Don’t Be Fooled, Trauma Is a Systemic Problem: Trauma as a Case of Weaponized Educational Innovation

Authors

Debi Khasnabis, University of MichiganFollow
Simona Goldin, University of MichiganFollow

Abstract

We examine the dangers and affordances of trauma-informed practice, focusing specifically on how this approach can be misused to cause harm. Further, we elaborate how teacher educators can support teachers in developing systemically trauma-informed teaching practice. We analyze and share detailed educational designs showing how counter story can support educators to recognize and contend with racist interpretations of trauma-informed practice. These lenses are frequently used to injure, blame and pathologize, in particular, poor children and families of color.

Author Biography

Debi Khasnabis



Debi Khasnabis teaches multicultural and multilingual education in elementary teacher education and is the chair of Elementary Teacher Education at the University of Michigan School of Education. She conducts research on pedagogies of teacher education that support the development of culturally responsive teaching. She has regularly designed professional development opportunities for teachers to build connections between families and schools. Prior, she was an elementary bilingual teacher in Detroit.

Simona Goldin



Simona Goldin teaches courses pertaining to the sociology, history, and policy of schooling in the U.S. She conducts research on ways to transform the preparation of beginning teachers to help them teach in more equitable ways and has elaborated the teaching practices that bridge children’s work in schools on academic content with their home and community-based experiences.

Recommended Citation

Khasnabis, D., & Goldin, S. (2020). Don’t Be Fooled, Trauma Is a Systemic Problem: Trauma as a Case of Weaponized Educational Innovation. Occasional Paper Series, (43). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58295/2375-3668.1353