Survivors of the Storm: Teaching in a Post-Katrina World

Abstract

This article describes the independent reading and research project of an early childhood education graduate student who taught in a school district heavily impacted by Hurricane Katrina. She surveyed a sample of kindergarten teachers in the district to determine how they were responding in the aftermath of Katrina. The voices of teachers reflect their personal and professional struggles as they went about teaching in a post-Katrina world. She describes the challenges she faced in completing this project and what she learned through this experience.

Teachers as first responders in tragedy: The role of emotion in teacher adjustment eighteen months post-earthquake

“…For teachers in particular, the workload demands are likely to increase post-disaster, as they deal with their own personal losses in addition to their students' need for pastoral care and new educational challenges (Carlson, Monk, Irons, & Walker, 2010;Kuriansky, 2013). Lowery and Burts (2007) found elevated rates of depression, apprehension, and fear in teachers, along with financial and personal property loss following Hurricane Katrina. Teachers in this study described teaching under "survival circumstances" (p.72) due to not having electricity, sewerage, and water at home.…”