Facilitating Deep Learning about Racial Trauma: "You Cannot Understand Pathology without Understanding the Social Constructs of Race and Racism."

Background and Purpose: Within higher education, the traditional teaching format is instructor-centered, and this format usually promotes foundational learning. Subsequently, students memorize and reproduce information without further scaffolding their knowledge to a deeper level. Research has shown that deeper learning occurs when instructors use a student-centered approach (Baxter & Gray, 2001). This approach promotes active and self-directed knowledge acquisition and students seeking meaning within and beyond courses. However, research has not explored the influence of student-centered learning in courses on racial trauma. Because racial trauma is frequently untreated, instructors must implement meaningful educational opportunities for students that support professional and individual growth. This study used qualitative data from students on their experience in a graduate-level course on racial trauma constructed using a student-centered theoretical teaching approach. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine whether students showed evidence of deep learning about racial trauma.

Methods: This study used qualitative data collected from 12 graduate students in multiple disciplines who participated in a course on racial trauma. A total of 10 participants engaged in qualitative interviews and 2 participants were in a focus group. A trained master-level individual conducted the semi-structured interviews and a focus group. Interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes, and the focus group lasted 90 minutes. All qualitative data were digitally recorded and transcribed. Nvivo 12 qualitative software was used for data management. Using an iterative process, three researchers collaborated to develop a codebook and trained research assistants coded data. Emergent themes were systematically identified as informed by grounded theory methods. Inter-rater reliability was achieved when coding reached 67% agreement.

Results: The following four themes identified in this study suggest that students who participated in a student-centered course exhibited deep learning about racial trauma: self-directed learning, connection to course content, personal growth, and racial identity development. As an example of self-directed learning, one student reported, “I did go and buy several of the books that we talked about in class” (white, female). As an example of connection to course content, one student reported, “I still have conversations about today was the connection between chattel slavery and our prison system right now” (black, female). As an example of personal growth, one student reported, “I don't have to put my son in a car and worry about, okay, if you get pulled over, put your hands on the dashboard...switching the view from a racial to a parent...using something that I could comprehend to comprehend what people of color go through” (white, female). Further, as an example of racial identity development, one student reported, “...reinforcing my stance...because every factor of our society seeks to diminish the historical context and lived experience of black and brown adolescents” (black, male).

Conclusion: Teaching about racial trauma is complex and may require a student-centered learning approach. Results from this study suggest that this approach may promote students’ connection to content and ability to engage in the life-long learning processes needed to address the racial trauma clients experience.