Navigating Difficult Content in the Classroom: Trauma-Informed Pedagogy for Practical Theology

This interactive presentation of original qualitative research from an R1 university divinity school offers insight and engagement with best practices of trauma-informed teaching and learning in theological education, with special attention to race and socioeconomic status dynamics. A multicultural team of practical theologians--an experienced faculty member, a postdoctoral associate, and a graduate doctoral student—will facilitate interactive case studies, model trauma-informed teaching practices, and encourage attendees to envision trauma-informed practices in their setting.  

Traumatic experiences include those marked by helplessness over an event or perceived threat to life and may lead to distressing emotions such as fear, horror, shame, guilt, anger, and disgust (Carlson & Dalenberg 2000; Resick & Miller 2009). Traumatic stress may result from a single experience or from multiple and compounding experiences. People may respond to these experiences in different ways, along a trauma-stress-crisis continuum (Dulmus and Hilarski 2003).   

Trauma survivors are present in nearly every higher education learning setting. About 90% of US adults have been exposed to a potentially traumatic experience at some point in their lifetime (Kilpatrick 2013). Among college students, trauma exposure is over 65% (Bernat et al. 1998), even when assessed conservatively (Boyraz et al. 2013). Moreover, college students are at greater risk of experiencing new trauma, including sexual assault, than the broader public (Galatzer-Levy et al. 2012).  Many students are also affected by the sequelae associated with racial trauma (Comas-Díaz, Hall, & Neville, 2019), historical trauma (Brave Heart et al. 2011), cultural trauma (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018), and intergenerational trauma (Yehuda & Lehrner, 2018). Seminary students are more likely to have experienced childhood abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual) than the U.S. general population (Upenieks et al. 2024).  

Trauma can alter and impede the human ability to learn, create, and relate to others (Perry 2006). Survivors may respond strongly to particular texts, topics, or contexts of religious and theological study that evoke memories of trauma and stress. For instance, history of religion courses often explores the intersection of religion and war. Seminary chaplaincy courses often engage case studies that contain distressing material. Ancient religious texts often contain disturbing stories. Teachers of theology, religion, and related subjects are likely to engage material, topics, and texts that may be disturbing for students who are trauma survivors.    

Given the prevalence of traumatic experiences among students and the challenging content, some scholars have written about trauma-informed higher education (Harrison et al. 2019; Henshaw 2022), including education in theology and religious studies (Crumpton 2017; Stephens 2020; Lee 2021). Most of this writing has been conceptual, however, and has not directly reported on the experiences and perspectives of students.    

To further address this need, an R1 institution conducted a four-year study to determine best practices in trauma-informed teaching and learning in undergraduate, medical, and theological contexts. The research utilized a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework, which is a method that intentionally seeks to shift typical power dynamics and social hierarchies by insisting that those most impacted by the research have a say in each stage of the research process (Baum, MacDougall, & Smith, 2006). PAR brings participants and researchers together in a reflective process that is intended to use the insights from the research to make positive change for a group of people (Walker, 1993), including in educational settings (Brydon‐Miller & Maguire 2009; Morales, 2019).  

Utilizing PAR, a team of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty conducted original qualitative research aiming not only to gain insight into best practices for trauma-informed teaching but also to enable the research process itself to serve as a teaching exercise, allowing for collaboration between students and faculty and to engage trauma-informed practices in the work of the team. 

In seeking to learn specifically about trauma-informed theological education, the researchers hosted semi-structured focus groups for divinity faculty and students. Divinity School faculty were asked, “How do the realities of trauma come up in your teaching —whether in course content, in the process of teaching, or in other ways?” and “How do you prepare students to engage content that relates to trauma or is otherwise emotionally challenging but that is important to teach in your field of study? Examples of this content might be biblical “texts of terror” that describe violence in vivid detail or speaking with students about sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, abuse prevention in congregations, and so on.)” Questions to students in the divinity school included inquiries such as, “How have you seen faculty or teaching assistants respond to interactions between students related to students’ trauma experiences?”  

All data has been collected and is in the final stages of analysis. We aim to produce a set of suggested best practices for trauma-informed teaching and learning. This interactive presentation shares the study’s findings and offers implications to fill a crucial research gap by providing concrete practices and pedagogies for enacting trauma-informed theological education. The presentation will accomplish this in three phases.  

First, the presentation will offer an overview of the research project and model how the research team implemented trauma-informed practices through its methodology and organization. After providing a broad overview, the presenters will share findings related to divinity students and faculty. Thus far possible themes include: student perceptions of content warnings, teaching “texts of terror” and tainted legacies, racial and social traumas, and others.   

Second, presenters will facilitate a discussion around a few interactive case studies inspired by the research data. Attendees will be invited to share examples of times when they have encountered trauma-related responses in the classroom, along with their questions and responses. 

Finally, the presenters will facilitate a conversation regarding best practices for trauma-informed theological education while giving special attention to teaching classes under the umbrella of practical theology, such as pastoral care, preaching, and religious education.