Jessica Varghese (New York Institute of Technology)
Prolonged exposure to stressors can impact a student’s ability to learn and process information properly. As the global pandemic and racial tensions rise in the United States, it becomes important for educators to be better prepared to understand trauma informed teaching and trauma informed learning. The impact of trauma on child development has been studied a great deal. However, trauma can follow a person well into adulthood. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES) found that persons who had more ACES events in childhood also had more health problems as adults. Traumatic events have lingering implications whether the trauma happened in childhood or adulthood. Understanding the various types of trauma is critical for the faculty. Faculty need to be aware of common manifestations of trauma in both a classroom and clinical setting. Faculty will be better equipped with some trauma informed teaching practices. Small changes in how we interact can make a big difference to students who have experienced trauma in their lives. Faculty need the tools necessary to be able to identify and adequately empower students who have been impacted by trauma. Trauma informed teaching practices need to become part of our professional toolkit.
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