Teachers and Secondary Trauma: A discussion
Imagine, as a teacher, finding one of your students has died. Imagine it happens often. In a single year. Imagine knowing that a student of yours is being trafficked. By her family? Imagine teaching English to kids who don't feel safe, who don't have food, who don't see a future for themselves. Who could care less about a southern lawyer fighting for justice in the 1950s segregated south.
Teachers in America deal with this reality every day. They are burnt out. They bounce between caring so much it hurts, to numbness. They are experiencing secondary trauma. Many leave. But many stay. For their students.
Carrie Kaufman has a riveting discussion with two veteran teachers - Tonya Scroggin and Alexis Salt - about what they've seen, what they do for their students, and why they stay.
These teachers want to change America's view of what students need to succeed. "It's not just about test scores," said Salt, adding that before she can focus on Bloom's Taxonomy, she has to deal with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Many of the students Salt deals with are still on steps one or two of Maslow's.
"You're teaching kids who have been raised by kids," said Salt. "I know very few children whose parents don't have any substance abuse issues."
Salt and Scroggin see a marked change in students since the recession in 2008. There's as whole generation that is growing up without hope.
"There's just a nihilism in kids, Salt said. The things they joke about, the things they kid about... You have this horrible mix of hedonism and nihilism and they had a baby.
"No Child Left Behind told us we were accountable for students, but we've been way more than that. In fact, just saying we're accountable reduces what we do," said Scroggin, who noted that she sees the same issues at Coronado - where a few kids have committed suicide in the last few years.
"They're sad, and they don't know why they're sad. They're lonely. They're reaching out, and no one is there," said Salt.
This is a must-listen for any teacher, any education leader, or any parent
Join Us!
Nevada Voice is doing is holding regular, off the record, group meetings around topics of social issues in schools. That includes teacher issues and burnout. The rules are that you walk into the room and put your cell phone in a box. And just talk. The number of participants will be limited each time, but we’re trying to get a sense of what people are dealing with, and how it can be solved. If you are interested, connect with me through the Nevada Voice Facebook page, or stories@nevadavoice.org or join in the conversation at Nevada Voice's Facebook page.