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Welcome to the Classroom Narratives Healing and Education podcast, the space where education

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meets resilience. I'm Joey Weisler and in each episode we dive deep into the personal stories

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of educators, students, leaders, and frontline advocates who are navigating the complexities

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of modern education. Whether you're just starting your teaching journey or are a seasoned professional

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looking for inspiration, we'll explore how to foster meaningful change, prevent burnout,

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and build trauma-informed communities in our schools. Now let's take a seat at the front of

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the classroom and get started. Welcome back to the podcast everyone. So it's almost the holiday

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season and this segment will serve as our finale to the first season of this podcast. Wow, what an

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accomplishment as we now feature our 12th segment and many more to come so you'll want to stay

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tuned. Today we have something truly special for our listeners and this is going to be a segment

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featuring the brilliant minds from my own honors global literature course through St. John's

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University. Today is our last class for the fall 2024 semester and these students have been diving

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deep into the intersections of trauma studies, student wellness, and the role of education in

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fostering resilience as seen through literature. We've studied texts this semester that focus on

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the themes of trauma and silence such as Speak by Laurie Anderson, The Hate You Give by Andrew

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Thomas, Push by Sapphire, The Giver by Laurie, and Art Spiegelman's graphic Holocaust memoir,

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Mouse. And while we won't necessarily touch on the stories themselves in this conversation,

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I just wanted to preface as to what our curriculum here looked like. So in this episode we will hear

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the reflections from these students on some of these tough yet vital questions that intersect

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language and trauma as well as classroom spaces that all come together for the use of resilience.

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And I am so proud of the thoughtful and insightful work that these students have been doing all

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semester long and I can't wait for you to hear their voices as they really try to grapple with

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these important topics here for all of you. So let's welcome the Honors Global Literature

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class to the Classroom Narratives podcast and get started with our conversation today.

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So the first thing I wanted to ask us as we come into building what we would call to be our trauma

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based toolkits, I wanted to ask the value of what stories have done for us this term in the sense of

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what have we learned from a trauma-informed curriculum or rather what have stories allowed

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us to think about this term and what solutions have they currently offered us? So I want to say

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that all the stories we've read have in a way like opened my eyes to like real life problems and

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in a way it taught me how to not to like complain about you know small things that I see in my

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everyday life that I might think they're like big issues but compared to what people actually go

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through makes me feel more grateful for what I have today. Definitely because one thing that we've

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talked about in our past segments as well as in this course is that fiction allows us to make

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connections to other characters who don't exist but most authentically the emotions that they're

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dealing with very much do exist so when we bridge those connections we feel something very real about

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ourselves and it can help us think about those bigger issues that are going beyond us as well.

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So we've talked about in the past how there's things that not everybody goes through that are

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so serious that nobody can really grasp like the density of it and after generations and generations

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these stories won't be talked about by first-hand survivors anymore so I think that like the books

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and the documentaries that we've watched open our eyes to that perspective that comes from the

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firsthand accounts of people who have gone through things that we don't necessarily understand and

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we understand until we hear from those people. Certainly you are referring back here to a

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documentary that reviewed out of the University of Miami down in Florida called My Survivor where

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college students mobilized and worked alongside firsthand survivors of Auschwitz and these Holocaust

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survivors participated as a way to ensure that their stories could be told for generations to come

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even long after that they may be gone. This class has also given the opportunity to view stories of

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firsthand survivors of 9-11, of Columbine, of Parkland, and some of the other speakers believe

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it or not right from this podcast such as Paula Reed from Columbine have been instrumental voices

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in allowing our students to acknowledge and see themselves through not only the literature that

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we've read but also the firsthand individuals who seek to also talk about it. So I very much agree

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my peers that the works of fiction and they bring them they bring these stories to life in ways that

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they apply to a much broader audience and I recently listened to Dr. Jordan Peterson he's a

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Canadian psychologist he's scientifically proven that stories or human life is all about this idea

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of stories and that humans really we look at our past to help us with the present and the future

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and the idea is that when we look at stories and deal with trauma that only they open our eyes to

