Learning Environments Research, Trauma, and Trauma-Informed Education: Synergies and Opportunities

Both learning environments research and trauma-informed education seek to shape safe, positive environments where learners and educators can thrive. In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the impact of trauma on learners and learning and associated calls for trauma-informed practices across a range of educational contexts. However, to date, work considering trauma in educational contexts and/or trauma-informed practice has largely remained distinct from the field of learning environments research. In this chapter, a cross-disciplinary team of authors explores how these fields can mutually benefit from complementary insights from the other. We begin by providing readers from this Handbook’s field of learning environments with an overview of foundational ideas of trauma and trauma-informed approaches. We then look at connections with the theoretical underpinnings and key domains of learning environments research. To illustrate the potential generativity of integrating trauma, trauma-informed practice, and learning environments lenses, we present three reflective vignettes that reconsider how studies that were originally conducted with either a trauma or a learning environments lens could have been enriched through the addition of a complementary perspective. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the synergies and opportunities in bringing together consideration of trauma, trauma-informed education, and learning environments research, including conceptual, historical, philosophical, and methodological possibilities. Recommendations are offered for research across these fields to support safer and healthier learning environments for diverse students, educators, and communities.