Ghosts and Contagion: Metaphors of Teacher Primary and Secondary Trauma to Access Reflection for Generative Change

Two potent metaphors emerged within discourses produced by seven teachers in a professional learning community (PLC) focused on negotiating trauma-informed practices within a low-income urban middle school. Teachers themselves come to school with past traumas and in turn experience secondary trauma, which participants talked about as “triggers,” or ghosts, and contagions. This study considers the possibility of reflection in teacher PLCs to rewrite metaphors of harm to produce generative agency among teachers.