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Cognition and learning outcomes are known to be affected by childhood adversity (Lund et al., 2020) with trauma from sexual abuse categorised at the highest threat level and therefore linked to the highest potential impact (McLaughlin & Sheridan, 2016). My heuristic inquiry explored primary school experiences with survivors of intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse from an adult male. Twelve women (research partners) spoke at length with me and discussed, among other reflections, how challenging learning in mathematics had been. This blog post highlights how trauma from intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse influenced development of self-identified difficulties with mathematics and considers how to disrupt this process.

Chinn (2015) has investigated difficulties with mathematics and identified interrelationships between teacher, child and mathematics as an influential factor. Childhood sexual abuse involves ‘’ (p. 15) which affects ongoing relationships and has subsequent implications for relational aspects of teaching.

Other underpinning factors for learning mathematics, such as recognising symbols and recall of facts, are inextricably linked to executive function in visual processing, attention and working memory (Chinn, 2015). Difficulties in executive function have been linked to childhood adversity (Lund et al., 2020). In addition to this, anxiety impacts working memory (Moore et al., 2015) which, when combined with teaching methods which rely on ‘answer getting and memorising procedures’, (p. 6) places impossible demands on some learners. My research connected trauma responses with impact on executive function, anxiety and relationships with teachers, identifying the foundations of research partners’ challenges in mathematics.

‘Difficulties in executive function have been linked to childhood adversity … anxiety impacts working memory which, when combined with teaching methods which rely on “answer getting and memorising procedures”, places impossible demands on some learners.’

Lived experience illuminates trauma-driven challenges in mathematical learning

Research partners in my study discussed their anxiety for and difficulties with mathematics. These varied from being ‘not very good at maths’ (Lara) through to ‘panic’ (Becky) and feeling ‘illiterate in maths’ and ‘ashamed’ (Hazel). Although differing in intensity, struggles occurred when remembering classroom explanation or instructions along with mathematical processes and number facts. The research partners were extremely anxious about getting things wrong and, importantly, were simultaneously trying to avoid drawing attention to their difficulties: actively seeking invisibility.

Trauma also impacted concentration through hypervigilance when attention was prioritised on watching for the next danger, and through dissociation which varied from feeling numb or not present to more severe experiences, for example:

You know that jelly, you see around tadpoles? … I’m in the middle. And then there’s this wall of whatever (pause) and then everything else (pause) is happening on the other side of the jelly. (Harriet)

The combined effects of their lived experience led to gaps in incrementally learned mathematical procedures and number facts, the building blocks of mathematics, which had ongoing impact on understanding, retention and consequent anxiety. This seemed to align with a ‘triple task effect and the affective drop in performance’ (Moore et al., 2015, p. 326) operating between ‘mathematics anxiety, working memory, and mathematical performance’.

How to disrupt the cycle of mathematics anxiety?

The approach of teaching mathematics for social justice promotes inclusive classrooms and supports engagement for children who struggle with mathematics through problem-solving activities with genuine meaning and connection to their lives. Additionally, relational, trauma-aware practice facilitates self-awareness and emotional literacy disrupting trauma responses which can be pervasive (Brunzell, 2021). I propose that trauma-aware and social justice practices should be combined for better engagement and success in mathematics and across the curriculum. This could address barriers to learning from trauma, which is frequently hidden, along with other unmet learning needs, delivering success broadly through ‘positive, pro-social experiences that promote overall growth and wellbeing’ (Lund et al., 2020, p. 17).

References

Brunzell, T. (2021). Trauma-aware practice and positive education. In M. L. Kern and M. L. Wehmeyer (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of positive education, (pp. 205–223). Palgrave Macmillan.

Chinn, S. (Ed.) (2015). The Routledge international handbook of dyscalculia and mathematical learning difficulties. Routledge.

Lund, J. I., Toombsa, E., Radforda, A., Bolesa, K., & Mushquash, C. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences and executive function difficulties in children: A systematic review. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106, 1–19.

McLaughlin, K. A., & Sheridan, M. A. (2016). Beyond cumulative risk: A dimensional approach to childhood adversity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(4), 239–245.

Moore, A. M., McAuley, A. J., Allred, G. A., & Ashcraft, M. H. (2015). Mathematics anxiety, working memory, and mathematical performance: The triple task effect and the affective drop in performance. In S. Chinn (Ed.) The Routledge international handbook of dyscalculia and mathematical learning difficulties (pp. 326–336). Routledge.