Trauma-informed pedagogies encourage instructors to foster students’ sense of “physical, emotional, social, and academic safety” (Carello, 2021). Students experiencing trauma or chronic stress also benefit from opportunities to feel empowered and make choices in their learning, when appropriate (Mays Imad describes this as “providing students with voice and choice”).
Small steps:
Standards-based grading: base grading on students’ best work instead of averaging out their performance (Verschelden 64)
Shift feedback emphasis from “not” to “not yet” (65)
Encourage students to participate in something new to grow their brains - an “activity, situation or event” (64)
Scaffolding assignments and research projects with clear expectations to help students work toward attainable goals (67)
Syllabus design - consider grace periods, language in syllabus that conveys help and support (“high-hope” syllabi) (66)
Growth-oriented mindset: Verschelden advocates reframing performance-oriented assignments more toward encouraging students to see that working toward a goal and making mistakes is how we grow our brains. The author offers concrete suggestions for reframing expectations and offering specific encouragement to improve students’ confidence in their ability to face challenges, particularly through syllabus design and the structuring/scaffolding of assignments.
Verschelden, C. (2017). Bandwidth recovery: helping students reclaim cognitive resources lost to poverty, racism, and social marginalization. Stylus.
Consider how your assignment designs or grading scheme might allow students opportunities to recover from failures or poor performance. Options include:
Dropping low quiz or test grades (e.g., best 4 of 5 count)
Allowing students to correct missed questions on a test or exam for partial credit
Allowing or requiring revisions on essays or papers
Specifications grading can be used to allow multiple attempts (you choose the number) at an essay or other assignment
Offering flexibility on deadlines (within your limits) can help foster students’ sense of control over their workload. Options:
A standardized extension policy (e.g., students may request an extension of 48 hours, for any reason, so long as they do so before the deadline) demystifies the process of navigating deadlines and allows students to access help without disclosing personal issues
Allowing a set number of skips or drops on low-stakes formative assignments offers students similar control without requiring instructors to decide on “good enough” reasons for missed or late work
Building flexibility into semester/assignment schedules: can you reserve parts of classes or days in the semester for student questions or to catch up on material missed? Can assignment structures be planned with flexibility in mind?
Consider how attendance and other in-class policies shape how students experience your classroom environment. Do you assume that students are late or miss class because they are lazy or not “trying hard enough” to be on time? Approach these policies by setting community norms that are grounded in the success of the class, rather than in top-down models that define the classroom as ruled by the instructor’s preferences (without accommodation for student needs).
Linda Nilson’s specifications grading model assigns student grades based on their successful completion of assignments. Specifications can be matched to course goals (e.g., to receive an A in a course, students must demonstrate a given skill on an assignment) and/or to modules or clusters of an assignment (e.g., completing 6 of 8 modules earns a C; completing 7 of 8 earns an A, etc.) Specifications can also be tailored to allow revisions, retakes, late days, and other flexible structures, and can also include metacognitive reflections on learning. For an introduction, see Nilson in Inside Higher Ed; for a deep dive with examples across the disciplines, see Specifications Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time (Stylus, 2014).
The movement toward ungrading likewise supports students’ sense of control and self-efficacy. While ungrading practices vary, many start from a skepticism about the accuracy, precision, or fairness of traditional grading systems. In their place, an ungraded course might ask students to self-assess their learning and growth through written reflections and/or conferences with an instructor. Instructors might choose to offer feedback only (instead of grades) on assignments and to negotiate the final course grade in conversation with the student, either in writing or in person. Jesse Stommel’s “Ungrading: an Introduction” offers an overview of ungrading practices and links to other detailed resources.
Set clear expectations for classroom discussions that transparently communicate what you expect and how you plan to manage discussions
Identify multiple ways students can engage with course content, knowing these stressors will come up for different students across the course (e.g., students can either ask discussions in class or can email questions)
Share resources for students navigating these identity-based stressors on your campus at the start of the semester
Communicate clearly what you expect for graded work and that you believe that all students are capable of meeting those expectations (there’s interesting research about how explicitly stating that we have high standards that we believe students can meet works to reduce stereotype threat and identity-based stress here and a nice summary of the research area here)
Make it clear that student voices are welcomed and that their perspectives add to discussions in class. At the same time, make it clear that you do not expect students to speak for everyone in their identity group and that it is not their responsibility to educate the class about topics related to their identity.
Hamedani, M., Markus H. R., & Moya, P. (2020, May 14). Pushing back against racism and xenophobia on campuses. Inside Higher Ed.
A very accessible introduction to a few key considerations in facilitating classroom conversations about race.
Markus, H. R. (2010). Who am I? Race, ethnicity, and identity. In Markus, H. R., & Moya, P. M. L. (Eds.), Doing Race: 21 essays for the 21st century (pp. 359-389). W.H. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York.
A very accessible introduction to what identity is, why it’s important, and all of the ways in which our identity can shape our experiences. Research examples largely focus on race, but this is really thought provoking about all sorts of facets of identity
Moya, P., & Markus, H. R. (2010). Doing race: An introduction. In H. Markus & P. Moya (Eds.), Doing race: 21 essays for the 21st century. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.
This is a lengthy introduction to discussing race that goes in depth about the ideas raised in Hamedani, Markus, & Moya (2020) above. This also nicely introduces the types of conversations we have about race, the assumptions that are embedded in those conversations, and some more productive ways we might discuss race.
Schmader, T. & Hall, W. M. (2014). Stereotype threat in school and at work: Putting science into practice. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(1), 30-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732214548861
This paper offers concrete suggestions for addressing stereotype threat and the identity-related concerns it raises. It also offers an excellent discussion about creating identity-safe classrooms.
