Today, we'll hear an excerpt from author Shamari Reid's, "Humans Who..." YouTube series. In this series, Shamari joins some of the top educators and authors in the country to discuss the humanity in all aspects of teaching and life.
This episode features Heinemann author and educator Arléne Casimir. Together, they delve into what it means to be an awakened teacher and how trauma-responsive pedagogy can transform classrooms. You'll walk away with practical insights on healing alongside your students, centering humanity in your teaching, and finding purpose within the challenges of education.
Transcript
Shamari Reid:
I have a lot of stories of Arléne, but the one I want to share is when I reached out to Arléne. This would've been 2018, I think 2019 and I was teaching a course. Specifically, we were thinking about what it looked like to navigate classrooms with emergent, multilingual youth, what it meant to think about multilingual families and communities. And as I was thinking about someone to come and take over and co-teach that, Arléne came to mind. And I invited Arléne to come and hang out with us. And I said, "Here's what we did the week before, here's when we're going after. But I trust you to do whatever it is you got to do in that class to get us to arrive at the goal or the message."
And I remember Arléne came in and taught the class in Haitian Creole. And I remember how much of a shock that was for the students because we had talked about empathy. We had talked about trying to understand what it would be like to be in their classrooms, and perhaps still be improving the language of instruction. But it's different to feel it. So what Arléne did in that moment, one, she centered Haiti, she centered Haitian Creole, she used it as language of instruction. But she also invited them to think about what it may feel like for their students. And it was a beautiful lesson.
When you think of your teaching, Arléne, yes, we talk about trauma-responsive pedagogy, but you also talk about yourself as an awakened teacher. And if many people are looking for you or they find you, they may see next to your name, Arléne Casimir, the awakened teacher. Could you talk a little bit about what that means to you and what it means to be an awakened teacher?
Arléne Casimir:
Sure. So I would say that that journey of becoming awakened, so to speak, began when I started teaching middle school English language arts and social justice at the school that I went to. And it felt like such a karmic experience, meaning there was a lesson to be learned that could in fact transform the trajectory of my life. Because I didn't anticipate in teaching middle school, for one, and two, I didn't do well in middle school. In fact, I failed and had to go to summer school.
And so, it was karmic in that it was painful to remember the lessons that I had to learn as a child. The ways that I felt marginalized, not supported. And how I could show up differently for the students that I was serving. Not assuming that they faced the same challenges that I did, but really trying to see how I could support them through what they went through, by also giving my opportunity to have a second childhood.
And so, that continued when I went to New Orleans, the first kids to come to school post Hurricane Katrina. And I remember this defining moment where I thought to myself, "I realize why I incarnated." Became crystal clear. It was like I remembered. I have this belief that we're born and we forget and we spend our whole lives living our multiple purposes. But that as children even, you can be asleep to why you're here, but we're all here for a reason or multiple reasons. And we either can awaken to those reasons and rise into all of who we're meant to be in this incarnation, or we can remain asleep to it.
And so I remember feeling, believing, and having this incredible sense of peace, like I am meant to teach. Clock stops for me. I am in flow, I am meant to be with children and with educators, and this is my place. And knowing that and knowing the lack of prestige that teachers experience. And feeling like I can play a role in bringing prestige back to the field. I can play a role in elevating our profession as the most important profession. I can play a role in that just by simply living in my purpose.
Shamari:
One of the things that you have sort of committed yourself to, I wouldn't say recently, but of course, the book is recent. But you've been doing this work for a while, is thinking about trauma in ways that are just much more expansive, in ways that are much more helpful for us as we think about being people who work in schools. Not only people who have our own trauma, but what it looks like to help young people navigate and address their trauma.
In my book, I talk about one, the need to normalize these very real human emotions. And the power and seeing ourselves as not just teachers, but humans who come with emotions, who happen to teach. But some of us teach while grieving, some of us teach while experiencing trauma. For some of us, the school itself is a site of trauma. And so, I share a day in a teacher's life in my book very quickly. And I say, "These are all the things that could happen and it's not hypothetical."
And then I get your book, Arléne, you and Courtney's book. And I want to read a little bit here because it really paused and stopped me on my tracks. This is the beginning of the first official chapter after we've gotten through the forward and letter to readers. You say this to teachers, "Imagine going to school one morning in person or remotely. Maybe you had an awful night, a rough week, a couple of trying weeks. Or you continue to carry the weight of the global pandemic as the effects rage onward. You may be caring for an ill family member, grieving or recent loss, experiencing financial difficulty, coping with a personal health crisis, or running on limited sleep. Whatever it is, you are managing multiple priorities and feeling overwhelmed and stressed out as the school day begins. Picture yourself carrying this load on your face, in your rounded shoulders, or within your spirit when you enter your school community." Arléne, why was it important for you to start the first official chapter that way?
