ERIC Number: EJ1473015
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2168-3603
EISSN: EISSN-2168-3611
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Rethinking Trauma-Sensitive Schools from an Anti-Racist Lens
Amy C. Nelson Christensen1
International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, v13 n2 p156-169 2025
As trauma-sensitive schools (TSS) have become increasingly common in the United States over the last several years, scholars disagree on the prevailing model of TSS with some specifically noting how this model is void of mention of the ways that schools have historically and continue to perpetuate racial trauma. As schools continue to work on implementing TSS across the country, it is important that they also consider how harmful systemic practices can be engendered in their effort to establish their schools as "trauma sensitive," "trauma informed," or "trauma responsive." A brief overview of three harmful school-based systems is provided that reframe TSS as systems change for racial justice that may be paralleled globally. Drawing from scholarship on TSS and systemic implementation of change, eight principles are provided for TSS practices from an anti-racist lens using the drivers of implementation framework to address how schools can work to improve these systems. While school psychologists are uniquely situated to serve as anti-racist facilitators of systemic change for TSS, it is important that they also recognize the oppressive history of the field, and education more generally, as they commit to their roles as agents of change.
Descriptors: Trauma Informed Approach, Racism, Social Justice, Educational Change, Discipline, Special Education, Educational Quality, School Psychologists, Leadership
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School Psychology Program, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA