Jed Dearybury - The Courageous Classroom

There's no escaping the scope of the problem students and educators face. Fear is a real part of daily life for the people who learn and teach in our nation's classrooms. It's wired into our brain as part of our evolutionary journey. However, as insurmountable as the problem might seem, we also are wired for the solution – we just have to work together to learn how to access it ourselves, so that we can, in turn, offer it to our students. We can speak to you with such confidence about the power of courage, because we have seen it in action, in ourselves, and in our students.

Your brain is an amazing piece of machinery. Among its incredible abilities is neuroplasticity, the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. These changes range from individual neurons making new connections, to systematic adjustments like cortical remapping. In layman's terms, the brain's ability to rewire itself. This super-power enables people who have experienced trauma as kids to overcome it – and get a shot at adulthood.

As miraculous as this rewiring sounds, it cannot be achieved without significant support, including from trauma-informed educators. Without this support, countless students fall through the cracks and become adults who inflict more trauma. We educators are in a unique place. For 180 days we have the opportunity to help “our kids,” as many call them, to discover that their trauma is overcome-able. But how? Keep reading.

Consider where fear exists in your body, so that you can acknowledge your feelings and thoughts and respond in a healthy and helpful manner.

Fear exists in our students, teachers, and classrooms. Fear begins in our brain with the amygdala sending messages in our brain circuitry to be aware of potential danger (flight, fight, or freeze). When we have a conscious feeling of fear, our thoughts, emotions, and behavior can be affected, but remember fear is a response that can be overcome. Recognizing fear can create an opportunity to self-regulate by using the following ABCDE method created by Dr. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology.

Adversity: Acknowledge and describe your fear including the who, what, when, and where of the situation.

Belief: Write down what you were thinking and saying to yourself in the middle of your fearful situation or adversity.

Consequences: Write down the consequences of what you thought, felt, and did. Be specific, listing all the emotions and reactions that you can identify.

Dispute: Actively challenge an inaccuracy that you now recognize about your beliefs and fear. Try to create a more optimistic and accurate belief about your fear. For example, you may say, “My fear is not completely true because …” or “A more accurate way of looking at this situation is …”

Energy: Reflect and recognize how disputing your belief changed your energy. Notice what happened to your mood. How did your behavior change? What solutions do you see now that you didn't before?

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