ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION WINTER 2023 - Forum: Supporting Mental Health - Part 3 - Creating a Multiculturally Responsive and Trauma-Informed Classroom Ecology for Diverse Learners

Oct 15, 2026

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Forum contribution on adult literacy education for winter 2023, centered on supporting mental health through a multiculturally responsive, trauma-informed classroom ecology. It grounds practice in adult learner demographic realities, highlighting multilingual, economically challenged, and trauma-affected populations, and explains how culture shapes trauma expression and resilience. The article outlines a multicultural theoretical framework using identity-intersectionality, SAMHSA’s six trauma-informed care components, and a layered ecological model to guide educator strategies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

The Need for a Multiculturally Responsive, Trauma-Informed Classroom Ecology

Adult learner diversity and prevalence of trauma

Culture’s role in trauma expression and resilience

Theoretical Framework

Identity, context, and intersectionality

SAMHSA trauma-informed care components

Layered ecological model and its levels

Application to Adult Learner Classrooms

ADULT LITERACY EDUCATION WINTER 2023 | [http://doi.org/10.35847/MMatalon.CClauss-Ehlers.5.1.55](http://doi.org/10.35847/MMatalon.CClauss-Ehlers.5.1.55) | | | --- | --- | | | Forum: Supporting Mental Health | (Part 3 of3) Creating a Multiculturally Responsive and Trauma-Informed Classroom Ecology for Diverse Learners: Collaboration, Classroom Community, and Identification of Systemic Barriers Maya Matalon and Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers Long Island University, Brooklyn The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO, 2022) Fifth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) highlights that vulnerable groups such as rural populations, migrants, prisoners, people with disabilities, and indigenous peoples are among those who would benefit from adult basic education. Hence, in the United States, learners attending federally funded adult education programs reflect diverse communities. In 2020 and 2021, 44% of adult learners identified as Hispanic/Latinx, 19% as Black/African American, 8% as Asian/Asian American, and 1% as American Indian or Alaska Native (National Reporting System for Adult Education [NRSA], 2021) . Among this cohort of 2020-2021 adult learners, most were English language learners with low-literacy and/or cultural barriers. Almost 25% were economically challenged (NRSA, 2021) . Trauma amongst these learners is also prevalent, with 44% of those participating inan adult basic education program reporting trauma (Miller-Roenigk et al. , 2021) . It is thus imperative for educators of adult learners to employ a multicultural approach that also accounts for traumas experienced by underserved populations due to racism, historical violence, discrimination, and immigration, among other experiences (Tummala-Narra, 2007) . Trauma-informed principles are inseparable from culture, as cultural groups share traumatic experiences that can become multigenerational and culturally defined (Tummala-Narra 2007) . Hence, how people experience and respond to trauma may be influenced by and dependent upon culture. For example, a response to trauma may reflect a cultural response to somatization of traumatic stress alongside living in a collective culture where the group is valued over the individual. Thus, an ataque de nervios that resembles a panic attack – and is a short lived, intense stress reaction that may include wailing, rocking, crying, and arm movements –reflects a culturally influenced expression of trauma (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) . Correspondingly, resilience in response to trauma may utilize cultural beliefs and values [Correspondence: maya.matalon@my.liu.edu | caroline.clauss-ehlers@liu.edu](Correspondence: maya.matalon@my.liu.edu | caroline.clauss-ehlers@liu.edu) 55 that can be based on culture-specific traumatic experiences, as well as interconnections among oneself, community, and environment (ClaussEhlers, 2008; Tummala-Narra, 2007) . Culturally focused resilient adaptation involves a process whereby individuals “[negotiate] stress through a combination of character traits, cultural background, cultural values, and facilitating factors in the sociocultural environment”(Clauss-Ehlers, 2004, p. 36) . This article exploreshow educators of adult basic education might enhance sensitivity to trauma and resilience from a multicultural perspective through the implementation of teaching and learning strategies that reflect an understanding of how culture and trauma intersect in the classroom. Theoretical Framework A multicultural approach locates identity, context, and intersectionality within broader systems including “age, generation, culture, language, gender, race, ethnicity, ability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, religion, spirituality, immigration status, education, and employment, among other variables”(Clauss-Ehlers et al. , 2019, p. 233) . The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA,

FAQs

Why is a multicultural and trauma-informed approach essential in adult literacy education?

Adult learners in federally funded programs come from diverse communities and many report cultural barriers and trauma. The text argues educators must account for racism, historical violence, discrimination, and immigration-related experiences that shape learning and well-being.

How does culture influence how learners experience and express trauma?

The article explains that trauma is interconnected with cultural beliefs and can become multigenerational. It gives an example of an ataque de nervios as a culturally influenced expression of traumatic stress and notes resilience may draw on culture-specific meanings and values.

What frameworks does the article use to support trauma-informed, multicultural practice?

It uses a multicultural approach to identity and intersectionality, SAMHSA’s six components of trauma-informed care, and a layered-ecological model describing nested systems that affect engagement and outcomes across individual, community, institutional, and contextual levels.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào