Compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress in teachers: How they contribute to burnout and how they are related to trauma-awareness

Introduction: Teachers play an integral role in providing positive life experiences for their students and are especially crucial for students who are experiencing or have experienced a trauma in their lives. In Australia however, teachers are increasingly stating that they do not plan on remaining in the profession causing media and governments to warn of a teacher shortage. Several key factors for teacher attrition have been proposed, with burnout being described as a contributing factor). Studies which have focused specifically on teachers' experiences working with students with histories of trauma have suggested links between lack of trauma-aware training and increased levels of compassion fatigue (CF), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and burnout. Methods: This paper draws on established research into CF, STS and burnout as well as trauma awareness of teachers using a narrative topical approach to explore the challenges faced by teachers and students in a post-covid landscape. Results: The results of this review suggest a need for additional research into the impact on teachers of working with an increasingly traumatized student body. Conclusion: The lack of trauma-specific training reported by pre-service and current teachers indicate a need for higher education institutions and schools to better prepare teachers to support traumatized students while safeguarding their own wellbeing. Copyright © 2023 Oberg, Carroll and Macmahon.

Incorporating equity, diversity, and inclusion in science: Lessons learned from an undergraduate seminar

Questions of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the sciences have taken center stage in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. This paper focuses on the experiences of academics engaging in such work, particularly in their roles as educators, by sharing two of the authors' experiences introducing equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in a first-year science course at a Canadian university. Using critical research methodologies like narrative inquiry and memory work, we look at three separate instances where complex personal, institutional and course attributes fostered, allowed, or hindered efforts to bring these initiatives into the classroom. We consider how problematic incidents and obstacles relating to the organization of content on equity, diversity, and inclusion in science cropped up during the process, how they were perceived and handled in the moment, as well as the authors' reflections, takeaways, and lessons learned from the experience. These stories suggest that efforts to center discussions about equity, diversity, and inclusion in undergraduate science classrooms can be unpredictable and complex, particularly at the day-to-day level;this is especially the case when handling subtler microaggressions rather than clear instances of discrimination or harassment. Our study points to the importance of creating a more permanent institutional memory for initiatives that outlive those who initiated and organized them, so that they become embedded within the culture of a course or department. © 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.