1st Edition

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and the Post-Secondary Music Class

Edited By Kimber Andrews, Kristy Swift Copyright 2025
    234 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    234 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and the Post-Secondary Music Class explores the theory and practice of teaching and learning in a traumatized world and aims to support instructors in guiding students and walking with them through challenges that impact learning. With analysis contextualized within definitions of trauma, critical theoretical trauma studies, and clinical understandings of the causes and effects of trauma on the brain and nervous system, the book offers ways to empower faculty and students to build classrooms where it is safe enough to address the stress and trauma of learning. Bringing together a unique multidisciplinary group of contributors, this book includes perspectives from both music faculty and mental health counseling specialists.

    The volume engages music scholars and educators in higher education with scholarship on trauma-informed pedagogy, provides examples of how to introduce trauma-informed practices into music courses, explores how trauma-informed practices can increase both faculty and student well-being, and offers practical materials such as syllabi and assignments that instructors can implement in their classes. Reaching across disciplinary boundaries to contribute to an emerging body of research, teaching, and learning, this is a vital collection for educators across music higher education.

    Table of Contents

     

    Prologue: An Interview of Associate Vice Provost and Professor Keisha Love, University of Cincinnati

     

    Introduction: Why Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Post-Secondary Music?

    Kimber Andrews and Kristy Swift

     

    Part I: Responding to Uncertainty, Stress and Trauma Through and With Music

    Kimber Andrews

     

    Chapter 1—Transcending Notes: A Trauma-Informed Care in Music Education for Re-membering and Re-embracing Our Wholeness

    Mays Imad

     

    Chapter 2—Teaching Traumatized Students

     

    Fred Maus

     

    Chapter 3—These Are Magic Words: On Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Ethnographic Fieldwork

    Drew B. Griffin

     

    Chapter 4—Designing Trauma-Informed Assessments in the Decolonised Music Classroom: UK and US Contexts

    Michelle Meinhart

     

    Chapter 5—Supporting Learners in the Possibility of Environmental Collapse: An Arts-Based and Trauma-Informed Course

    Tawnya D. Smith

     

    Chapter 6—Teaching Sound, Music, and Trauma

    Kristy Swift

     

    Part II: Intersectional Trauma–Informed Pedagogy and the Music Class

    Kristy Swift

     

    Chapter 7—Negotiating the Ambivalences of Safe Space through In-Class Open Mics

    Ryan Lambe

     

    Chapter 8––Trauma-informed and Universal-Design Approaches for Rigorous Training in Aural Skills

    Samantha Bassler

     

    Chapter 9––Antiracism as a Pedagogy of Care and Repair

    John Spilker-Beed

     

    Chapter 10––Trauma-Informed Vocal Pedagogy: Methods to Combat Racial Trauma in Black Singers Within the Vocal Studio

    Brandi L. Diggs

     

    Chapter 11––Becoming a Situated Ear: A Feminist, Trauma-Informed Approach to Aural Skills

    Vivian Luong

     

    Part III: Islands of Care: Cultivating Awareness, Connection, Growth, and Resilience

    Kimber Andrews

     

    Chapter 12—Creating the Container: Strategies for Building a Trauma-Informed, Nervous System-Aware Adult Learning Environment

    Jennifer King and Sylvia Hernandez

     

    Chapter 13—“Every Artist Is an Advocate”: Mentoring High-Achieving Students and Negotiating Institutional Pressure in Student Advocacy and Research

    Holly Riley and Noah Durnell

     

    Chapter 14—Staying Tuned In: Connecting Body and Brain to Deepen Understanding and Learning in the Music Classroom

    Amy Stenger-Sullivan

     

    Chapter 15—Firmly Grounded, So You Can Soar: How I Used Universal Design for Learning to Keep Teaching After Trauma

    Nicol Hammond

     

    Epilogue: Choice and Voice

    Quinn Patrick Ankrum

    Index

    Biography

    Kimber Andrews is an Associate Director at the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Cincinnati.

    Kristy Swift is Assistant Professor of Music Studies and Bachelor of Arts Music program director at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.