Date of Award
5-12-2026
Document Type
Non Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education
Program
Trauma and Resilience in Educational Settings
Capstone Instructor
Timothy Hasser
Second Reader
Theresa Marty
Keywords
adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), children’s books, children’s literature, false belief understanding (FBU), social-emotional learning (SEL), resilience, Theory of Mind (ToM), trauma
Abstract
This Capstone Paper investigated how trauma affected learning in the classroom and how narrative-based interventions to support students facing adversity. The two dovetailed to show how children’s literature could be used as a tool for supporting students facing adversity. A comprehensive review of the existing literature was conducted that sought to answer the question: What are the potential impacts of trauma on learning, and how can children's literature that explores trauma be used to foster resilience and recovery in students who have experienced adversity? Research on the impact of trauma on learning and research on children’s literature often existed separately. This synthesis explored how to bridge the two to identify how stories facilitated recovery in the face of adversity. Fifteen original, peer-reviewed research studies spanned across the United States, Slovakia, Indonesia, China, and Japan. The studies analyzed a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Findings suggested that ACEs contributed to negative school outcomes for students such as absenteeism, higher dropout rate, lack of school engagement, and more behavioral issues. However, the data revealed that children’s literature served as a protective framework through narrative displacement and behavioral modeling. This allowed students to practice coping skills safely. When stories portrayed honesty and provided cultural mirroring, the research showed measurable gains in resilience and narrowed the achievement gap for students facing adversity. Synthesis of the data suggested that intentional stories as an intervention resulted in significant gains in academic and emotional recovery.