Living Between Pedagogy and Therapy: A Critical Autoethnographic Examination of Trauma-Informed Educational Practice in Jamaica and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Abstract

This critical autoethnographic study examines the intersection of education, counselling, and trauma-informed practice through twenty-eight years of professional experience in Jamaica and the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Drawing upon roles as classroom teacher, school counsellor, and Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) instructor, the study examines how repeated encounters with students affected by trauma challenge traditional distinctions between academic instruction and emotional support. Using critical autoethnography informed by trauma theory, post-colonial scholarship, and critical pedagogy, the paper interrogates educational structures that priorities academic achievement while marginalizing emotional wellbeing. Through systematic reflection on professional practice, recurring themes emerged, including the separation of learning from wellbeing, the limitations of reactive intervention models, the centrality of relationships in educational engagement, and the influence of colonial educational legacies on contemporary schooling. The study culminates in the development of Trauma-Informed Curriculum Design (TICD), a conceptual framework that positions emotional wellbeing, relational learning, and resilience-building as core curricular concerns rather than supplementary support services. By contributing a Caribbean perspective to the expanding field of trauma-informed education, this study advances Trauma-Informed Curriculum Design (TICD) as a framework for integrating wellbeing, resilience, and relational learning into curriculum development and educational reform.