3 trauma-informed practices for your classroom
By Anita Chari & Angelica Singh
November 4, 2020
As our collective anxieties grow in the face of an uncertain presidential election result, many of us in the United States are wondering: What will we do when we enter our classrooms in these days after the election?
Let’s name the situation for what it is: Many of our students are experiencing this period as a traumatic time. Amid the triple upheavals of the pandemic, the movements against structural anti-Black violence, and the election, we are collectively overwhelmed in a way that makes it challenging for us to actually listen to one another at a deep level without reactivity and projection. This polarization and conflict call for a trauma-informed approach in our classrooms.
No matter who you are supporting for the presidency, the fact remains that our classrooms and our society are bitterly divided over what democracy means. This divide makes it harder to learn from and to trust one another. And against the backdrop of the political and social turmoil of 2020, the idea of walking into class amid further uncertainty about the future is an overwhelming thought. How do we maintain our neutrality in a classroom where there may be intense political polarization and disagreement? Do we even want to maintain neutrality? How do we support ourselves, let alone our students, while we reckon with an election result and backlash to it that could have lasting implications for many, including immigrant students, students of color, and LGBTQ students? How do we support and acknowledge all our students, even those whose valid political positions contrast sharply with our own?
To be sure, some educators may feel that the safest way to navigate the moment is to sidestep conversations about the election altogether. Many of us have nightmares of hosting an antagonistic class shouting match on Zoom in these days after the election. This outcome is counterproductive, risks polarizing our classrooms to an even greater degree, and doesn’t help us come to a new perspective together. Yet retreating to the syllabus or lesson plan as if our classroom is hermetically sealed from the social and political world risks making our teaching irrelevant. Moreover, sidestepping this discussion risks silencing the voices and perspectives of those vulnerable populations who may suffer the consequences of this election the most.
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