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Teaching Vulnerable Children

I entered the unit Children at Risk with the hope that I would learn how to identify children
who are experiencing trauma, and also how I can help them get the assistance and support
they need to improve their lives. This report will touch on the wide range of vulnerable
children covered in the unit and the hardships they may have encountered or are at risk of due
to their circumstances. Due to the distinct social and learning needs of vulnerable children, a
range of programs and strategies have been developed to assist teachers to work positively
and successfully with them and/or their families or carers. Five strategies have been outlined
in this report. Finally, I will reflect on the implications this unit has had on my knowledge,
attitudes and skills as a beginning teacher.

Conditions or Experiences that may Cause the Children in my Classroom to be at Risk

There are many factors within the lives and backgrounds of young students that may
negatively affect their health and development. The vulnerable children we studied in this
unit were categorized by the following influences:

Having an Indigenous background

Being subject to abuse such as

o Sexual abuse
o Physical abuse
o Emotional abuse

Being the victim of bullying

Experiencing serious or medical neglect

Being placed in out of home and/or foster care

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Being the primary victim of, or witnessing family violence

Having a parent or carer with a mental illness

Having suffered negative refugee experiences

Having Aspergers syndrome.

Many children that are experiencing or have experienced these factors may have slow
development academically and socially and be disruptive in the classroom. This may include
a lack of cooperation, attention, or attempting to hurt others. They may also be quiet,
secluded and distracted or a mixture of both extremes (Child Safety Commissioner, 2007, p.
18). Because of this, as a teacher I may need to employ a range of strategies to work towards
improving their skills and making them feel more comfortable with myself and the
classroom.

Five Strategies for the Classroom

Over the course of this unit, we discussed many strategies and programs that would be useful
to teachers and schools when attempting to positively assist those children in need. There
were many strategies we covered that worked to help children across most, if not all, of the
categories of vulnerable children, and these strategies were seen as the most affective. Five
strategies are outlined below.

1. Relationship-Based Approach
Developing and improving relationships and a positive connection to the classroom are vital
when aiming to decrease risk and improve protective factors for vulnerable children (Glover,
Patton, Butler, Di Pietro, Begg, & Cahir, 2005, p. 16). Children need to be able to view
school as a safe and caring environment, and being attended to with patience and
consideration can greatly assist this goal (Child Safety Commissioner, 2007, p. 18). There

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are many simple techniques which can foster these relationships including, if possible,
becoming familiar with the childs background so you can understand the explanation for any
misbehaviour (Child Safety Commissioner, p. 19). Also, the use of positive communication
such as encouragement, smiling and acknowledging them when they behave appropriately or
contribute positively to the classroom is effective. Trying to find the time to speak to the
child individually can also help your relationship and improve the childs sense of self-worth
(Glover et al., 2005, pp. 19-20).

2. Establishment of a Care Team

This approach was introduced to myself and the class by Katie Hooper, who highly
recommended the use of a care team for children in out of home or foster care. She spoke of
it as an effective method of communication between all those responsible for the care and
development of the child involved. Meetings between members of the care team should
include a discussion surrounding strategies and consequences that may be of use, or have
been used, and their successes at both school and home (Refer to Appendix 2). The use of a
care team can be a valuable strategy for any child who is at risk, not just those in out or home
or foster care. The care team can include members of school staff, such as the childs teacher,
principle or welfare coordinator, and any other workers or carers involved. Where possible,
family members as well as the child for whom the team has been established for, should be
included in the meetings and decisions (Child Safety Commissioner, 2009, pp. 18-19). The
care team approach allows those involved to discuss and manage positive or negative
experiences, worries and difficulties associated with the child. The establishment of a care
team is a proactive response and supports the childs learning, development and healing from
abuse or other trauma (Child Safety Commissioner, p. 20).

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3. Consequences
Due to the experiences and conditions of traumatised children, their reactions to punishment
can differ from those who have not been exposed to similar situations. An effective
technique for teaching positive behaviour to vulnerable child is the use of natural
consequences instead of punishment. Natural consequences are directly related to the
negative behaviour of the child, they involve repairing whatever damage the child has caused,
such as cleaning up a mess theyve made or apologising to someone they have hurt (Child
Safety Commissioner, 2007, p. 21).
Traumatised children often do not feel the need to please adults or develop relationships with
them; consequently giving second chances and displaying anger or disappointment are less
helpful techniques when dealing with difficult situations. If a child comes from a background
of abuse, they are often used to aggression in such circumstances, therefore making sure you
stay calm and considerate can be a very useful strategy (Child Safety Commissioner, p. 19).
Another technique is asking the child come sit by you when they misbehave, instead of
sending them out of the classroom or into a corner. This is because sending them to timeout may cause the feelings of rejection and self-worthlessness they cassociate with traumatic
experiences (Child Safety Commissioner, p. 20).

