Trauma-informed music education is an emerging research area receiving increased attention among music educators, music teacher educators, and researchers. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to examine one middle school trauma-informed music program. Located in a large urban city of the Northeast region in the United States, Wish Middle School (pseudonym) is an independent Title I school. An educational provider, partner, and resource center for the local community, the school’s philosophy centers on trauma-informed education for all students with the mission to serve any middle school-aged student who resides within the school’s neighborhood. Data were collected over four months during the 2021-2022 academic school year. Data sources included interviews with current students, teachers, and administrators, classroom observations, and artifacts. Many of the findings from student-, teacher-, and administrator-participant data, align with existing music education research in student-center learning, social-emotional learning, teacher-student relationships, and caring learning environments. To add to extant literature, this study’s findings inform a more complete definition of trauma-informed music education, one focused on how music teachers and students interact and co-exist in a music classroom within a trauma-informed school. Music education that is trauma-informed at Wish Middle School requires both students and the music teacher to work together, informing, and responding to each other. I propose a working definition of trauma-informed music education in this study that includes (a) music teachers who develop an affirmative and proactive perspective on student growth through individualized instruction and foster a positive student-teacher relationship; (b) classroom experiences that balance students’ self-selected activities and activities that pose encouraging and empowering challenges to students; and (c) curriculum design emphasizing students’ preferences and incorporating opportunities for students to connect with each other in a safe learning environment. More research specifically on trauma-informed music education programs is needed to continue addressing the needs of students and teachers. Future research will benefit all music education stakeholders by developing evidence-based studies to better understand and further define a trauma-informed music education framework. / Music Education

Many studies have noted the detrimental impact adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have on individuals’ developmental trajectories and, as a result, the utilization of trauma-informed practices has been of increasing interest within the field of education. Most research on trauma-informed pedagogy is derived from samples of children in grades K-12, whereas research on trauma-informed teaching practices within higher education is comparatively scarce. The specific aims of the current investigation are two-fold. The first aim is to explore the effect of postsecondary instructors’ disciplinary specialization (i.e., person-thing orientation) on their receptivity to compassionate teaching practices. The second aim is to implement a brief (i.e., one hour, single session), asynchronous intervention to inform instructors about ACEs, subsequent effects on learning, and evidence-based, trauma-informed teaching practices. Results indicated that participants’ thing-orientation scores negatively predicted their post-intervention receptivity scores and that there was a significant increase in knowledge about compassionate teaching practices from pre-assessment to post-assessment. Future studies should seek to replicate these findings and continue to identify factors that may influence one’s receptivity to compassionate teaching practices.

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There is very little theoretical literature about theatrical improvisation as it connects to ideas and practices of relating and specifically to ideas and practices of social work relating. This thesis involves efforts to theorize moments of relating – of being with others – in improvisation. A group of hospital social workers and a group of PhD social work research students participated in the study. The participants took part in improvisational workshops designed specifically for the study, as well as one-on-one and group interviews. This thesis explores what was created between research participants in improvisational workshops: the response-ability to and for others; an experience of grappling with the desire for control; and an embodied apprehension of interdependence. The study demonstrates an embodied and uncomfortable experience of the dominance of individualism in our relating. The study also demonstrates ways in which the art of theatrical improvisation can allow us to take up the transformative promises of social constructionism in social work relating. The thesis aims to make living space for central social constructionist concepts such as mutual constitution and interdependence – to explore and consider what happens when we fully recognize and carry these out in our practices of relating. Providing a different way into these central social constructionist concepts, this study contributes to arts-informed research, teaching and practice. More specifically, the research shows how the art of improvisation can provide transformative possibilities for social work pedagogy and the social work classroom. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis involves efforts to theorize moments of relating – of being with others – in improvisation. A group of hospital social workers and a group of PhD social work research students participated in the study. The participants took part in improvisational workshops designed specifically for the study, as well as one-on-one and group interviews. This thesis explores what was created between research participants in improvisational workshops: the response-ability to and for others; an experience of grappling with the desire for control; and an embodied apprehension of interdependence. The study demonstrates an embodied and uncomfortable experience of the dominance of individualism in our relating and provides an analysis of engagement in improvisation as an alternative to a framework of independence in social work. The study contributes potential for arts-informed research, teaching, and practice, as well as social work pedagogy as it demonstrates ways in which the art of improvisation can allow us to take up the transformative promises of social constructionism in social work relating.

[pt] Estudos sobre as primeiras interações das crianças com seu ambiente apontam para possíveis efeitos do estresse tóxico na infância, como facilitador de comportamentos de risco na adolescência, além de prejuízos para o desenvolvimento de habilidades cognitivas e socio emocionais (Van der Kolk, 2003). Pela necessidade de as escolas estarem preparadas para atenderem crianças que experimentam altas e frequentes taxas de estresse no início de suas vidas e precisam lidar com seus efeitos, a escola como um todo precisa ser um espaço de segurança e resiliência para que as crianças possam experimentar um processo de aprendizagem. A partir de uma perspectiva ecológica da Psicologia do desenvolvimento, o objetivo do presente trabalho foi realizar uma revisão narrativa de literatura para identificar práticas e modelos da educação sensível ao trauma, voltados para proteção contra os efeitos do estresse tóxico sobre o desenvolvimento cognitivo na educação infantil e primeiros anos do ensino fundamental. Foram selecionados 50 artigos sobre diferentes modelos de educação sensível ao trauma nos primeiros anos de escolarização e com abordagens voltadas para a escola como um todo. A partir da análise desses artigos, foram identificados nove aspectos principais dentre os diferentes modelos apresentados: autorregulação emocional, treinamento dos(as) profissionais de educação, engajamento comunitário, preparação de ambientes psicologicamente seguros, apoio emocional para os(as) educadores(as), rotinas e rituais na prática pedagógica, vínculo seguro, atendimento individual ou em grupo e contato regular com as famílias. Acredita-se que esses elementos podem orientar intervenções voltadas para primeira infância em contextos de vulnerabilidade, no âmbito da educação. / [en] Studies on children s first interactions with their environment point to possible effects of toxic stress in childhood, as a facilitator of risky behavior in adolescence, in addition to impairments for the development of cognitive and socioemotional skills (Van der Kolk, 2003). Due to the need for schools to be prepared to serve children who experience high and frequent stress rates early in their lives and need to deal with its effects, the school as a whole needs to be a space of safety and resilience so that children can experience a learning process. From an ecological perspective of developmental psychology, the objective of the present study was to carry out an integrative literature review to identify practices and models of trauma informed education, aimed at protecting against the effects of toxic stress on cognitive development in preschool and early years of elementary school. Fifty articles were selected on different models of trauma informed education in the first years of schooling and with approaches aimed at the school as a whole. From the analysis of these articles, nine main aspects were identified among the different models presented: self-regulation, professional training of trauma and toxic stress, community engagement, psychologically safe environments, emotional support for teachers, routines and rituals in pedagogical practice, secure attachment, individual or group therapy and regular contact with families. It is believed that these elements can guide interventions aimed at early childhood, in the context of education.