This session will introduce findings from the Teaching Upstream Study: research that used feminist, qualitative, grounded-theory methods to explore adult educators’ perspectives on trauma-informed teaching in Massachusetts. Completed in 2017-2018, the study examined the social/pedagogical processes by which trauma-informed teaching takes place directly through the lens of educators working in adult learning and higher education settings. In this session, we will cover the results of the study, which revealed several contemplative practices as key strategies for resilience-oriented pedagogy, anti-racist activism, and resistance towards the influences of neoliberal policies in education. As we take a deeper look at the trauma and adult learning context, we will explore contemplative practices used by adult educators in Massachusetts to teach upstream against deprivation, discrimination, and structural barriers – and discuss critical take-away's useful for those who support adult learners.
