I'll be the first to admit that when I think of the phrase "higher education," certain things come to mind: ivy-clad red brick buildings, crisp fall afternoons punctuated by the staccato sounds of a university drumline rehearsal, and young wide-eyed students hanging on every word from the profound professor who looms large over the time-worn lectern. These stylized visualizations are informed by my own experiences in college, surely, but also by larger cultural narratives that contour the shape of what we might mean when we say "higher education."
In this community, we'll talk with each other about ACEs and trauma-informed practices or care (TIC) in higher education. As we start co-creating this dialogue, we should pause and take stock of who or what counts as an institution of higher learning. When I was writing my dissertation (I went to graduate school at a large, urban, R1 university) and preparing to go on the job market, I fantasized about teaching at a particular kind of university (one with a killer marching band, idyllic tree-lined paths, and a vibrant scholarly community). My post-graduate reality, however, manifested as a slick, corporate-feeling community college with a strong trades/vocational program. No marching bands. No school song. Smart, travel-weary commuter students with three jobs and two kids. A 5/5 teaching load. Make no mistake, my community college is precisely where I am meant to be; I would not trade my good fortune for a sliver of a different reality. This experience, though, has opened my eyes to the fact that I've been guilty of failing to consider all the possible institutions that "count" as being in higher ed.
Too, I've come to realize when we talk about higher education, we may not all be on the same page. For some, categorizing a trade or vocational school as an institution of higher learning may feel strange. For others, thinking that students who attend an Ivy League college need any ACEs-related resources may be unfathomable. Taking time to acknowledge ways our mental pictures include or foreclose what counts as an institution in need of an ACEs perspective will, hopefully, encourage as many conversations to the table as possible.
The best practice, I think, is to open this conversation so that we may define what the term means to each of us. In this way, we can create a working conceptualization, perhaps fantasies and all, of what we mean when we say "ACEs in higher education."
What are your thoughts? Please join the conversation!
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