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the reality of what the world the hardships of the world will bring us to the reality that no matter

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what we face we always overcome it and that there was always a light at the end of the tunnel

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to you will reach. So this semester has dedicated itself to being able to use the talking wound

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within our classroom and the talking wound is this metaphorical concept that we typically use

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in literature, psychology, and culture as a way to describe the process through which a person

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or in stories this could be a character or even a community seek to express pain, trauma, and injury

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as a way that reveals deeper truths or unspoken experiences and what this means for us in the

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literature class is that the stories that we choose to engage with can allow students to

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emotionally connect to our characters who may have found themselves in some of their darkest

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moments and in vocalizing these connections within the classroom setting we can then seek

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to understand ourselves while building our classroom community. So then towards the end

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of our semester we then pivoted towards firsthand non-fiction accounts including

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Charlene and Richie Schwarzkopf's 9-11 conversation which we also heard here in the podcast.

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We also heard from Paula Reed in Columbine where again our listeners can visit these podcast

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segments for more but what each of these guests have offered in terms of advice from their own

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podcast here on the classroom narratives is to how one can maneuver after a tragedy and we spoke

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about this as part of our class as well. So when it comes to addressing topics in the classroom that

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invites the deepest emotions from its students what advice would you as students give to our

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teachers listening and how they can remain trauma-informed as a way to help you succeed

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while continuing to also break these cycles of trauma that our classroom conversations may address?

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When it comes to like me personally I believe that a good like student-teacher interaction when it

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comes to an emotional type of conversation I think it's just the most helpful when the teacher just

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listens. I think once they start to input too many suggestions or too many comments then it kind of

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makes the situation a little bit more difficult because I think personally at the end of the day

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that is your teacher and the teacher is a human too and there's only so much that one teacher can

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take and at the end of the day not all teachers really know as we discussed with Paula Reed not

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all teachers really know how to handle a situation so I think it's important to also respect the

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teacher and not push your boundary too much to the point where either one of you become uncomfortable

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in the situation. It's important for you to speak to your teacher because it'll allow for

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an emotional release but you also with the speaking wounds it can create like a bridge to others

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who have also experienced you know similar pain and you know who might not otherwise understand it.

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So I think that it's so important to have trauma studies be a major part of any class not just in

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English or anything and I think it's really important to talk about it because there are

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people who are first-hand survivors of certain situations and some of those people it's really

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difficult to talk about it's really difficult to speak up about what has happened to them.

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I think it's really important that there's some people who will talk about it for those survivors

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it might give them closure about the situation that somebody is there to speak about it for them.

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So the topic of trauma studies kind of brings me back to an anecdote that I have of when I first

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experienced trauma studies in school and that was actually on 9-11 when I was in middle school.

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My history teacher actually showed the class a documentary on it this was in seventh grade so

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this was the first time that everyone was kind of introduced to this type of trauma and everyone

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had so many questions and was kind of confused and also curious and scared and I feel like it's the

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teacher's job and my teacher did an amazing job mediating everything answering everyone's questions

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and making sure everyone understands the like intensity of the situation and why it's important

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to learn about this earlier than later. For me I just want to add on to about like the topic where

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like what type of teachers we need more in a way is my answer to that would be like realism that

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especially like teachers who like aren't afraid to like show like their quote-unquote humane side

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instead of like actually just like doing their job and making like a more like comfortable space

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in a way for like the students to really start expressing themselves and like talk about what

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should be spoken about more. On the topic of speaking well it's really okay that our stories

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are fiction or non-fiction we can clearly see that there's always an important message that all of

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them are putting to us about this idea of reality that we can try to avoid reality as much as we can

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but in the end reality always wins and we have to come to terms with the fact that bad things and

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wrong things do happen as well we have to also come to an understanding that people do have these

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wounds that they want to try to hide and that the healing process can be very difficult and that is

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important for those stories to get out. At the same time I want to maybe add an extension to the

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speaking wound theory in that it's also important that we not only see the wound but we see the part

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that is not wounded and in the sense of symbolism that no matter how big that wound is so to speak

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there was a part of us that is still there and that there was a healing process that occurs when

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we have wounds and it's not only important that we see the wounds but we see the part of us we see

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that we are able to heal and overcome these things as well. When talking about this idea of trauma

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in the classroom I really think there are two kind of ways that teachers tend to bring up trauma.

