REFLECTION FROM THE FIELD Trigger warnings in university teaching (original) (raw)
Related papers
Uncoddling the American Mind: The Educational Ask of Trigger Warnings
Philosophy of Education , 2020
Over the last few years there has been growing attention to the work of schools-be it primary, secondary, or tertiary-as they provide (or fail to provide) students an education that is safe and inclusive. The rise of "safe spaces" and the development of practices that attend to the diverse student body have led to a veritable explosion of research, opinions, and debates about the contemporary state of education and its subjects. A central concept within this conversation is the rise of and request for trigger warnings. The "trigger warning"-a request for a pre-emptive warning about difficult material that could trigger past trauma-has often come to act as a stand-in that represents the larger fragile new world that places of learning have supposedly become. Students, within this context, have become snowflakes while faculty have become frightened of, or resistant to, students. However, rather than bemoan the rise of trigger warnings, so often done in op-ed pages and other journalistic sites, I argue that the request for trigger warnings by students represents an important educational ask. In this paper, I offer an argument that centralizes and unpacks the educational ask of trigger warnings, moving to the side of political and therapeutic discourses that have dominated how to receive the requests for trigger warnings.
The academically destructive nature of trigger warnings
First Amendment Studies, 2016
Trigger warnings are the latest concession to the notion espoused by some students and progressive professors that learning, particularly in higher education, should be pain-free psychologically. Such a premise is antithetical to the values of academic freedom and the marketplace of ideas and is inconsistent with students' learning and confronting ideas with which they are unfamiliar and which are outside of their comfort zone. Yielding to demands for trigger warnings when exposing students to ideas, topics and exchanges that may become uncomfortable negates growth for students. In short, acquiescing to the self-serving demands for trigger warnings makes education nothing but the reaffirming of ideas and positions with which students enter the academy. This article may upset undergraduates and progressive faculty and administrators…deal with it.
Trigger warnings as respect for student boundaries in university classrooms
Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy
The fierce public and scholarly debate over trigger warnings in university classrooms has often characterized the issue as one of academic freedom and ignored the social justice arguments for trigger warnings. In this essay, we argue that trigger warnings expand academic speech by engaging students more fully in their own learning. Specifically, we understand trigger warnings as a means of respecting students' intellectual, emotional, and physical boundaries. By framing trigger warnings in this way, we argue that they are tools of worldmaking to the degree that they promise to improve accessibility, engage students better in learning, and cultivate more socially just and livable campuses.
Trigger Warnings: From Panic to Data
Journal of Legal Education, 2017
Introduction Following a practice originated online, university faculty and staff have increasingly used “trigger warnings” to alert students to the possibility that they might be affected or even harmed by potentially traumatic material. This practice has led to a passionate debate about whether such warnings stifle or encourage student expression and academic freedom, and whether they are beneficial or detrimental to learning. In this article, we illustrate the history and current state of this debate, and examine the scientific support for the arguments for and against the use of such warnings. Specifically, we question the scientific basis for the suggestion that trigger warnings may foreclose critical analysis, while highlighting the negative impacts of forcing victims of assault to bear their trauma unaided. We discuss the state of research on the impact of trigger warnings on student learning and mental health. The article concludes with recommendations about how to construct...
Exempting the university: Trigger warnings and intellectual space
First Amendment Studies, 2016
In the controversy over trigger warnings, authors tend to focus more on the warning rather than the trigger aspect of the debate. Trigger warnings serve as an important means to understand the nature of universities as well as how students, professors, and administrators view the university experience. I contend that trigger warnings should be seen as campus-wide interventions, not limited only to classrooms. After all, trauma can be triggered anywhere. This article argues that the trigger warnings controversy signifies the presence of an institutional crisis for universities, especially in relation to the allocation of resources necessary to help students suffering from trauma. Debating the use of trigger warnings is one thing; however, if students feel threatened or if they suffer trauma from controversial material, then the university needs to set aside resources to help students succeed. Eleanor Amaranth Lockhart's essay in this issue argues that trigger warnings preserve freedom of speech and academic freedom. The warnings, according to Lockhart, provide protection for students because they prepare them for an imminent conversation on controversial issues. By creating a safe physical and mental space for communication, professors strive for the "inclusion of people with mental disabilities and trauma in society, and to increase the overall diversity of the college classroom. " 1 Consequently, rather than diminish or threaten academic freedom, trigger warnings, counterintuitively, allow for greater academic freedom. Lockhart's argument in favor of trigger warnings deflects attention away from one of the most important parts of the trigger warning debate: What happens when the learning material in the classroom does trigger a traumatic response from students? Triggers, Colleen Flaherty notes in Inside Higher Education, may refer to any fiction or nonfiction depiction of sexual assault, violence, "classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression. " 2 For those who support them, professors should use trigger warnings because the triggers from a text may disrupt learning or cause individuals to feel unsafe in the classroom. 3 In her article, Lockhart presumes that the students will still be able to respond to the material after they receive a context and/or trigger warning.
Conceal and Carry: Communicating about Trauma, Triggers, and Second Assaults in the Classroom
2018
SECTION 6.6 (IM)POSSIBLE FUTURE ARTICULATIONS….…………………………………………… CHAPTER ONE The Scope of the Trigger Warning Debate 2013 was "the year of trigger warnings," according to Slate Magazine. 1 Though the term dates back to the early twentieth century, "trigger warnings" gained traction within online feminist communities in the 1990s. 2 Trigger warnings are disclaimers or forewarnings that alert audiences that content contains the potential for negative affective responses. 3 Often, they are used before exposing audiences to graphic or traumatic material, such as depictions of sexual violence. 4 Trigger warnings, I argue, are a visible marker of the need for a corrective response to a pervasive rape culture. 5
Trigger Warnings: Compassion is not censorship
2016
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the pedagogical utility of trigger warnings in relation to fostering a culture of informed learning that creates an atmosphere of agency and accountability between educators and students, thus providing university instructors and administrators with an alternative framework to understand the value of such warnings. While supporting the use of trigger warnings as a pedagogical tool, we also aim to problematize the use of the phrase 'trigger warning' and question the value of adopting universal trigger warning policies.
Trigger Warnings: Caring or Coddling
The Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association, 2017
Trigger warnings are proposed as a strategy to keep university students safe from potentially distressing material. While used internationally for several years, they have begun to be formally implemented in some Australian universities. This paper provides a critical review of the underlying theoretical premises of trigger warnings and the personal and professional impact of such warnings for students in health professions. As with most short-term avoidance strategies, trigger warnings are likely to have a negative impact on student mental health, rather than improve it. The warnings undermine the autonomy and selfmanagement skills of students as independent, adult learners. If these warnings become more widespread, they have significant implications for the resilience of students. For students in health professions, who need skills to manage a wide-range of often unpleasant topics and provide responsive and competent treatment for their patients, they have the potential to result in adverse outcomes in patient care. The development of coping skills to flexibly self-manage and self-regulate emotions and behaviour is an important graduate attribute and provides an alternative to counterproductive trigger warnings.
2016
sent a welcome letter to incoming students. The letter emphasized its "commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression… without fear of censorship". Watch out! Trigger warnings signpost difficult material, giving the audience a chance to prepare. Mobilus In Mobili/Flickr, CC BY-SA October 10, 2016 6.02am AEDT