Alex Shevrin Venet

Head shot of Alex Shevrin VenetAbout Alex Shevrin Venet

Alex Shevrin Venet is an educator, author, and professional development facilitator based in Vermont. She began her career teaching English at an alternative therapeutic school where she later served as a school leader. Currently, Alex teaches courses in the humanities and education at Antioch College of Vermont, Antioch University New Englad, and Castelton University. She facilitates equity-centered trauma-informed workshops for educators at all levels, including presenting nationally at conferences as an independent consultant for schools and districts. Alex co-organizes Edcamp Vermont and the Trauma Informed Educators Network Conference. Alex’s writing has appeared in Edutopia, Mindshift, and the School Library Journal. Her first book is Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education from Norton. You can learn more about her work at unconditionallearning.org

Learning Series Session – Trauma as lens, not a label

Trauma is on many educators’ minds as we travel through the third pandemic-affected school year. But how should we understand how trauma shows up for individual students and our collective school communities? How can we ensure we do not further label, stigmatize, and marginalize students impacted by trauma? In this webinar, Alex Shevrin Venet discusses the universal and proactive nature of trauma-informed education, focusing on the idea that trauma is a lens, not a label. Learn about proactive and universal ways to implement trauma-informed practices, and pitfalls to avoid.

Books:

Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education

Cover of Alex Shevrin Venet's book Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education

Trauma-informed initiatives tend to focus on the challenging behaviors of students and ascribe them to circumstances that students are facing outside of school. This approach ignores the reality that inequity itself causes trauma, and that schools often heighten inequities when implementing trauma-informed practices that are not based in educational equity.

In this fresh look at trauma-informed practice, Alex Shevrin Venet urges educators to shift equity to the center as they consider policies and professional development. Using a framework of six principles for equity-centered trauma-informed education, Venet offers practical action steps that teachers and school leaders can take from any starting point, using the resources and influence at their disposal to make shifts in practice, pedagogy, and policy. Overthrowing inequitable systems is a process, not an overnight change. But transformation is possible when educators work together, and teachers can do more than they realize from within their own classrooms.