Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
Introduction
This Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered pedagogies module is responsive to broad experiences of individual and community trauma in relation to academic settings, teaching, and learning. While the topics discussed herein vary in breadth and depth, the goal is to provide language, guidelines, frameworks, tools, and supportive resources to support faculty members and students as they navigate the complex layers of trauma and healing.
Honoring experiences that challenge individual and collective courage is critical, but alone not enough to establish a foundation of care that actively supports healing at the individual and community levels. With this in mind, we invite you to incorporate many of the suggested approaches presented in this module into your trauma-informed pedagogy toolkit.
This article covers:
- Introduction
- Teaching Tools
- Supportive Resources
The transition to college may be a time when survivors disclose their histories with trauma to seek support and healing amongst trusted mentors. (Banyard & Cantor, 2004)
Utilizing even a few TIP tools in your classroom goes a long way towards preventing retraumatization and removing barriers in the learning environment. (Stevens, 2012)
Especially in supportive communities, most individuals who experience(d) trauma are successful in education settings, and resiliency and recovery are very common.
Trauma-informed classrooms foster better critical thinking when it comes to core curriculum, and can facilitate student success. (Eilers, 2021)
Community and National
Trauma is not limited to individual, interpersonal interactions. In fact, it is not uncommon for communities as a whole to experience grief after an incident of community violence. This could occur on a local, community, or even national scope. In situations of community violence, people may experience the loss of their sense of safety, their trust in those who live in their neighborhood, or their trust in local government. The trauma and grief of community violence can be experienced by all involved, and it is important to take the impacts of this type of trauma seriously. Some examples include: acts of terrorism, mass shootings, and political disenfranchisement. (SAMHSA, 2014)
Generational and Historical
These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, and both point to the phenomena of major traumatic events whose past or present manifestations continue to impact people alive today, even if the incident(s) occurred in the past. Historical trauma is the cumulative, multigenerational, collective experience of emotional and psychological injury in communities and in descendants (SAMHSA, 2014). Some examples include: enslavement of African Americans in the US, the Holocaust, Japanese American internment, and genocide against Native Americans.
Sexual and Gender-Based
Sexual and gender-based trauma encompasses acts which are directed at an individual based on their gender or sexuality. Often, this type of traumatic violence is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power, and harmful norms, and can include sexual, physical, mental, familial, and economic harm inflicted in public or in private (UNHCR, 2021). Some examples include: violence against trans individuals, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, familial and partner violence, human trafficking, and violence against LGBTQ+ people.
Racial
Any minoritized racial or ethnic group can experience racial trauma, as a result of direct and indirect occurrences of racial discrimination. Racial discrimination constituting traumatic stress occurs across a broad spectrum, inclusive of institutional, political, and interpersonal violence and oppression. While people of all racial identities can and do experience distress as a result of traumatic events stemming from racism, students of color are significantly more likely to experience re-traumatization due to resonance with personal experience and/or repeated exposure (NCTSN, 2017). Racial trauma can be a compounding force within groups who also experience the impacts of generational and historical trauma. Some examples include: police brutality against people of color, discriminatory policies and procedures in the workplace, invalidation of experiences of racism, and physical and emotional abuse.
Disaster and Conflict-Based
Individuals may experience disaster- or conflict-based trauma from a single occurrence (natural disaster, loss of a loved one) or a prolonged occurrence (war, displacement, military service). Disaster- and conflict-based traumas may result in feelings of hypervigilance, anxiety, anger, guilt, loss of feelings of safety, loss of faith, feeling out of touch, or destabilized worldviews. Community resiliency, personal agency, and access to support can all contribute to recovery following these types of traumas (Rowell & Thomley, 2013). Some examples include: aftermath of natural disaster, loss of a partner or family member, displacement due to war, witnessing an act or accident of graphic violence, and loss of a home.
Health and Healthcare
Trauma related to health and healthcare spans a wide variety of experiences. This form of trauma may manifest in individuals of any age, as a result of a life-threatening illness, onset of chronic condition, or a life-altering diagnoses. However, it may also occur as a result of critical lack of access to healthcare, or repeated negative treatment experiences with providers. Our institutions have a significant role to play in supporting ongoing healing and access for individuals who experience this type of trauma, especially to facilitate full participation in schools and the workplace. An important example is the post-COVID time ahead; acknowledging the long-lasting impacts experienced by many families and individuals as a result of this recent pandemic is crucial for our community wellbeing moving forward (ISTSS, 2020). Some other examples include: discrimination faced by trans and nonbinary individuals, lack of access to reproductive healthcare, physical and cognitive accessibility for students recovering from illness, compounding illnesses resulting from lack of access to healthcare.
Types of Trauma Teaching Tools
To learn more about any of these types of trauma, engage with further research, and understand what you can do as an educator, visit our Types of Trauma teaching tools page!
Key Takeaways
Teaching Tools
Addressing & Combatting Compassion Fatigue
Dr. Leslie Cramblet Alvarez &
Amelia Gentile-Mathew, 2021
Types of Trauma Teaching Tools
Dr. Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave &
Amelia Gentile-Mathew, 2021
Supportive Resources
Videos
Podcasts
TIP: The Role of Assessment in Deep Insights and Learning - Dr. Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave
On Grief Pedagogy, a Kitchen Table Talk from Inclusive Teaching Practices at DU with Professor Erin K. Willer
Helpful Handouts
Window of Tolerance
The Window of Tolerance is a model we can use to talk about our ability to function and thrive in everyday life. When stressors of certain types push us outside of this window, we can become stressed in a way that neurobiologically prompts us to over-or under-function. However, grounding and coping tools can help us reenter and stay within our window of tolerance, changing and growing it over time, even after a traumatic event (NICAMB, 2019)
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The Continuum of Stress
The Continuum of Stress is a tool that helps us to visualize the impacts of stress on ourselves and others. Certain types of stress are an everyday part of life. In contrast, others fall outside of the normal range of psychological experience, causing an undue amount of strain on our minds and bodies, and may require time, rest, or additional support to heal from (Whitlock, 2021)
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Grounding Techniques
Grounding exercises are short activities that engage our minds and bodies to help us recenter into the current moment. These coping mechanisms can help combat the impacts of stressors that push us outside of our window of tolerance and promote emotional re-regulation in the moment. Most grounding exercises are quick, easy, and do not require much space or materials! (Schuldt, 2021)
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