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Conceptualizing Sexual Trauma and PTSD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Challenges of Teaching with Sexual Trauma as a Graduate Student Instructor
Integrating Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Critical Disability Theory, and Networks of Care
Integrating Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Critical Disability Theory, and Networks of Care
Trauma-informed pedagogy acts on the belief that trauma is present in every classroom with profound impact on learning (Muir & Mathieu, 2022; Mullen, 2022; Munro, 2022; Sharp, 2022; Tayles, 2021). Those who practice trauma-informed pedagogy operate alongside the most fundamental principle of Universal Design for Learning (that every student deserves equal access to learning), (re)creating their classrooms to practice compassion, prioritize classroom safety, and amplify student agency—all strategies designed to counter the negative effects of trauma (Muir & Mathieu, 2022; Mullen, 2022; Munro, 2022; Sharp, 2022; Tayles, 2021). I argue that this pedagogy's limitations reside in how it is viewed rather than in its principles. To clarify, a trauma-informed classroom is often seen (by instructors and administrators alike) as an ideal—or even a luxury—rather than a critical bridge to student success despite its practitioners emphasizing the latter (Muir & Mathieu, 2022; Mullen, 2022; Munro, 2022; Sharp, 2022). I choose to believe there is no malice here: There are vast priorities for instructors who wish to improve their classrooms, and it would be quite the accomplishment to apply every recommendation. If, however, we highlight its existing connection to Critical Disability Theory—which engages disability as a more than physiological issue and stresses activism—we transform trauma-informed pedagogy from an ideal to a critical issue of accessibility (Goodley et al., 2021; Goodley et al., 2019).
This pedagogy focuses on students rather than instructors; yet, its guiding principles (compassion, safety, and empathy) hold value to those who instruct and those who learn, especially as we should not be picturing those roles as ends of a binary. With their dual identities, graduate student instructors present an excellent way to exercise this pedagogy’s potential.
In the following few sections, I intertwine trauma-informed pedagogy, Critical Disability Theory, and Miller’s (2020) networks of care, applying them to graduate student instructors to surface three areas for change: reframing shame to create space for personal and academic healing, building community to support sexual assault survivors, and evolving assessment practices to ease teaching stressors. Keeping in mind the statistical prevalence of sexual assault, this list is founded on my suggestion that we view all instructors (and students) as possible victims of sexual violence and therefore possible sufferers of PTSD. The suggestions I offer are action-based and intended for instructors: While we, the composition community, always hope that administration will support our needs and implement departmental and institutional changes, our needs are immediate and demand accessible strategies that we can implement swiftly.