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There's the historical context of what I like to think of as cause and effect and I feel like it's

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the way that most teachers and professors usually go about trauma studies such as at

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instance 9-11 where you learn about the promise of the event and you learn the historical impact

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on said event and that is extremely important as we all come to an understanding that we

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learn from our past mistakes officially. With the cause and effect method you kind of miss the gravity

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of the effect of understanding these are true real people and I often think that the best

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way a professor can teach you about trauma is give you enough information to understand the

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gravitas of the situation. Leave you with the desire to learn more this idea that like it can

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give only give you so much but I think the best professors will give you enough information that

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you desire to continue studying it and I'm reminded of a well-known verse from scripture from John

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chapter 8 verse 32 the truth shall set you free this idea that when we when we look for the truth

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it like kind of it frees us as humans we come to a full understanding and I think that the

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best professors are ones that enable you to desire to learn more. So I also want to mention how that

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like not only does reading books or process trauma but also creative outlets like writing or are also

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provide opportunities to process emotions and trauma informed teaching practices ensure that

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students needs are met with like compassion and I also feel that by highlighting narratives of

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resilience and recovery the classroom becomes this you know space of empowerment and inspiring hope

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and personal growth and I also feel that you know collaborative activities where students get to you

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know talk with each other and get stuff done together it also fosters a sense of belonging

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and helping students rebuild trust in others. How can someone find a sense of being normal again

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after telling or living their story of trauma and in essence when we heard from Paula Reed a

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couple weeks ago we asked her this question about what does it mean to create a trauma informed

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toolkit her answer was to know what to take out more than what to put in but I'm equally curious

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if we were to have some type of toolkits to work with after going through our literary journey

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together what would that toolkit look like for you what would you have in your toolkit

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if you were to experience some type of event in your life that could be either unpleasant or

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traumatic what would you take in this class that could help you move forward with that and process

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that so my toolkit would consist of one thing and one thing only and that would be open discourse

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I really am of the opinion and it might also be because I come from a more religious background

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as well but I truly believe that open discourse is really the only way that we come to terms

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with our wounds and I also think uh me personally that this idea of you going to term finding

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normalcy I think that the purpose of life is to come to an understanding that there is no normalcy

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the idea that we are all different and we have to come to terms with the idea that it does not

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exist and we will be better but normalcy not existing because nobody knows ever normal ever

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did anything that truly made a difference the fact that we are all not normal is what makes us so

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unique and so special and we all contain the ability to make quick change so the idea that

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our experiences make us not normal and not normal is what the world is based on and my toolkit would

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just be to write it to write it like a story write it like an article just write and let it go in the

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same way that Paula Reed wrote how she experienced her day and how she processed it it's like make

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the story come alive and make it more than just what's in my mind but what's reality as well and

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the feelings and giving giving them validity in that time by writing it as well thank you for

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joining us for this powerful conversation with my honors global literature class through St John's

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University.  Their insights into trauma studies the speaking wound and the potentials

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for classrooms to become spaces of healing remind us the critical role that educators and students

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play in shaping compassionate and forms communities so as we close our season let's carry the

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reflections with us and that how can we as educators peers or simply listeners create

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spaces where stories of trauma can be shared and healing can begin the work isn't easy but it is

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most certainly vital if you've enjoyed this episode don't forget to subscribe leave a review and share

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it with others who are as passionate about education and wellness as we are thank you again for being

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a part of our journey and until next time stay inspired and keep the conversation going thank

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you for joining us on the classroom narratives healing and education podcast if today's episode

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inspired you or made you think differently i'd love to hear from you drop a comment or review

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wherever you listen to podcasts and stay connected with us on the at classroom narratives podcast

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over instagram and facebook remember together we can transform our scars into stars in education

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one conversation at a time