by Asif Wilson and Wytress Richardson
The world we live in is bound by systems of power and oppression, what hooks calls “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” (Sully, 2018). Seen through the lens of critical race theory, these often invisible structures of oppression are endemic to U.S. society (Delgado & Stefancic, 2000, 2017) and to the institutions that educators work in (Ladson-Billings, 1998; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). Educators must navigate the complexities of these toxic settings of schooling, as must their students, while also supporting their students’ survival under these conditions. While there is a growing field of research related to trauma- informed care (Bath, 2008; Ko et al., 2008), little of it focuses on the practices and frameworks that guide care for the caregivers1 who provide it.
Through two case studies, this paper unveils a framework for what we call healing-centered collective care in trauma-informed educational settings. The oppressive structures that exist in the world are also present in educational institutions. These structures create harmful conditions for all members of those communities, including those charged with supporting students. Whether out of disinterest or ignorance, little trauma- informed care is provided for caregivers in educational institutions other than in the spaces caregivers themselves create outside of their work responsibilities.
Read the Full Essay
Asif Wilson serves as Associate Dean of Instruction at Harold Washington College in Chicago, Illinois. He has almost 15 years of experience teaching, designing curriculum, and conducting education research. Dr. Wilson’s scholarship looks at the intersections of race, place, and pedagogy. He has written several published articles, book chapters, and curriculum for in and out-of-school settings. Dr. Wilson is a board member of Free Write Arts and Literacy, is on the leadership collective of Teachers for Social Justice, and is a member of People’s Education Movement and Ethnic Studies Educators of Color.