"I Just Broke Down": Critical Care and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Multilingual Schools

Abstract

Drawing on nearly a decade of qualitative data collection and educator engagement at an immigrant-serving high school in Philadelphia, this essay explores the intersections of critical multilingual pedagogy with secondary traumatic stress (STS). STS is a mental health condition impacting professionals who work closely with trauma-impacted individuals, which can adversely impact their job satisfaction and career trajectories. Weaving teacher accounts with scholarship on critical care, STS, and teachers’ working conditions, the authors paint a complex picture of how, in spite of its myriad benefits for students, critical care can increase educators’ risk of developing STS in multilingual, immigrant- serving schools, especially in disenfranchised communities. Their analysis highlights the importance of working conditions and co-worker solidarity in either amplifying or reducing STS. These findings suggest the need for systemic approaches to understanding how secondary traumatic stress develops in schools and offer implications for school leaders and teacher educators, alike.