Building Resilience: Evaluating the Impact of Trauma-Informed Instruction Interventions on Preservice Teachers’ Efficacy in Classroom Management and Student Engagement

Many teachers feel unprepared to meet the challenges childhood trauma presents in classrooms. Using a convergent parallel design, we explored the results of several interventions designed to help preservice teachers (PSTs) understand and apply trauma-informed instruction principles and strategies during student teaching. Qualitative findings included a growth in confidence for PSTs who participated in the interventions. Using the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale, quantitative results showed a modest change in efficacy in classroom management and student engagement. Although some participants attributed this change to the interventions, the relationship between their growth and the interventions is inconclusive, suggesting a need for large-scale mixed-methods studies that employ random sampling.