Paulina Whitehat
Yá’át’ééh! (Hello!) I am Diné and I grew up on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona. I am a fourth year doctoral student/candidate in the Special Education program. I graduated from Arizona State University (B.A.), Northern Arizona University (M.Ed.), and Penn State (M.Ed.) and gained more than 15 years of teaching and school leadership experience in indigenous and diverse communities in Arizona and South Dakota. I taught elementary-age students and English language learners with/without disabilities. I provided intense literacy instruction in a MTSS/RtI and identified students eligible for special education services. I coordinated out-of-school programs and district-level programming, contributed to state and district school curriculum, and advocated for students and families to improve educational outcomes for students from historically/current underrepresented and oppressed backgrounds.
I moved to Eugene in 2017 to attend the UO and love hiking, camping, traveling, and exploring the coast and the outdoors in the Pacific Northwest. I love how welcoming and generous the indigenous peoples of Oregon are to everyone. I love to carve, bake salmon, bead, harvest cedar, berries, and hazel sticks; make baskets, and exchange indigenous knowledge with them.
My work in indigenous communities sparked my research interest about the effects of trauma on students. My research is focused on developing and implementing effective, culturally responsive interventions to build capacity for trauma-informed instruction and practices in school systems and communities; redressing the effects of adverse events so that individuals have opportunities to experience academic, professional, and personal success and positively contribute to their community; and effecting educational policies and countering the effects of poverty and trauma (e.g., historical, generational, complex) experienced by indigenous and oppressed students.
My current research examines the role of stress on teacher burnout and stress reduction, especially as teachers transition to online teaching. I am interested in improving wellness and mental health for students and school staff in school settings. I am currently working on a study that is modifying a reflective practice to address secondary traumatic stress of teachers who work with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
I plan to merge my experience with research activities, and apply and share this knowledge with educational stakeholders to positively engage staff and students in school and improve their wellness. I am committed to integrating anti-oppression and self-empowerment in my research and teaching practices to increase access, diversity, equity, inclusion, and opportunities for students who have been/are underrepresented and oppressed. Outside of school I spend time with my family and support my mother and indigenous communities by listening, taking action, and exchanging indigenous knowledge and wisdom.