Trauma-Informed Approaches in Special Education Classrooms: Implications for Students with Disabilities in Conflict-Affected Zones of Borno State

This study examines the relevance and potential application of trauma-informed approaches in special education classrooms for students with disabilities in conflict-affected zones of Borno State, North East Nigeria. Students with disabilities in conflict settings experience a compounded trauma burden, as the psychological effects of violence, displacement, and loss intersect with the stresses of living with a disability in a low-resource, insecure environment. Trauma-informed practice, which seeks to understand behaviour through a trauma lens and design supportive, predictable, and empowering learning environments, has growing evidence in international special education but has not been examined in Nigerian conflict contexts. Adopting a qualitative action research design, the study works with ten special education teachers in Maiduguri to implement and evaluate a twelve-week trauma-informed classroom practice programme. Data are collected through pre-post teacher interviews, classroom observations, and student behavioural incident records. Data undergo thematic analysis, supplemented by comparative analysis of pre-post incident records. The study develops a contextually adapted trauma-informed special education framework grounded in Borno State's specific sociocultural and humanitarian context. Findings are expected to demonstrate improved classroom emotional safety and reduced behavioural crises following programme implementation. Recommendations include incorporating trauma-informed practice into emergency special education teacher deployment training and developing accompanying parent engagement resources in Kanuri and Hausa languages. Keywords: trauma-informed approaches, disability, Borno State, conflict-affected education, special education.