Educators are increasingly aware of trauma when they experience it in their own life or they see it in the lives of those around them, including their students. We can feel helpless in the face of individual trauma as well collective trauma. Overwhelming events and phenomena such as floods, fires, poverty, and the toxic-drug crisis have led to ecological grief and despair. 

For educators to engage mindfully with trauma, we must shift from traditional ideas about teaching to trauma-informed ideas (Costa, 2017). We need a whole set of tools in our toolbox including culturally sustaining pedagogy, universal design for learning, and healing-centred engagement (Centre for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching, 2025). These approaches are all part of trauma-informed teaching practice.

On this day, we will start with trauma awareness, share some trauma-informed teaching practices, and plan for healing-centred engagement.

Workshop Outcomes

Participants will be able to:

1. Discuss  the role of trauma in teaching and learning
2. Explore trauma-informed classroom strategies.
3. Help students reflect more critically about overwhelming events and phenomena in their communities.
4. Make a plan for healing-centred engagement as part of their course.

Facilitator Bios

Theresa Southam, PhD, Educator, Author, and Administrator

Theresa completed her PhD in Human and Organizational Development in 2020. She is the Department Head of the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) at Selkirk College and continues her research as a Fielding ISI Fellow. Her first book Driving Social Innovation: How Unexpected Leadership is Transforming Society, was released in October 2022 by Fielding University Press (FUP). In 2024, she published Transforming Trauma through Social Change: A Guide for Educators. You can find her scholarship on teaching and learning in the Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Advances in Simulation, and Clinical Simulation in Nursing. Copies of her articles can be found on her ResearchGate and Academia.edu pages. Her dissertation, 27,000 Sunrises: Everyday Contributions of Grateful and Giving Age 70+ Adults, can be found here. She writes a weekly Substack @socialchangeeducation.

Matty Hillman, MA. Educational Developer, Counsellor

Matty’s pedagogy reflects various aspects of his identity and is deeply influenced by his experiences as a child and youth care practitioner, educator, artist and father. His approach to teaching tends to be theoretical, relational and student-centred.

Matty's scholarship and research interests include sexual violence prevention and response on post-secondary campuses, trauma-informed education, health masculinities and critical youth mentorship. Matty has worked extensively with BCcampus on various provincial anti-violence and wellness-promotion projects. You can find his murals adorning walls throughout the West Kootenay.