Exploration of School Social Work in the Decision Making-Practices of Public Schools

Exploration of School Social Work in the Decision Making-Practices of

Public Schools

Joanne Corbin, M.S.S., PhDAssociate Professor

Smith College School for Social WorkJune 28, 2011 - ACSSW Conference

Introduction

• School social workers’ involvement in the decision-making activities of the school is still the exception rather than the norm.

• Most social workers (beyond school social workers) consider this an aspect of generalist practice and assume these activities are a part of school social work practice.

• There may be two areas of confusion that explain this discrepancy:– The lack of precision in the language that school social workers

use to talk about their involvement in site based decision- making

– The differences in understanding among school social workers about whether school social workers should be involved in these activities.

• School social work involvement in decision-making activities of the school or district is the primary mechanism through which social workers address the systemic issues of education that affect child and adolescent development and vice versa.

• School social workers’ attention to systemic issues: – embraces their professional knowledge and skills,– reflects practice effectiveness,– extends their informal and formal power bases within the

school.

Social workers, whether entry level or veterans

of the field, need to pay more attention to leadership

and policy-making roles and their importance for the

achievement of social work goals. Maintaining a low

profile in the school will not result in an expansion of

services that are sorely needed; instead, it could result

in their demise.

(Allen-Meares, 1994, p. 564)

Job Dimensions & Tasks • Administrative and professional tasks

– Maintain records, participate in continuing education• Home-school liaison tasks

– Bring about partnership with parents, educational staff• Educational counseling

– Help students make the best use of resources• Facilitating and advocating families’ use of resources

– Act as liaison, advocate, facilitate referrals • Leadership and policy making

– Engage in professional leadership

(Allen-Meares, 1994)

Barriers to Working Systemically

• School social work training and preparation• Demands and expectations of other educators • High case loads • Assignments to several schools• Mandated services

(Dupper & Evans, 1996; Gottlieb & Gottlieb, 1971; Staudt, 1991)

Purpose of Current Study

• To identity the nature of social workers’ involvement in school based decision-making

• To understand social workers’ perspectives about their involvement in the decision-making activities of schools

• To determine the language that social workers use to describe this work

• To determine the barriers that need to be considered

Sample • Nonprobability expert sample of 13 (11 women, 2 men)• 5 primarily associated with school districts

– 2 school social workers (one in an independent school)• 1 also coordinated a SSW program at a higher education

institution– 3 worked in central offices (director of pupil services, division

director , educational consultant)

• 5 primarily associated with higher education– 3 professors– 1 director of field – 1 retired SSW professor

• 3 primarily associated with nonprofit mental health agencies – 1 agency director– 1 program manager– 1 clinician

Data

• Prior to attending the focus group participants were sent information about the study.

• They were asked to come with a completed demographic information page. They were also asked to list the teams on which school social workers should participate.

• The focus group discussion questions addressed: – the nature of social workers’ participation in school based decision-making

activities– their involvement in specific teams and activities and the function of social

workers at these meetings– the barriers to social workers practicing in these ways– the preparation of social work interns

Teams in Which to Involve School Social Workers

• School based management teams• Administrative meetings (Principal, Asst Principal, Head of Guidance, etc.)• Strategic visioning meetings involving levels of the school community • Key subcommittees• Internal teams• Special education team meetings, 504 accommodation plan meetings• Grade level and school wide meeting to address achievement and

adjustment issues • Case conferences and pre-referral meetings• Meeting with parents, staff, and children • School Improvement Team • Student Staff Support teams

Teams in Which to Involve School Social Workers - cont

• Crisis Response Teams • RTI (Response to Intervention)• PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports)• Resource coordinating teams • Parent involvement related activities • Parent-school interface • Community teams working against racism, segregation, neglect of public

schools • All teams should involve the social worker as coordinator, facilitator• School social workers should be involved in as many meetings as possible• Must be central to the school process overall

Major Themes of Focus Group Discussion

1. Integration of social work knowledge and skills2. Languaging - the language used to talk about this

work3. Connection and conversation4. How school social workers do this work5. Concerns about the way school social workers work6. Professional development and preparation 7. Barriers

Theme 1: Integration of Social Work Knowledge and Skills

• The unique knowledge or set of skills that school social workers bring to the school.

– Knowledge of teamwork– Ability to handle emotionality of school decisions,

such as, school closings. – Clinical skills– Skills as a change agent

Theme 1 cont: Integration of Social Work Knowledge and Skills

• Half the comments on this theme reflected the perception that outside of school social workers the unique knowledge base of social workers was not widely known.

One administrator suggested that social workers should bring this

issue up in schools: “I think it would go a long way towards saying

this is what we can bring to you and this is how we can help you

make those changes that you want to do, because until you address

those social issues, we’re not going to close the achievement gap”


• Being part of a team and knowledgeable about teams was important– To shape the culture of the school– To create a learning environment where teaching

and learning can take place– To raise the issues that prevent the creation of

this learning environment– To have an impact on a larger group of people – To develop relationships with others because

social work cannot do this work alone


One participant raised the issue that social workers must be involved in systemic issues in order not to be marginalized within the school.

“How do we as social workers let others know that

we look at systems change, we look at culture

change, that’s part of what we do, that we’re not

just individual therapists….”


• Other specific areas of knowledge and skills included:– Social justice and advocacy– Facilitate the work of the school– Partner with others– Collaborate – Assessment– Multisystemic piece

• Liaison• Cultural catalyst• Community-based• Systemic interventions

Theme 1: One participant graphically captured the discussion on how school social workers were involved in school decision-making

Consultative & Collaborative

Capacity BuildingReciprocal Learning

Intervention & Direct Service

Student InterventionIndividual Planning

Co-planning

Shaping of Culture

Assessment & Future Planning

Systemic SupportPolicy Making

School SocialWorker

Theme 2: Languaging – the language used to talk about this work

• Clinical language • Mission of the school • Implications of the language that is used

Theme 2 cont: Languaging

• Nearly all participants agreed that the clinical perspective was an important aspect of what school social workers contributed.

