| This qualitative study explores links between histories of trauma and excellent teaching in eight women's lives. Five of the women in the study have histories of sexual abuse, one of physical abuse, and two of traumatic loss. The women were interviewed two times and were observed once teaching in their classrooms. All are elementary school teachers considered to be exceptional practitioners by teaching colleagues or administrators along the lines of Ayers' (1986) definition of teaching excellence.;Adapting a voice-centered method (Brown et al., 1988) to visually display the overlap of two voices, I listened for stories of wounding and of healing in relation to each teachers' traumatic history. At the overlay of these two stories, a third became audible: one of transformation. My analysis of this overlay revealed a record of each woman's knowledge about teaching and about transformation of trauma. Specifically, that their histories of invisibility, silencing, and violation led them to create learning environments where children are seen, heard, and safe from trespass. The teachers' pedagogical aims were equally informed by their experiences of protective, sustaining relationships.;The role of seeing and of boundaries were described as central to excellent teaching. Teachers who were able to see themselves and their histories were able to see their students; boundaries that involved acknowledgment of self and other were protective and sustaining.;Differences were found in the way the two types of trauma were revealed in the women's teaching: Teachers who had experienced traumatic loss overtly used their histories in their curricula; teachers with histories of abuse could not explicitly draw upon their histories in their teaching due to stigmas associated with their wounding. This omission was seen as perpetuating a cultural silence about abuse which ignores that such histories can be invaluable sources of knowledge.;This study demonstrates that when teachers who have experienced trauma can name their pasts, as well as meanings they have struggled to make out of their histories, they have much to say about the process of education. These teachers' experiences of trauma shifted their vision and knowledge; their histories unmistakably shaped their teaching excellence. |