4. The Protective Behaviours Program

The protective behaviours program aims to empower individuals to feel safe and know that it
is always possible to speak to someone about issues they may be facing. This program
addresses all forms of abuse and includes three core concepts; safety, early warning signs and
networking (Protective Education Network, 2008, para. 3-7). The identification of early
warning signs is what intrigued me to the use of this program. The knowledge of when and

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how a childs body lets them know that they are unsafe can be very effective in empowering
students and helping them recognize dangerous situations. The final concept, networking,
demonstrates to children that there are always people they can tell if they are feeling unsafe
(Fraser, 1992, p. 274).
The five strategies of The Protective Behaviour Program are:

Theme Reinforcement: Reinforcement of the two themes: we all have the right to feel
safeand nothing is so awful we cannot talk about it (Fraser, p. 274) throughout the
program.

Network Review: Consistently reviewing and/or changing the network of people that the
child feels safe to talk to if they are in danger (Fraser, p. 274).

One Step Removed: This is a strategy which uses third person to talk about sensitive
issues, making it easier for the victim to disclose information by pretending it was
someone else (Fraser, p. 275). This includes use of the what-if approach, which provides
an opportunity for both the victim to talk about the issue, or the support person to
confront a child they believe may be experiencing trauma (Protective Education Network,
2008, para. 7).

Persistence Expectation: This strategy is the recognition that some people facing abuse
have told someone and nothing, or not enough, was done. Both the victim of abuse and
the person or people they have told need to be persistence in ensuring that the child feels
safe (Fraser, p. 275).

Protective Interrupting: This strategy involves stopping a child from disclosing

information in an unsafe context. If a teacher believes this is about to occur, they are
encouraged to use the protective interrupting technique, such as suggesting the child tells
the story in one step removed mode, in order to prevent re-victimisation and gossip
(Fraser, p. 275).

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5. The Three Rs
This strategy involves taking care of the teacher, to ensure they are not worn out by the
stresses of working with traumatised children (Child Safety Commissioner, 2009, p. 16). The
three Rs are; Reflection, Regulation and Relaxation.

Reflection Taking the time to reflect on your relationship with the student, what they
have been doing and why you think they may have done it, what does their behaviour
mean? Also reflection on your own thoughts, feelings and reactions. Think about who
you know that can help yourself or assist you with the child (Child Safety Commissioner,
p. 16).

Regulation You must learn to control and regulate your emotions when dealing with the
student. Know your trigger points (Child Safety Commissioner, p. 17) and have
strategies to work through the childs strong emotions, including removing yourself from
the situation and getting assistance if you are struggling. Acknowledge your emotions
and take the time to calm yourself down (Child Safety Commissioner, p. 17).

Relaxation renew your spirits and energy (Child Safety Commissioner, 2007, p.
27). Make time for yourself, engage in hobbies and spend time with friends and family.
(Child Safety Commissioner, p. 27).

Key Implications for Myself as a Beginning Teacher

I believe that when working with a vulnerable child or children the greatest challenge for
myself will be learning to not become too emotionally involved. I know that this will be
difficult for me as I am naturally a very empathetic person with a tendency to feel, and often
overreact emotionally to situations involving others, especially when I believe I can help.
This is why I am certain the Three Rs will be is something I personally use in order to

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competently handle these difficult situations. Also, knowing when to take a step back so that
I can help make professional and objective decisions for the children in my classroom is a
crucial lesson I must develop. This includes the understanding that I cannot save the child
all by myself.
One of the most useful and insightful concepts of this unit has been the abundance of
resources given to us. With them comes the knowledge that there are other people, services
and organisations, both within and outside the school and community, who work towards
improving the lives of all vulnerable children. The knowledge that there are these options to
help both myself and the child will assist me to make appropriate and positive decisions,
including when to contact and pass some responsibility onto others.
The new techniques I have researched and learnt will help me to improve my skills when
managing the difficult situations which often accompany having a traumatised child in your
classroom. Simple techniques such as smiling, forming relationships and knowing how to
react to a disclosure of a traumatic event, such as the responses suggested by Anne Mercovich
(Refer to Appendix 1), are things I can use to improve my approach to teaching.
Though I havent been involved in such a situation as of yet, if I do find myself in consistent
conflict with a child, there may be a chance that I begin to take to heart the negative
experiences. This may in turn affect my observations and cause me to negatively label the
child. I know however that I must ensure to make objective and unbiased notes of the events
and situations which occur, and not allow my personal views to cloud my judgement
(Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, para. 4-10). This is another situation where I need to
learn to become less emotionally, and more professionally, involved.

