Learn about the dangers of adopting a savior mentality as a teacher and strategies to avoid it. Explore the impact on trauma-informed teaching and the importance of understanding individual student needs. Understand the significance of confidentiality and mandated reporting for supporting students and the need for systemic change. Protect your time and energy and prioritize the needs of all students.
Teachers should focus on building relationships and understanding each student's unique needs instead of assuming they are broken and need saving.
Setting boundaries and advocating for systemic change allows teachers to protect their time and energy while still making a positive impact on students.
Deep dives
The Savior Mentality and Its Problems
The podcast discusses the concept of the Savior mentality in teaching and its potential negative impact on students. The Savior mentality is when teachers feel the need to rescue and save their students from their challenges or traumatic experiences. This mindset arises from societal narratives that elevate heroic teachers who go above and beyond for their students. However, this mentality overlooks the complexity of trauma and the resilience and agency of students. It is also important to note that trauma-informed teaching requires a more nuanced approach that focuses on building relationships and understanding each student's unique needs rather than assuming they are broken and need saving.
The Importance of Boundaries and Realistic Views
The podcast emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries and having realistic views as teachers. Having strong boundaries prevents teachers from crossing over into a martyr mentality and burning out. It is crucial to understand that teachers cannot single-handedly fix all the gaps and challenges that students face. Instead, teachers should advocate for systemic change, highlighting the need for more resources and support within the education system. By setting boundaries and focusing on larger change, teachers can better protect their time and energy while still making a positive impact on students.
Transparency, Confidentiality, and Self-Determination
The podcast highlights the significance of transparency, confidentiality, and self-determination in trauma-informed teaching. Teachers should clearly communicate to students the circumstances that might trigger a mandated report, ensuring transparency in the teacher-student relationship. By doing so, teachers build trust with students and respect their decisions on what they choose to disclose. Additionally, understanding the boundaries of confidentiality and mandated reporting is important for teachers, as it helps protect student privacy while fulfilling legal obligations. Teachers are encouraged to collaborate with counselors and administrators, promoting collective responsibility and fostering a supportive school environment.
Challenging Assumptions and Supporting Systems
The podcast urges teachers to challenge assumptions and support systemic change. Teachers should avoid assuming that students lack love or support at home based on limited information or biased narratives. Trauma does not define a student's experience and can coexist with love and caring homes. Instead of shouldering the responsibility to provide all the love students may need, teachers should act as connection makers, supporting students by connecting them to available resources within the community and advocating for necessary support systems. By addressing the gaps and seeking systemic improvements, teachers can better fulfill their role in students' lives and effect positive change on a larger scale.
As a teacher, you probably find yourself in situations pretty often where you're made aware of a student having needs or challenges that exceed what your school typically offers them. The list of student needs in so many schools is never-ending, and your desire to help meet them is probably pretty strong, too. But attempting to meet these needs on your own — to become a kind of "savior" to your students — can not only lead to burnout for you, it's also not ultimately that helpful to the student long-term. In this episode Alex Shevrin Venet, author of the book Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education, returns to talk about the danger of getting into a savior mentality when helping our students, how to tell if you're slipping into that kind of thinking, and how to shift toward healthier and more helpful ways of thinking about and approaching student needs.