Social justice education through trauma-informed teaching

Abstract

Students in the middle grades experience tremendous development in various domains. However, childhood trauma can significantly impede this development, further exacerbating the functioning of our most vulnerable student populations. This article aims to describe the use of trauma-informed teaching as a form of middle-level, social justice education, providing a description of trauma, as well as how traditional classroom management and instruction can affect traumatized students. This article also provides narratives of current and emerging models of trauma-informed teaching, connecting them to the goals of social justice education, and providing practical strategies for implementing such practices in middle-level schools and classrooms.