Chapter 10: Developing Trauma-Informed Teachers Through A Collaborative Mentor-Mentee Partnership Between a University Professor and In-service Teacher: One Approach for Humanizing Education and Learning Success

Parker Palmer (2017) points out that one’s heart is central to teaching; teaching is a “heartful” vocation. It is much more than just a job because it involves helping human beings develop their full potential. Relationships between teachers and students are located at the heart center of all education, with deep and palpable connections to trauma-informed teaching and learning.

As articulated by the editors, the goals of the collected chapters in this book involve showcasing models where educator preparation programs find ways to help teachers develop resiliency and agency. The cultivation of resilience, agency, and adaptability is more important now than ever and is part of trauma-informed teaching practices. As L’Estrange and Howard make clear, there is an increase in interest in these practices, but “research continues to highlight a lack of teacher preparedness to respond adequately and inclusively to trauma-affected students” (2022, p. 3). The relationship and collaboration described in this chapter provides an approach for developing trauma-informed teachers through an intentional mentor-mentee model, one that holds promise for advancing new teachers, helping them to cultivate resiliency, and retaining them in the profession.