• Specific comments included: – “Everything I do in a school is an intervention”– “the school is your client…”– “any exchange is considered a clinical exchange…. but as

soon as I use clinical language I’m dead.”

• This last comment represented the dilemma of using clinical language in the school setting.


• Other comments about using clinical language in the school setting: – Several commented on the importance of not using clinical

language when working in schools. One explained “…because when we used social work language it feels like it is layered on top of what they [educators] have to do – it is something extra.”

– One used the word Translator to describe the experience: “It is two systems coming together”

– Another indicated the importance of using language that was consistent with the school system.


• This prior comment led to a major discussion and consensus on the importance of connecting social work language to the mission of the school.

– It is important to use language that addresses alignment with the school’s mission and the educational priorities

– School social workers must understand their identity and its relationship to the mission of the school

One stated, “Every single person is there for the mission of the school and we are integral to that.”


• Implications of the language that is used.

• One administrator commented,

“What you’ve said here today … this

alignment, this catalyst for change. It’s scary

language but it’s hugely important.”

Theme 3: Connection and Conversation

• Social workers must develop connections with the key people (principal, superintendent) within the school/district and maintain these connections– Social workers must have informal conversations with

administrators so they can recognize what social work can bring to the school.

• One stated; “… the collaboration between the teacher and principal is automatic; social workers must get access to the principal.”

• Another stated, “The more you do that, the more they begin to recognize [what social workers can do].”

Theme 3: Connection and Conversation

• Several comments reflected that school social workers do not know how decisions get made in the school; therefore they do not know what they are missing.

• One commented, “Social workers must consider themselves to be change agents who can identify what characteristics and skills they bring and determine what role they can play in shaping some aspect of the school.”

Theme 4: How School Social Workers Do This Work

• Important to enter the school through the school’s mission

• Assess the system upon entering the school• Understand the culture of the school

“…stand back from the system and look at it in a way that we really take it in and hear it and find out where everybody is coming from, who the stakeholders are and tailor our interventions to how we read that. ”

Theme 4 cont: How School Social Workers Do This Work

• Show / Demonstrate our work– “It’s show don’t tell….the invitation will come in.”

• Do something that involves others– Develop a systematic way of involving others in the work,

especially those whose perspectives are not always included.

• Be part of an interdisciplinary team• Document what we do

– “…it is important to develop statistics that show the work that people are doing. Making sure that administrators get those.”

Theme 5: Concerns About the Way School Social Workers Work

• Many comments addressed the perception of school social workers as outsiders – This perception on the part of others in the school means

that social workers may not be at the table for school based decision-making.

• Comments reflected that school social workers were not helping schools bridge the cultural gap between school and home

• Isolated nature of the work– “the difficulty with school social work is that it is isolated

and there’s no one there to help.”

Theme 6: Professional Development and Preparation

• Development of a learning community – For school social workers in the early formation of their

identity• Important to address learning needs of all social workers

– Content areas would be important for all educators as well– Specific content of such a learning community:

• Purpose of education and central work of schools• Helping educators understand mental health• Preparing social workers for the work as change agents• Changing perceptions of the narrow understanding of

clinical work • Training social workers to work as part of a team

Theme 6 cont: Professional Development and Preparation

• Preparation for social work interns– Learn the balance of the clinical role and the

agent of change role– Importance of mentorship and supervision as

interns are learning to work in this way. • “Seeing it happening is worth a thousand words of

instruction.”

– Importance of educating interns about the leadership role that they can have in schools AND developing an expectation that they will have a leadership role in the school.

Theme 7: Barriers

• Funding and contractual issues• Racism and biases• Social worker’s role as advocate

– Being an advocate implies that one is advocating against something

• Informal pressure– School social workers may not be included in some

decision-making of the school because no one has seen it that way before. “Social workers need to exert pressure to open the system up in new ways.”

• Preparation in schools of social work• Ongoing professional development

Theme 7 cont:Barriers that School Social Workers Raise

• Lack of interest in school based decision-making• Do not articulate the nature of social work and their

excitement about this work to others well. • Need to learn ways to address difficult situations

– Several comments indicated that school social workers need to learn how to deal with difficult systems or difficult people in the system.

– Important not to avoid these difficult situations and to know how not to be drawn into the warfare.

Implications• The encompassing nature of school social work in

school based decision-making .– The work that was described by these participants

reflected all five of the job dimensions identified by Allen-Meares (1994).

– The participants identified the many ways school social workers contributed to school and district decision-making which can help other social workers understand the full range of possibilities for engaging in school based decision-making.

Implications cont

• The work that was described supported the need for preparation, experience, mentorship and supervision of new school social workers.

• The encompassing nature of the work presents a challenge of finding useful and concise language to explain what school social workers do.

Implications cont

• Importance of reconceptualizing the work of school social workers in a “host agency.” – The new conceptualization must include a vision of school

social work in a more equal partnership and integral role within the school. School social workers will need to take leadership on this and model the new ways of working.

• Social workers must do what we do best – engage in the conversations and connect to the key people in the schools and districts to let them know in specific ways that school social workers have the knowledge and skills that can support the mission of the school.

A single significant strength of social workin the schools lies in its availability in the regular, daily living experience of all children. A second strength is the unique opportunity of the school social worker to work as a member of the faculty with other professional and policymaking persons in a large social institution toward modification of the educational process.

Mildred Sikkema, 1949, p. 453

Documents

Exploration of School Social Work in the Decision Making-Practices of Public Schools