Sam Killerman & Meg Bolger (2016). Unlocking the Magic of Facilitation: 11 Key Concepts You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know.
This is an exceptional book that raises all sorts of interesting topics related to facilitating conversations about potentially sensitive or difficult topics. These key concepts relate to structural ideas for our classrooms and also the types of self-reflection that will let us be effective facilitators of topics that cause identity-based stress.
Ijeoma Oluo (2019 reprint). So You Want to Talk About Race.
This book is structured with each chapter addressing a different challenge that can come up in conversations about race. As a whole, it’s great - and if any of these particular conversations were relevant to your class, the chapters are really effective as stand alone readings. The author is a queer biracial woman and she weaves her experiences throughout. This book also offers lots of concrete suggestions.
Robin DiAngelo (2018). White Fragility: Why It’s so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.
This book is targeted towards white folks working to unlearn their socialization around race. The author is a white woman who describes her socialization and her experiences making mistakes to illustrate how good intentions do not always translate into effective work with others. This also offers lots of concrete suggestions.
Grier-Reed, Said, & Quiñones, “From Antiblackness to Cultural Health in Higher Education,” Education Sciences.
This article addresses some of the interpersonal and social experiences of Black students in a predominantly white institution (PWI). In particular, the authors stress the importance of these institutions demonstrating they value Black students’ cultures, histories, and experiences, especially by creating “counterspaces” that allow Black students and colleagues to validate each others’ experiences.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Justice Consortium, Schools Committee, and Culture Consortium. (2017). Addressing Race and Trauma in the Classroom: A Resource for Educators. Los Angeles, CA, and Durham, NC: National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.
While written for K-12 educators, this white paper offers extensive research on and resources to address racial trauma (the experience of racial discrimination or witnessing others’ experiences of racial discrimination or violence).
When emotions are running high, pause class and have students write silently for a few minutes. Then guide them through a conversation about how their emotions affect their ability to engage with the material.
Make a distinction early on between discomfort vs. trauma -- one can lead to growth, change, and enhanced learning, the other can be a massive impediment to learning, causing a student to shut down entirely. Use this framework as a way to help students identify when they are uncomfortable versus when they are experiencing re-traumatization when dealing with difficult material.
Ask students to anonymously submit information about topics that may be re-traumatizing for them. Use those responses to note potentially difficult material and remind students they are empowered to do what they need in order to stay in the conversation.
Prepare ahead of time for discussions and course materials that may invoke students’ previous experiences of trauma (especially sexual assault, sexual violence, and identity-based discrimination).
Offer content notes (sometimes called “trigger warnings”) on syllabi or course websites that flag potentially sensitive material.
Knowing what to expect out of course materials can help students prepare for and actively participate in class discussions, or find other ways to navigate the material to meet course goals. As Angela Carter writes, “trigger warnings provide a way to ‘opt in’ by lessening the power of the shock and unexpectedness” of encountering representations of sexual assault and violence, and can give affected students a chance “to do the work [they] need to do so [they] can participate in the conversation or activity” (10).
Inform students that sensitive materials may cause strong or emotional reactions for many students, whether or not they have been directly affected by the content described. Allow students to prepare for these discussions as needed (e.g., bringing a comforting object, planning if/when they need to leave the classroom). As Nicole Bedera notes, a survivor of sexual assault may worry that any visible reaction will disclose her experience, and knowing that others may also be visibly affected can provide some comfort.
When discussing materials involving sexual or gender-based violence or sexual assault, be prepared to debunk misconceptions and myths about rape and sexual assault that may come up in discussion. Bedera notes that survivors of sexual assault can experience harm when instructors allow myths about rape or justifications for sexual assault (e.g., “what was she wearing?”) to go unchallenged during class discussions. These failures to respond create the experience of institutional betrayal, where the initial trauma of assault is compounded by the experience of going unheard and unsupported, especially by an authority figure such as an instructor.
There are many excellent resources on myths about sexual assault available online, including Sexual Violence Myths & Facts from Resilience, a Chicago-based nonprofit supporting survivors of sexual assault.
Keep in mind the high prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses (according to a 2020 report from the Association of American Universities, 26.4% of undergraduate women and 6.8% of undergraduate men will experience rape or sexual assault during college; see additional statistics here and here). Campus leaders should consider efforts to reduce sexual assault and violence on campus as part of their efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Carter, Angela. “Teaching with Trauma: Trigger Warnings, Feminism, and Disability Pedagogy.” Disability Studies Quarterly 35, no. 2 (2015). https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/4652/3935
Carter argues for viewing trauma within a feminist disability studies pedagogy framework, where the effects of trauma is understood as a form of mental disability that requires accommodation. She argues that opponents of trigger warnings fail to appreciate the disabling effect re-traumatization can have on a student’s body and —as well as other, potentially more effective strategies—should be seen as accommodation practices that facilitate access to learning, not as “excuses” for students to opt out of learning. She includes some practical suggestions for activities, policies, and syllabus language that faculty can use to empower students to manage their own trauma while remaining open to discomfort as part of the learning process.
Bedera, Nicole. (2021). “Beyond Trigger Warnings: A Survivor-Centered Approach to Teaching on Sexual Violence and Avoiding Institutional Betrayal.” Teaching Sociology 49(3): 267-277. Rather than merely allowing survivors to skip class to avoid potential retraumatization, Bedera argues that instructors should work to make these discussions accessible and supportive for survivors, should they choose to participate. While instructors cannot (and should not try to) eliminate potential triggers, which can be highly individualized, they can ensure that their classrooms affirm the reality and significance of survivors’ experiences and avoid participating in the “institutional betrayal” that marks many survivors’ encounters with administrative and legal bodies.