This unit has been highly beneficial for myself as a teacher as well as an individual. It has
supplied me with knowledge and skills I can use to improve my classroom and teaching

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methods as to be more inclusive and mindful of children at risk. With the completion of this
unit has come a new found confidence in myself. I know now that if or when I am
confronted with a child who is at risk that I can help them in some way, even if this just
means knowing who else to contact. Children at Risk has provided me with a better chance of
improving that childs life.

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References
Child Safety Commissioner. (2007). Calmer classrooms: A guide to working with
traumatised children [resource]. Retrieved from http://www.ocsc.vic.gov.au
Child Safety Commissioner. (2009). From isolation to connection: A guide to understanding
and working with traumatised children and young people [resource]. Retrieved from
http://www.ocsc.vic.gov.au
Commonwealth of Australia. (2009). Objective observation. Retrieved February 8, 2012,
from http://www.westone.wa.gov.au/toolboxes/cybertots/toolbox12_11/shared/
resources/html/res_objectiveobs.htm
Glover, S., Patton, G., Butler, H., Di Pietro, G., Begg, B., & Cahir, S. (2005). Gatehouse
project: Teaching resources for emotional well-being. Melbourne: Centre for
Adolescent Health.
Protective Education Network. (2008). Protective behaviours australia inc. Retrieved
February 8, 2012, from http://www.pbaustralia.com/about.html
Vicki Fraser. (1992). The protective behaviours program [resource]. Retrieved from
http://www.aic.gov.au/

Appendix 1
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EDFD 112 Children At Risk

Assessment task 3

Notes on Guest Speaker

Speaker name: Anne Mercovich
Date: 24/1/2012
Topic
Child Protection and Legislation: Protecting the safety and wellbeing of children and young
people.

Key issues of risk/vulnerability covered

Children that are in need of protection are those whose;
Parents have abandoned them and cannot be found
Parents are dead or incapacitated and no one else can look after them
The child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm, their health or physical
development has been harmed and the parents have not or are unlikely to protect and care
for the child.
Classroom strategies recommended
Listen to the child
Control expressions of panic or shock
Ensure you let the child know you belief them and ensure them they are not alone, it was
the right thing to tell someone
Tell the child you will do your best to support and protect them
Tell the child that you are required to tell child first or child protection and let them know
that these are people that can help them and are good at this job.
Whole school/community approaches recommended
Society shares a whole responsibility for protecting children, protecting children is
everyones business.
Consult with a principle or councillor on the incident and seek advice.
Building relationships between families, schools and communities can assist these
children and their families and help prevent abuse and neglect.
Other comments
As registered teachers, we are mandated to report physical and sexual abuse
Even if the abuse is not included under mandatory reporting, we still have a duty of care
to uphold to support our students.
Mandatory reporting must occur when the staff member has formed a belief on
reasonable groups that assault or serious neglect has occurred.
Who to report to Child first or protection?
o Child first is often is you are significantly concerned for the childs wellbeing,
these impact are low to moderate and the childs immediate safety is not

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compromised.
o Child protection should be reported to if the child is in serious risk of abuse or
danger and is not safe with their family.
The processes taken after a child is referred or reported.
Appendix 2

EDFD 112 Children At Risk

Assessment task 3

Notes on Guest Speaker

Speaker name: Katie Hooper
Topic
Foster Care Association of Victoria

Date: 25/1/2012

Key issues of risk/vulnerability covered

Children that have been in need of out of home care have already been exposed to risk
through whatever experiences have happened in their previous home for this to occur.
Once in care, risk factors for the child may include
o Being split up from siblings
o Needing to move schools and/or towns affecting them socially and emotionally
o Feeling out of place in new areas and with new people
Classroom strategies recommended
Always consider the implications of the questions you are asking your students
Be encouraging
Be a positive model
Keep classrooms calm, breakdown instructions into steps to assist children that are
anxious
Try to build relationships with child and carer, respect the carer and understand their
difficulties
The use of a communication book to keep in contact
Knowing or having a threshold for what is enough in order to merit a referral or report.
Whole school/community approaches recommended
Its a whole team effort
Having meetings within care teams within the school regularly to work to assist foster
children.
o Work out strategies, effective consequences at home and at school.
A care team is anyone involved with the care of the child.
Other comments
Foster care agencies arent government agencies
Once removed from a home the following options are explored
1. Kith and kin care

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2. Referral to placement coordination agency to search for a nearby place

3. Residential care staffed care
Website: strengthening carers
Community services and charities assist with support such as AA, anger management and
counselling foster care monitors this