“What’s wrong with you?”
When one of my students is habitually distracted, inattentive, or disruptive, this question, “What’s wrong with you?” might surface in my mind. If vocalized, this response to undesired behavior in my classroom, might, at best, suppress outward disruption so that class can continue as “normal.” Yet, it could perpetuate a cycle of shame and blame, exacerbating the underlying issue and contributing to an ongoing public health crisis.
Educators in diverse contexts have a growing awareness of psychological trauma, both individual and collective, within our student bodies and broader communities, disproportionately impacting students of color. What skills, tools, and strategies can we use to optimize the classroom learning experience of students with existing and ongoing trauma histories?
Thankfully, we do not have to do this work alone. Over the past thirty years, our societal understanding of trauma has opened up a different way to address these presenting issues. Instead of confrontation, I focus on care. Now I know to ask instead, “What has happened to you?”
This shift from confrontation to care is the crux of a trauma-informed approach. Developing and implementing trauma-informed classroom interventions and teaching strategies does not mean teaching about trauma. Rather, it involves teaching in ways that accommodate learners with trauma histories—regardless of whether we know about those hidden wounds.
The following resources, which I created or curated, on trauma and trauma-informed pedagogy, enable classrooom instructors to learn to teach with care and justice, including how to recognize signs of trauma, reduce the risk of re-traumatization, and to improve classroom teaching, whether in-person or virtual. Together, we can contribute to the creation of trauma-informed communities within and beyond our classrooms.
Resources
“Trauma-Informed Teaching: Learning as Care and Justice,” webinar series and resources, 2025–2026. Trauma Healing Initiative of McCormick Theological Seminary, https://www.mccormick.edu/thiresourcesforeducators. Site includes seven recorded webinars, teaching strategies, and extensive bibliographies.
“Trauma-Informed Pedagogies in the Religious Studies Classroom,” special issue of Spotlight on Teaching in Religious Studies News. March 9, 2021.
“Trauma-Informed Pedagogy for the Religious and Theological Higher Education Classroom.” Special issue Reflecting on the Possibilities of Religious Education Research. Religions 11, no. 9 (2020): 449. doi:10.3390/rel11090449.
“Trauma-Informed Pedagogy: A Journey from Classroom to Community,” blog post for the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, January 04, 2023.
Resources from presentation, “Embodied Digital Pedagogies for Trauma-informed Teaching and Learning in Religious Contexts,” Mary Hess, Kate Ott, and Darryl W. Stephens, Religious Education Association, July 7, 2021.
Teaching Sexuality and Religion in Higher Education: Embodied Learning, Trauma Sensitive Pedagogy, and Perspective Transformation. Routledge Research in Religion and Education. Co-edited with Kate Ott. New York: Routledge, 2020.
Trauma-Informed Christian Ethics: Bearing Witness through Love, Justice, and Solidarity in Community. T&T Clark, 2026.
Funding
Directed by Darryl W. Stephens, “Trauma-informed Classroom Teaching at Lancaster Theological Seminary,” a strategic twelve-month faculty initiative, May 2021 through May 2022, was funded by the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.