Towards a Pedagogy of Trauma: Experiences of Paramedics and Firefighters in a COVID-19 Era and Opportunities for Transformative Learning

Abstract

Many workers, especially first responders, experience trauma at work. We gathered experiences of frontline workers in Berlin during COVID-19 and theorize those experiences within an education paradigm. Their experiences were written as part of their reflective writing on a hazard prevention course for emergency workers in 2022. The theorizing focuses on the struggle for meaning precipitated by the student’s experiences of trauma and makes a case for understanding how this may prompt significant learning—even transformative learning—for individuals and possibly the broader society. This theoretical analysis is informed by Carol Gilligan, Axel Honneth, Oskar Negt and Jack Mezirow who help reconnect professional with personal interests and thinking with the emotional dimensions of work. We propose a critical analysis of the ways in which the instrumental, procedural and professional imperatives are disconnected from the personal and emotional dimensions of trauma work. Their struggle for recognition also assists in understanding these connections. The thinking/emotional divide and professional/personal splits are themselves a trauma and the pedagogy of reconnection is transformative.

COVID-19 and Collective Transformation: Changes in Online Nursing Faculty Pedagogical Practices

“…The recent pandemic was a catalyst for large-scale social change and posed an important question for researchers to understand social and collective change as a result of experiencing a common disorienting event (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2020, 2021, 2022). During COVID-19, people around the world experienced the feeling of not-knowing how to cope, coupled with fear and anxiety during this new situation (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2022; Singaram & Sofika, 2022).…”

“…The recent pandemic was a catalyst for large-scale social change and posed an important question for researchers to understand social and collective change as a result of experiencing a common disorienting event (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2020, 2021, 2022). During COVID-19, people around the world experienced the feeling of not-knowing how to cope, coupled with fear and anxiety during this new situation (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2022; Singaram & Sofika, 2022). According to Eschenbacher and Fleming (2022) this not-knowing can be frightening, but it has potential for transformation, allowing them to explore their current ways of knowing and being in the world and how they may change those ways for the future (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2020).…”

“…During COVID-19, people around the world experienced the feeling of not-knowing how to cope, coupled with fear and anxiety during this new situation (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2022; Singaram & Sofika, 2022). According to Eschenbacher and Fleming (2022) this not-knowing can be frightening, but it has potential for transformation, allowing them to explore their current ways of knowing and being in the world and how they may change those ways for the future (Eschenbacher & Fleming, 2020). Eschenbacher and Fleming (2022) argued that in times of crisis and trauma, there are opportunities for growth, choice, and transformation for individuals and societies.…”