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What is Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and the Landscape of Trauma in Higher Education

Before we begin, take a moment to reflect, under question 1 in the Reflection Journal 

Journal Question 1: Think about the diversity of your students and your own teaching and learning experiences. Reflect on the following: how do you define trauma and how might trauma manifest and/or present itself within student learning experiences and classroom settings? 

Consider:

  • The demographic makeup of your students 
  • The local and global communities, events, and landscapes that students are exposed to or take part in  
  • Your own definition of trauma   

Now, we ask that you review the following video. Being an educator requires you to become attentive, responsive and adaptable to the ever-changing landscape and external impacts that affect student engagement, success, learning, and classroom climate. These landscapes can create psychological, emotional, and interpersonal impacts on students and instructors, that can be considered a form of trauma, crisis, adversity, and inequity that impacts course delivery, pacing, and evaluation. Trauma-Informed Pedagogies (TIP) offers a set of pedagogical practices and frameworks that effectively respond, at both the individual and systems, policy and practice level, to the impact of trauma in higher education while providing pathways to resiliency.   

Reflection

Having watched the video and had a chance to reflect preliminary, open this Reflection Journal and visit question 2 on the worksheet!  

Journal Question 2: How does the awareness of the clinical and social phenomena’s of trauma assist in driving inclusive excellence in your teaching and learning methods? Hat informs your own definition and understanding of trauma-informed practice? Helpful link if you are new to inclusive excellence: The Inclusive Excellence Framework at McMaster

It should be of note that this worksheet is not an assessed component of the module, but rather an opportunity for you to reflect on and apply your understanding of the content.  

References

Anderson, R., Landy, B., Sanchez, V. (2023). Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Higher Education: Considerations for the Future of Research and Practice. Journal of Trauma Studies in Education, 2 (2): 126-140.  

Gentile-Mathew, A., Iturbe-LaGrave, V. (2021) Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and Healing-Centered Engagement, Faculty Teaching Module for Inclusive Teaching Practices. Office of Teaching and Learning, University of Denver. Trauma-Informed Pedagogy | Denver 

Henshaw, L., (2022). Building Trauma-Infored Approaches in Higher Education. Behavioural Sciences, 12, 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/Bs12100368   

Johnson, N., & Gianvito, I. (2022). Cultivating Trauma-Informed Spaces in Education: Promising Practices Manual. Trauma-Informed Education, 1, December 2022, https://source.sheridancollege.ca/centres_sgg_2023_trauma_education/1 

Stromberg, E. (2023). Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Higher Education: a faculty guide for teaching and learning. New York, Routledge, 2023, DOI: 10.4324/9781003260776  

Thompson, P., & Carello, J. (2022). Trauma-Informed Pedagogies: A Guide for responding to crisis and inequality in higher education. Switzerland, AG, Springer Nature, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92705-9