"Trauma Sensitivity? We're Still Working": Exploring How Elementary School Staff Make Meaning of Trauma Discourse

• In Event: 21.018 - Trauma and Victimization in Childhood

Abstract

This study asks: How do elementary school staff make meaning of issues of mental health and trauma affecting their students and communities? How do they utilize trauma and mental health discourse to explain, support, or justify their practice? Utilizing a cultural discourse analysis, we analyzed 82 staff interviews and 38 classroom observations in eight elementary schools across Wisconsin. We find: 1) Staff identified mental health support as a critical, unmet need among their students, 2) Staff invoke trauma discourse to justify deficit perspectives, advocate for monitoring and management of student behavior, and promote resilience through relationship building and responsive practice. While school staff have a growing awareness of childhood trauma, schools need support to embrace trauma-responsive practice in humanizing ways.

Authors

• Elizabeth E. Blair, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

• Helen Rose Miesner, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Chiara C. Packard, The University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Lyn C. MacGregor, The University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Eric Grodsky, University of Wisconsin