Trauma-Informed teacher Training: 8-Module Course Curriculum (Harvard Canvas Platform
A six‑member team—comprising psychiatrists, researchers, and project leads—designed and launched the first edition of Trauma‑Informed Teacher Training, a modular course developed to equip educators and caregivers with evidence‑based tools to support children who have experienced adversity.
The eight‑module curriculum helps participants understand how trauma and adverse childhood experiences affect brain development and behaviour. It introduces leading frameworks such as Polyvagal Theory, the Neurosequential Model, and the Buffer/Transducer Model, and applies the Four Rs of trauma‑informed care—Realise, Recognise, Respond, and Resist Retraumatisation.
Educators learn to interpret behavioural cues as communication using a “traffic light” system, recognise triggers and trauma responses, and implement mindful, relationship‑based strategies—such as the Stop–Look–Listen approach, creative play, and regulatory practices including movement, breathwork, and rhythm—to support emotional regulation. The final modules focus on fostering resilience by identifying strengths, building trust and empathy, and empowering children to reclaim a sense of safety and agency, leading to improved emotional regulation, learning engagement, and protection from retraumatisation.
This course evolved from our earlier project, A Brighter Future Series—a collection of four animated films designed for rescued children. Each film depicts key stages in trauma recovery, beginning with the challenge of rebuilding trust after deep emotional disruption. Recognising how trauma alters brain development, health, and relational capacity, we created this training to translate clinical knowledge into practical, trauma‑sensitive approaches for classrooms and caregiving environments.
Developed in collaboration with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard India Research Center (IRC), Supporting Child Caregivers Inc., and the Barnard Center at the University of Washington, this program integrates clinical expertise with field experience to bridge research and practice. Hosted on Harvard’s Canvas platform, the course awards participants a certificate co‑issued by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Global Research Centre, The Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion, the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, and the Chester M. Pierce Global Psychiatry Division at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Through this collaboration, Trauma‑Informed Teacher Training empowers educators to foster healing, resilience, and trust—helping children whose early experiences were shaped by trauma to thrive in learning and life.
You are in a safe place
Your Feelings
You are in a safe place
The Value of Education
“It has been a privilege to draw on the expertise of world-leading academics and a wonderful creative team to realise this project. On many of my visits to the childrens’ centres run by Bachpan Bachao Andolan – India, I remember being struck by the incredible resilience of these children; by their capacity to find some resemblance of childhood in the face of adversity the likes of which most of us will never experience in our lifetimes. Post-traumatic stress and the long lasting emotional impacts on children of human trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery are still under-researched and under-emphasised, and it is my hope that these videos provide a contribution to the outstanding work already being done by Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation to rid the world of child labour for good, while supporting victims to forge paths for reintegration.” – Vinni Bhandari
“It has been a privilege to draw on the expertise of world-leading academics and a wonderful creative team to realise this project. On many of my visits to the childrens’ centres run by Bachpan Bachao Andolan – India, I remember being struck by the incredible resilience of these children; by their capacity to find some resemblance of childhood in the face of adversity the likes of which most of us will never experience in our lifetimes. Post-traumatic stress and the long lasting emotional impacts on children of human trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery are still under-researched and under-emphasised, and it is my hope that these videos provide a contribution to the outstanding work already being done by Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation to rid the world of child labour for good, while supporting victims to forge paths for reintegration.” – Vinni Bhandari
Dean Michelle Williams Offers An Introduction To A Brighter Future