Organizational Trauma: Impact of COVID-19 on the Work of Special Educators

• In Event: Special and Inclusive Educators and Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The practice of teaching within the strict public health guidelines of the COVID-19 disease was undefined as the deadly virus spread worldwide in 2020 through 2021. This phenological study examines the experiences of special educators in one midwestern state as they navigated the changes in special education programming from the onset of the health pandemic through the following school year. Researchers apply the concept of cumulative organizational trauma (Vivian & Hormann 2013) to analyze the work culture relationship for special educators during pandemic conditions. The authors share a working model to support organizations in collectively facing reality, finding meaning, and reconstructing the work culture to achieve intended organizational outcomes.

Authors

• Laura Medwetz, University of St. Thomas

• Lynn Stansberry-Brusnahan, University of Saint Thomas