Arléne:
I think it goes back to what you said about what I did when I entered your classroom. And you told me you were really trying to help educators understand what it means to be a multilingual learner. What it means to be placed into a classroom that you don't understand, and having the reader be with me on this journey. Just imagine any of these things, which I know happens to all of us. As you know how the work continues on that page or on the following pages, imagine someone telling you to smile or put a bubble in your mouth or completely dismissing your humanity. And so, I really wanted to invite people. I wanted to situate the book in humanity and invite people to be in their humanity from the moment they open the book. Because trauma-responsive pedagogy is an invitation to embody your humanity.
Shamari:
Sure, sure. And that's exactly how I felt reading it. And let me say this, even having written my own book about similar topics, it still surprised me. Because so often when I get to education books or teaching books, not all, there are wonderful, wonderful books out there and wonderful authors. But so many of them talk to me, the reader, the teacher, as if I'm not human, and in experiencing the things that I have come to the book to solve.
And so often, and I compare it, this is a joke, but to couples therapy. There are couples therapists who say, many partners think you bring your partner in. You put your partner up front and say, "Okay, fix my partner. I'm good." What we find out often in couples therapy and in therapy in general, oh no, no, no, it's not a drop-off center. Both of you and all of you have work to do.
The same, I think, is true when we're thinking about trauma-responsive pedagogy, I'm thinking about the book like, "Oh, I'll come to the book. Arléne's going to tell me how to get my traumatized students together and we'll be good." But in that opening paragraph, you say, "But Shamari, you too have experienced trauma. Imagine this." And I didn't have to imagine, Arléne. And I imagine there are humans who teach all across who've read the book, who don't have to imagine, because that is their everyday reality right now. Which leads into my next question.
And so you say in the book, you and Courtney, that trauma-responsive pedagogy is not just for students. It also requires that educators heal alongside our students, on and off-stage. You continue to say that trauma and the growth that can come in its wake is what makes us human. And so as I combine these two ideas, Arléne, I walked away from your book knowing that I was a human who teaches. And that there was something powerfully human about recognizing and addressing my trauma alongside my students as they address theirs.
And that was very, very hard work and a very hard realization. And so often we, to your point, compartmentalize, and that we are told to sort of put a bubble in it or cap our feelings. So what pushback have you gotten from teachers who come to you, who come to your workshops, come to you for your wisdom, and they think they're going to drop their students off to be fixed and addressed, and you start with, "Well, let's talk about you."? That seems like it's a different approach in the way we think about stuff in education. So, I imagine some teachers feeling surprised and a little put off by that. So, what have you gotten when you are inviting teachers to heal and address their trauma?
Arléne:
So just to know the driving belief that supports how I navigate any pushback is, I believe that there is no other person. It's a spiritual belief that everyone is a mirror, and any pushback I get is an opportunity to polish that mirror. But if I am a physical mirror and I have a wound, when I'm polishing it, I'm going to feel hurt. Right? So, I am always trying to keep the mirror as clear as possible for myself so that I don't necessarily experience that pain that comes from someone rubbing against a wound. However, I'm not aware of all my wounds. I'm not aware of what all that is resolved and isn't within me. I learn through my interactions with others.
And so some of the pushback that I have received has been things like, "It's not about me, it's about the kids." And I'll just go through the pushback person, if there's anyone you want me to elaborate on.
Shamari:
Sure.
Arléne:
But I'll hear things like, "It's not about me, it's about the kids." Or, "I'm not a therapist, I'm not a social worker, I'm a teacher. I am not here to deal with kids' trauma. I didn't sign up for that. I signed up to teach them." And so my response has been, it's about you as much as it is about the kids, because the work has to come through you. And if the children do not see how you cope with life, 'cause that's what this is about, trauma-responsive pedagogy, how do I cope with the challenges that life has thrown at me that I didn't expect? How do I cope with injustices that I have been subject to and continue to build a life of my highest aspirations? How do I do that? And all you're doing is demonstrating how you do that. And your demonstration can be a mentor for how kids do that with their unique situations. And so when you can see it that way, then you recognize that this space that children spend 13 years in is the perfect place to have therapeutic accents.
Now, no one's asking you to be a therapist and have kids navigate their trauma. And spend 45 minutes to an hour a day per child helping them to understand the depths of their emotions and their lineage, and what they've been through and where they're going. No, that's not it. It's a matter of saying, "We live in a society that causes trauma and it affects us all differently. It can affect us individually, familially, communally, structurally in terms of academics in our society." And so, how do we cope through that? How do we witness that?
Because trauma-responsive pedagogy became necessary with the recognition that when we fail to bear witness, we cause more harm. We sustain trauma. So, bearing witness starts with ourselves. It's this idea that if I want to change the world, I have to change myself. It's not an external endeavor. It's an internal endeavor that manifests externally in how our external circumstances change. That ripple of change happens within ourselves.
Edie:
Thank you for tuning in today. To read a full transcript and link to the full conversation on YouTube where you can also explore the other "Humans Who..." episodes visit blog.heinemann.com.
