Abstract
This paper discusses findings of a two-year research project on the impact of violence in students’ lives and how it affects their learning, including their academic performance and sense of future potential. This is a critical issue that affects social studies in the humanities and has implications for the human condition more broadly. Based on North American data significant numbers of students in colleges and universities, particularly women, are experiencing violence and harm both on campus and in the home. These experiences of violence have been exacerbated in the past two years due to isolation as a result of the pandemic. The implications of these experiences have a profound effect on students. Those who live with, witness, or fear such violence in its many forms are living in what has been called “a dialectic of trauma”. It is this trauma, fear and silence that prevent students from fully engaging in their learning and in co-curricular campus life activities. Indeed, the experience of violence is an impediment to students’ equal access to education, a significant issue for pedagogical practice yet one rarely addressed. Effectively identifying and responding to the harm and violence in students’ lives is critical to the success of our increasingly diverse student populations. In addition to sharing research methods and findings, the author proposes recommendations for teaching practices to address such impacts – practices that will, in effect, address educating for a new humanity.
Presenters
Connie GubermanAssociate Professor, Teaching, Historical and Cultural Studies, University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Past and Present in the Humanistic Education
KEYWORDS
PEDAGOGY,VIOLENCE, HUMANITIES
