This project’s goal is to understand what is working well and what could be improved in terms of trauma-informed pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching) in higher education. We want to help people who have experienced trauma to thrive in higher education.

Trauma-informed pedagogy is the method and practice of teaching that takes into consideration the effect of trauma on individuals and their learning.

We will measure current practice against a set of core standards of trauma-informed pedagogy, to make recommendations for continued good practice and to make improvements to fill gaps, meet outstanding needs, or address areas of poor practice.

Team members

We are a mixed team of clinical psychology doctorate trainees; psychology undergraduate and master's students; lecturers; supervisors and people with personal experiences of mental health difficulties.

Our core members are:

• Dr Rachel Paskell - Lecturer and Director of Studies, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Bath
• Rhian Kant - Trainee Clinical Psychologist
• Elizabeth Henshaw - Trainee Clinical Psychologist
• Faiza Abdul Aziz - student, MSc Applied Clinical Psychology
• Pip Stewart - student, MSc Applied Clinical Psychology
• Lucy Clarkson - Teaching Fellow, Doctorate in Clinical Psychology

Expected outputs

• A set of core standards of trauma-informed pedagogy in higher education.
• Recommendations relating to good practice and areas for improvement for higher education programmes that participate.
• Reports and presentations to the higher education community.
• Inclusion of standards and recommendations into training and awareness-raising events for higher education communities.
• Peer-reviewed publication/s.

Project phases

This project will have seven main phases:

• Development of the core audit standards from existing literature
• Piloting the standards and associated audit tools in the Department of Psychology
• Focus groups with stakeholders to review the standards and recommendations
• Sharing key findings, promoting good practice and initial implementation of recommendations
• Building a trauma-informed pedagogy network across higher education organisations
• Roll out of the core standards and audit process to other University of Bath departments and other higher education organisations
• Continued sharing of key findings, promotion of good practice and implementing change