FLO Friday: Teaching with a Trauma-Informed Lens

*Note: This session has passed. Please view the recordings and resources below.

Join us for an introduction to trauma-informed teaching. This one-hour session will give an overview of what trauma-informed teaching is and why it is effective. We will provide some concrete examples of classroom situations and how to apply trauma-informed teaching strategies. Seventy-six per cent of Canadians report having experienced a traumatic event in their lifetime, and approximately 9 per cent of Canadians who experience trauma develop long-lasting psychological symptoms (Ameringen, Mancini, & Boyle, 2008). In the classroom, trauma can affect students’ ability to process and retain information. By using a trauma-informed lens, instructors can reduce the negative effects on learning. The bonus of a trauma-informed teaching lens is that all students benefit, whether or not they have current or past trauma. Your co-facilitators for this session are Deb Nielsen and Melinda Warfolk, both from the College of New Caledonia.

Presenter info:

Melinda Worfolk (she/her) teaches English in the academic upgrading program at the College of New Caledonia (CNC) in Prince George, B.C. Since starting at CNC in 2001, she has taught a wide range of students from literacy level to second-year university. Her teaching and research interests include the role of empathy in teaching, Indigenization/decolonization of educational systems, culturally responsive pedagogies, and plain language as an access issue. She has a BA in English literature from the University of British Columbia and an MA in gender studies from the University of Northern British Columbia. Melinda is grateful to live, work, and play on the unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh.

Deb Nielsen is a curriculum developer with the Centre for Teaching and Learning and an instructor in the English program at College of New Caledonia (CNC). Her academic interests are motherhood and feminist studies, Indigenizing and interculturalizing curricula, student success, and open pedagogy. She holds a masters degree in library and information Studies from San José State University in California and an MA in English from the University of Northern British Columbia. She is currently working on two open educational resources textbooks, co-writing Getting Ready for Work-Integrated Learning and creating H5P content for Technical Writing Essentials. 

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