Judith is a senior lecturer with the Queensland University of Technology after an extensive career with state schooling in Queensland.  She has worked as a teacher, guidance counsellor, and behaviour support specialist and has held both regional and state positions with the Queensland Department of Education overseeing policy development and implementation, staff development, school, student and family support programs (all in the area of student behaviour management and support).  Judith has designed and delivered pre-service teacher education at QUT, in the areas of student behaviour support and Indigenous Education.  She currently coordinates a large elective in trauma-aware schooling and the Master of Education in School Guidance and Counselling.  Judith’s main research interests include the impact of complex trauma on the developing child, primary and secondary school behaviours, and the well-being and resiliency of educators.  Included in her research was a recent investigation into the requirements for a state-wide framework for trauma-aware schooling. Through her research, training seminars and consultancy with educators, she continues to encourage schools to adopt a neuroscience informed approach to the support and education of students living with the outcomes of complex trauma.  She is the author of the popular teacher resource/book: “Distressed or Deliberately Defiant: Managing Challenging Student Behaviour due to Trauma and Disorganised Attachment”.  Her free on-line course,“Teaching Students who have Suffered Complex Trauma” has reached many thousands of educators.

Tom Brunzell (MS, EdM, PhD candidate) has experience as a teacher, school leader, researcher and education advisor in New York City and Melbourne. Currently he is the Senior Advisor, Education and the Leader of the Berry Street Education Model at the Berry Street Childhood Institute, Victoria. Tom presents internationally on topics of transforming school cultures, high expectations for differentiated instruction, trauma-informed practice, wellbeing and the application of positive psychology, and effective school leadership. He is also a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education studying trauma-informed pedagogy, positive psychology, and their impacts on workplace meaning.

Everybody in! Embedding trauma-aware strategies in a consistent whole-school approach

New research on trauma’s effects on learning and school participation continues to inform the way we now must educate trauma-affected students.  However, implementing evidence-based strategies in a consistent way is the important next step within our annual school improvement plans.  Since students encounter a number of staff throughout their day, all staff benefit when trauma-aware strategies are seen as part of the continuous learning we strive for as educators.  Learn strategies that have shifted whole-school cultures and how we can sustain the momentum from emerging trauma-aware school initiatives.

Dr Joe Tucci is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Childhood Foundation, a social worker and psychologist. He has completed a PhD in emotional abuse and uses post-modern and narrative ideas in research, counselling and training. He has a particular interest in the impact of abuse-related trauma on brain development and the implications for practice.  Joe has extensive experience in the provision of consultancy, clinical supervision and program development and evaluation.