Principal investigator: Ava Becker

Research assistants: Jerry Gan, Bahareh Abharigolsefidi

Funding: Killam Cornerstone Grant ($47,131)

How can educators design pedagogies that are both trauma-informed and language-sensitive?

In an era of mounting global instability, students are increasingly bringing not only diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds with them to school, but also experiences of trauma. The goal of this study is to co-design teaching methods with experienced teachers at an urban high school to support students to use all their language resources safely--which can include respecting students' choice to only use certain languages from their repertoire. For some, using particular languages at school might be triggering, so trauma-informed plurilingual pedagogies (TIPP) aim to cultivate a learning environment that is both validating and also supports healing from language-based harm. This research combines insights from language education, multilingualism and emotion, and speaker-centered approaches in applied linguistics, all while substantively integrating trauma-informed principles. Ultimately, this project seeks to remove barriers to learning at the intersection of emotion and language, fostering healing and academic growth for all students.