The Role of Student Agency in Trauma Informed Education, Anne Southall, Lecturer Education, LaTrobe University, VIC

Being in control or having personal agency is critical in restoring a sense of significance and competence for students from background of abuse and neglect. The dilemma, however is that with the worsening of a child’s behavioural or emotional problems, the need for adult control appears to increase. The cost of this dynamic, according to research, is that the children’s self-confidence and effort ultimately diminishes. This workshop presents research findings from a specialist school in regional Victoria on the role of student agency and self-regulation as part of a framework for a more trauma informed approach.