No wrong door: Politicized trauma and resilience-informed teaching

Trauma, loss, and grief impacts the lives of students and educators alike. From community violence at home to war abroad or the loss of a loved one or hard break up. Just like educators show up to work touched by a loss or heavy stress, so do our students. Additionally, the foundation of our country is rooted in historical trauma passed down from colonization and chattel slavery. And we live in an economic system designed to produce inequality and negative health and economic outcomes for historically marginalized racial groups, especially the descendants of slaves and immigrants impacted by U.S. foreign policy.

In order to accomplish our institutional educational goals and close racial equity gaps, being trauma and resilience-informed people and educators is a prerequisite. In this workshop you will learn about trauma and resilience through the lens of a complex and compounded trauma survivor. Gain strategies, tools, and practices to support yourself and incorporate into your classroom or institution. Discuss and generate possibilities to create a positive and supportive class climate of care, work with your school and community as a holistic team, and hold space for the whole student. And in turn increase retention to matriculation into a life with more hope, justice, and opportunity.