Date of Award

Spring 5-15-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Patricia de Galarce

Second Advisor

Valerie Shinas

Third Advisor

Dana Osowiecki

Abstract

This qualitative case study examines the ways rural teachers implement trauma-sensitive practices despite having few resources and little institutional support. There is a lack of research regarding what teachers in these settings think about trauma-sensitive practice, how teachers implement trauma-sensitive practice within their classrooms, and what ecological factors contribute to the sustainability of trauma-sensitive practice. The primary question driving this research is “How do K–5 public school teachers in a rural-distant district in Virginia implement trauma-sensitive practices within the ecological systems that shape their professional roles, instructional decisions, and relational work with students?”  This question reflects the study’s purpose to investigate not only what teachers do but also how their efforts are shaped by systemic, institutional, and cultural factors. Utilizing the Teacher-Centered Ecological Systems Framework adapted from the Ecological Systems Theory developed by Bronfenbrenner (1979), this study was designed and carried out through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. This research found that trauma-sensitive practice is not conceptualized as a scripted pedagogy, but rather as relational practice, enacted through establishing routines and utilizing co-regulation and trust with students. Teachers’ ability to access and rely on other teachers to address trauma-sensitive practice helped to establish teacher efficacy. Conversely, teachers’ experiences with demands and expectations related to documentation, mental health resources, and compliance-oriented expectations created feelings of reduced autonomy and pressure. Finally, this study found that patterns related to stigma and silence surrounding trauma and mental health created challenges related to engaging with families and community norms. By examining patterns created over time, an overarching paradox emerged: there is greater understanding and education about trauma and trauma-sensitive practice. However, there is a corresponding and equally problematic escalation of emotional demands on teachers. Conditions for sustainability were identified through cross-system analysis: relational trust, well-being of adults, and system alignment and then utilized in feedback loops to highlight the impact of convergence and divergence on the sustainability of trauma-sensitive practice. This study provides a teacher-centric ecological framework for trauma-sensitive sustainability within the context of elementary-level schools in the rural environment and provides implications for teacher well-being within the structure of current landscapes.

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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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