Trauma Is not An Add-On: On Embracing Grief and Trauma in Our Classrooms—And Our Lives
25 J. Legal Writing Institute 1 (2021)
12 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2021 Last revised: 28 Apr 2021
Date Written: March 31, 2021
Abstract
COVID-19 brought our world to a crashing halt in March 2020 and we are still in the throes of this life-changing pandemic. COVID caused—and revealed—a great number of systemic inequities, none of which classrooms and other spaces for learning are immune from. This essay argues that it is high time that educators not only acknowledge the grief and trauma we and our students bring with us into the classroom, but make them part of the conversation. Stress, grief, and trauma are not unique to this pandemic and will not be eradicated with a vaccine. Neither will systemic racism, sexism, or any other form of oppression. Sometimes we are aware that our students or our colleagues are struggling, but more often they do so invisibly—and alone. This is the perfect time for us to become proficient in the critical skill of “psychological first aid” to offer support to those we interact with—whether in person or on Zoom—every day. And it’s the perfect time to explore making subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the way we teach. Through thoughtfully designed exercises, discussions, and assignments, we can carve out space to help students feel seen and be heard. To critically examine the world around them and their place within it. To identify ways in which they can use their enormous privilege as lawyers-to-be to shift centuries-long patterns of oppression and injustice. To support those who are in the depths of grief, or loss, or illness by acknowledging the enormity of that trauma and working creatively to find ways to lighten their cognitive load—so that no grieving or trauma-afflicted student or colleague needs to feel like an alien for experiencing something so universally human. By practicing and modeling empathy and compassion, by making time and space to ask our students and our colleagues how they’re really doing and to listen deeply to their response, by incorporating things like mindfulness and active listening exercises into our classrooms, and by being candid with our students when we ourselves may be struggling, we can not only cultivate a different kind of classroom, but also train a different kind of lawyer—and ultimately create a different kind of world.
Keywords: legal writing, pedagogy, trauma, grief, teaching, COVID-19
JEL Classification: 12, 120, 121, 124
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation