Rising Above the Suffering: Assessing Agricultural Educators with Traumatic Situations Involvement in Supporting Students with Adverse Childhood Experiences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2930Keywords:
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Childhood Trauma, Agricultural EducationAbstract
Agricultural educators have had a profound impact on their students since the SBAE program’s inception. Many of these students have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and utilize their agricultural educator(s) as a role model due to the strong multi-year, teacher-student relationship they are able to form. This relationship is one of the most powerful strategies available to educators to mitigate the negative effects of ACEs that can last into adulthood. While agricultural educators are uniquely positioned to support students with ACEs, they often feel unconfident in their abilities, which can cause additional stress, often leading to professional burnout. This study sought to assess how agricultural educators who have experienced personal childhood trauma support students who might be experiencing ACEs. This study utilized responses from nine agricultural educators from Oklahoma and Louisiana who discussed their personal traumatic experiences and how they approach emotionally supporting students with ACEs. We used an inductive coding process, guided by open and axial coding to form themes and subthemes. Overall, we determined that agricultural educators have a passion for supporting students experiencing these negative situations, and most leverage their personal past traumatic experiences to connect with students. This support is driven by personal experiences, providing opportunities for mentorship, emotional support, and a positive teacher-student relationship. Adversely, this type of support could also cause educators to potentially overshare about past traumatic events, creating negative legal and ethical implications for educators.
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