Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted existing inequities as a result of zero tolerance and exclusionary policies that disproportionately impacted the world's learners living in poverty, people of color, and those experiencing special challenges. Under the existing educational system, marginalized students often feel devalued and without a voice. Integrating family history and genealogy into the elementary school learning space provides a methodology and framework that focuses on the historical conditions that promote healthy dialogues and sustain discourses connecting to other historical events. The process of creating positive experiences with family history, improving the classroom environment, effectively communicating, rapport and trust building, and strengthened socio-emotional skills reduce childhood trauma. The six recommended strategies include introspection and reflection, navigating parallel time periods, valuing genealogical tools, encouraging an environment of hope, normalizing authenticity, and transforming the learning environment.
TopChildhood Trauma And The School-To-Prison Nexus
The Center for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente (1995) conducted one of the largest studies involving childhood abuse, neglect, and household challenges that negatively impacted the well-being of children with generational consequences. Plaguing the educational system is its response to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) which are traumatic events that occur prior to age seventeen (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1995). Childhood trauma, whether physical, sexual or emotional, has consequences that may create lifelong challenges (Stavrianos et al., 2011; Maniglio, 2009). The effects of trauma increase the risk for violent and aggressive behavior and criminality in adulthood creating a nexus between childhood trauma and the criminal justice system (Kalmuss, 1984; Straus et al., 1980; Widom, 1989). ACEs have both personal and environmental factors. Personal ACEs may include violence, abuse, neglect, witnessed violence, or exposure to suicide. Environmental factors that may contribute to childhood trauma by undermining feelings of safety, stability and bonding. While none originated with the pandemic, ACEs were accentuated with the disruption of educational system and social stability.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Family History: A study exploring the identities and backgrounds of ancestors.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A theory that proposes that human needs may be organized into a hierarchy ranging from basic survival needs such as food and water to abstract concepts such as self-actualization.
Growth Mindset: A belief that a person’s ability, skills, and talents have the capacity to improve.
Story-Telling: An expression of oral or written stories.
Genealogy: A line of decent traced continuously from a forebear.
School-to-Prison Pipeline: A theoretical construct resulting from disproportionate disciplinary and exclusionary educational policies that are especially harmful to disadvantaged students who may be circumvented into the criminal justice system.
Fixed Mindset: A belief that the ability to acquire knowledge and skills are immovable.
Epigenetics: The study of changes in organisms as a result of modification of gene expression as opposed to the alteration of the genetic code.
Trauma: An emotional response to an upsetting experience, situation, or natural disaster.
Constructivist Learning Theory: An approach to learning that is based on people building their own knowledge from the learner’s experiences.