam-oriented, and culturally collectivist contexts remains underexplored. A total of 34 peer-reviewed studies published between 2012 and 2024 were analyzed using PRISMA guidelines and thematic synthesis. The findings reveal that although Vietnamese teachers generally expressed a strong moral obligation and confidence in supporting trauma-affected students, there exists a significant discrepancy between their perceived awareness and actual classroom practices. Three core themes emerged: (1) teachers’ recognition of trauma-related student needs; (2) their perceived roles and readiness to engage in emotional support; and (3) contextual barriers, including limited trauma-specific training, lack of systemic support, Confucian hierarchical norms, and pervasive stigma toward mental health, that constrain the adoption of TIC. This review contributes novel insights into the intersection of trauma-informed practice and cultural context, emphasizing that TIC implementation in Vietnam must be both pedagogically sound and culturally resonant. Recommendations include integrating TIC into national teacher training curricula, ensuring sustained professional development opportunities, and fostering reflective, collaborative school cultures. By equipping educators with both conceptual frameworks and context-specific tools, TIC holds the potential to promote emotional safety, enhance student engagement, and reduce psychological inequities in Vietnam’s educational system, particularly among vulnerable youth. The review also calls for further empirical studies to address existing methodological gaps and to inform culturally grounded models of trauma-responsive education in developing countries.