Do They See the Connection? Teacher Perceptions of Trauma-Informed Practices for Emergent Bilingual Learners

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 7:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Policy, Equity, and Critical Perspectives in Bilingual Education

Abstract

As schools become increasingly linguistically diverse, educators are tasked with addressing the complex needs of emergent bilingual (EB) learners, many of whom have experienced trauma. This study employs a trauma-informed practices (TIP) framework to examine how P-12 educators conceptualize and apply TIP in support of EB students. Drawing from qualitative survey data of a longitudinal study, we investigate how TIP influences teacher practices. Findings indicate that educators who participated in TIP training were more likely to recognize the intersection of language learning and trauma. These results suggest that while TIP plays a critical role in equipping teachers to respond holistically to EB learners’ academic and emotional needs, connections for how to bridge this work to address linguistic racism remain a gap.

Authors

• Ofelia Castro Schepers, Purdue University

• Kathryn S. Young, Metropolitan State University of Denver

• Megan Brennan, Resilient Futures