Control, connection and meaning
Judith Herman describes trauma as caused by events that "overwhelm the
ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection and
meaning." (Herman, 1992:33) Many writers have suggested that for trauma
victims, therapy should be directed at helping the survivor regain a sense of
control, connection and meaning in her life. Through my earlier research
(1999/2000) I began to see some of the complexity around control, connection
and meaning in relation to education.
Control - Control is a complicated terrain. While some learners don't
like being controlled, they may also be mistrustful of being in control.
When students stop and start programs, they may be trying out some
form of control.
Connection - Connection is necessary for communication. We can't
assume learners can connect. Building connections may take a lot of
work and takes time.
Meaning - Trauma can result in a loss of "meaning." This may make
it hard to imagine goals and to find meaning in life or in words.
(Morrish, Horsman, Hofer, 2002:25-26)
During this current study I came to see even greater importance in these three
areas for youth, especially in the school system. These three themes weave
throughout this paper. Students continually reported their difficulties with the
lack of control they experienced in school, and described confrontations as they
sought to obtain control through skipping school, arriving late, misbehaving, or
failing to produce homework. The school and welfare systems try to take
control through removing students from violent homes, or removing them
from school when they commit violence, fail to attend, or fail to pay attention
in the required manner. These attempts increase the confrontations and do not,
I believe, support learning. Students and professionals spoke frequently of the
difficulty of creating connections across the institutional divide, and the
increasing challenge as cutbacks and school and welfare policies limit
connection between students and professionals in the school. In painful
contrast to these "rotective" limits, students state in a myriad of ways that
connection with adults who they can come to trust is perhaps the most
important aspect of supporting their learning. Students, teachers and other
professionals all spoke of their struggles to find meaning within their own work
and particularly to conceptualize "success." Because students who experience
violence at home or at school lose confidence and a sense of their own worth
and ability to act in the world, programming which supports the rebuilding of
an empowered self-concept is crucial to support learning. Shaping new
meanings for students and professionals may be a key step in finding creative
ways to enable students to learn successfully.
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