Browsing by Subject "Attention"

Objectives. This thesis will use Russian-American psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner’s  Bioecological theory of Human Development. This theory applies to the topic of trauma because it suitably explains the complexity of trauma through the theory’s outline of human development occurring in complex multiple layers of influence and differing levels of reciprocal interaction. In addition, it is considered to be a cross-cultural theory. Methods. Method for this thesis is a narrative literature review. A Narrative literature reviews have a less rigid structure than a systematic literature review, but still considered a qualitative analysis. As it name illudes to a narrative literature review is a narration of a carefully curated collection of articles, analyzed through the lens of the researchers own experiences, and through the use of a grounding theory. Although this method is more typcal for a bachelor’s thesis, it should not be underestimated as the literature review is the starting point of any research, to discover what has already been studied in order to build upon that. Selection of Topic: Trauma is not a new topic. As mentioned in the history of trauma section, its roots are in the battle fatigue experienced by soldiers returning from World Wars I and II. However, as a topic in education is relatively new, and the extent of its novelty also depends on geography. In the United States, it has been researched and written about, and foundations and centers on the topic have been created. In the Nordic countries, trauma’s effect on learning has not received comparable levels of attention.  Results and conclusions. Are teachers aware of trauma, its manifestations, and how manifestations of trauma can mimic manifestations of learning disabilities? Is the one question this thesis asked and the answer is some do. This literature review has demonstrated that certain countries or regions, particuarly the U.S have extensive published research on trauma as well as a plethora of resources in a range of academic fields studying it. It also highlights the glaring gaps in research and literature on this topic in certain regions, most notably the Nordic countries. This leads me to ask why have the Nordic countries, especially Finland, the world leader in education, are not researching this topic and applying findings to teacher training and improving learning outcomes.