Lessons From the "Field": When Black Youth Critically Examine Adverse Childhood Experiences

• In Event: Addressing Social Trauma in and Through Education: Humanization, Critical Race Technology, and Critically Holistic Approaches

Abstract

Drawing on health science research, especially Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and the role of culturally caring and responsive pedagogies within schooling environments as a way to cultivate healthier young people, this teacher-research explores these intersections to critically investigate the social toxins that impair student learning and health, as well as inform teaching practices that help youth to access legitimate pathways toward positive self-esteem, hope, and purpose. In line with research in critical and culturally sustaining pedagogy, this paper suggest that in order to provide more robust and explanatory pathways toward fulfilling the pressing needs of our students and surrounding communities, teaching must become a consequential means to problematize the socio-political conditions that compromise student learning and well-being. This paper, thus, urges researchers and teachers to see themselves outside of a strict academic-centered pedagogical structure and move toward a more holistic model of education that is also concerned with students’ well-being.

In partnership with the Health Equity Research (HER) lab of San Francisco State University, this study examines data from a four-year longitudinal study that measures and examines allostatic load (commonly known as wear and tear on the body), oxytocin and telomere length (short telomere length is an indicator of accelerated aging, and has been linked to chronic stress and childhood adversity) to better understand the dynamics and measure the efficacy of culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies for Black youth. To move us toward critical questions in education, the study asks: What is the value of a pedagogy that promotes upward mobility if those it influences might not live (or live well enough) to experience the results of their labor? And, How can a pedagogy of well-being achieve both sustained academic achievement and positive health outcomes for students?

To answer these questions, the author collaborated with the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW) and former Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris to conduct a participatory action research study with the CYW and 14 local high school students to examine the prevalence of ACEs in their Bayview Hunter’s Point community in San Francisco. Within the study, high school youth researchers and I devised a survey on 27 adversities based on youth expertise, clinical practice, and adversity literature. The aim of the study was to understand the prevalence of individual and cumulative adversities, and association of adversities to age, gender, race/ethnicity, and academic performance. The study utilized a youth-engagement framework to understand a comprehensive framework of adversity among adolescents. Youth researchers questioned the limited range of childhood adversities and proposed stressors that traditional research on adversity has not encompassed. As a result, we learned of the high prevalence of youth-reported stressors, which may have serious implications on their well-being. This study was also valuable in highlighting the need for partnerships between health organizations and youth who supply their voice and experience to lead relevant research and practice.

Author

• Tiffani Marie, San Jose State University
  Presenting Author