The Voices of Staff Members

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Astor ◽  
Rami Benbenishty
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
District Leadership ◽  
Student Behaviors ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Burn Out ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Source Of Information

The voices of staff members are important to any school improvement process. The perceptions of those who work in a school can have a significant impact on the environment within that school. Improving school climate doesn’t mean only making sure that stu­dents feel safe and welcome and believe that adults care about their academic and social-emotional well- being. It also means that teachers, administrators, and other school staff feel committed to the school, view it as a good place to work, and believe they have a role in promoting positive experiences for all students— even those not in their classes or otherwise assigned to them. Staff surveys are an important part of a comprehensive monitoring system because they can tell us first- hand about the lives of staff members in school and can also add another perspective on student behaviors. Staff members are an essential source of information on the interrelationships among teachers, administrators, and classified personnel. For teachers and supporting staff members to contribute best to school performance, they need to feel that the organizational climate supports them and their work. Teachers who feel unappreciated and that they operate under difficult working conditions will be less motivated to invest in their work and may burn out faster and leave the school. Such frequent staff turnover has disastrous consequences for students’ lives in school (see Box 6.1). Staff members may feel that asking for students’ perceptions of how they teach and run the school puts them in a disadvantageous position in which others can blame them for academic or behavior problems among students. Listening to staff members and their views of the students, the school, and the district leadership is a way of communicating that their opinions and perceptions are valued. It is also a way for leaders to advocate for the importance of listening to feedback and to show that they welcome feedback from staff members about their performance. Providing regular opportunities for feedback from staff members is an important way to assess their needs for training and other types of support.

Social Emotional Learning in Schools: The Importance of Educator Competence

2021 ◽  
pp. 194277512110149
Author(s):  
Belinda G. Gimbert ◽  
Dustin Miller ◽  
Emily Herman ◽  
Meghan Breedlove ◽  
Citlali Estela Molina
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
School Counselors ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Relationship Skills

As professionals charged with fostering student learning and well-being, educators—school leaders, teachers, school counselors, preservice teachers—should demonstrate social emotional competence. In this study, we apply the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s framework—self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making—to ascertain what we know from scholarship about educators’ SEL competence. We conclude with guiding principles for training programs and professional learning opportunities for strengthening educators’ understanding of their own SEL to improve daily pedagogical practice and ensure each school-wide initiative around SEL drives seamless strategies for attaining school improvement outcomes.

scholarly journals Memories of school recess predict physical activity enjoyment and social-emotional well-being in adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 101948
Author(s):  
William V. Massey ◽  
Alexandra Szarabajko ◽  
Janelle Thalken ◽  
Deanna Perez ◽  
Sean P. Mullen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
School Recess ◽  
Activity Enjoyment

scholarly journals I’m No Superman: fostering physician resilience through guided group discussion of Scrubs

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Holtzclaw ◽  
Jack Ellis ◽  
Christopher Colombo
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Internal Medicine Residency ◽  
Resiliency Training ◽  
High Satisfaction ◽  
Burn Out

Abstract Background Almost half of trainees experience burnout during their career. Despite the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recommendation that training programs enact well-being curricula, there is no proven method of addressing this difficult topic. Methods We created a curriculum addressing physician resiliency and well-being, designed for an Internal Medicine Residency Program. This curriculum utilized episodes from a medical television series, Scrubs, to facilitate a monthly, 1-h faculty guided discussion group. We collected informal feedback and abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventories (aMBI) monthly and conducted a formal focus group after 6 months to gauge its effectiveness. Results The curriculum was successfully conducted for 12 months with each session averaging 18–20 residents. Residents reported high satisfaction, stating it was more enjoyable and helpful than traditional resiliency training. 19 of 24 residents (79 %) completed a baseline aMBI, and 17 of 20 residents (85 %) who attended the most recent session completed the 6-month follow-up, showing a non-significant 1-point improvement in all subsets of the aMBI. Conclusions This novel, low-cost, easily implemented curriculum addressed resiliency and burn-out in an Internal Medicine Residency. It was extremely well received and can easily be expanded to other training programs or to providers outside of training.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Experiences Among Syrian Refugee Adolescent Girls in Lebanon

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 983-998
Author(s):  
L’Emira Lama El Ayoubi ◽  
Sawsan Abdulrahim ◽  
Maia Sieverding
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Syrian Refugee ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Source Of Information

Providing adolescent girls with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information protects them from risks and improves their well-being. This qualitative study, conducted in Lebanon, examined Syrian refugee adolescent girls’ access to SRH information about and experiences with puberty and menarche, sex, marriage, contraception, and pregnancy. We gathered data through three focus group discussions (FGDs) with unmarried adolescent girls, 11 in-depth interviews with early-married adolescents, and two FGDs with mothers. Our findings highlighted that adolescent participants received inadequate SRH information shortly before or at the time of menarche and sexual initiation, resulting in experiences characterized by anxiety and fear. They also revealed discordance between girls’ views of mothers as a preferred source of information and mothers’ reluctance to communicate with their daughters about SRH. We advance that mothers are important entry points for future interventions in this refugee population and offer recommendations aimed to improve adolescent girls’ SRH and rights.

scholarly journals Rice farming care as a novel method of green care farm in East Asian context: an implementation research

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiaki Ura ◽  
Tsuyoshi Okamura ◽  
Sachiko Yamazaki ◽  
Masaya Shimmei ◽  
Keisuke Torishima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Usual Care Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Care Group ◽  
Rice Farming ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Green Care Farms

Abstract Background Green care farms, which offer care for people with dementia in a farm setting, have been emerging in the Netherlands. The aim of this study was to 1) implement green care farms which use rice farming in Japan, 2) explore the positive experiences of rice farming care, and 3) compare the effect of rice farming care to that of usual care on well-being and cognitive ability. Methods We developed a new method of green care farm in Japan which uses rice farming, a farming that is practiced all over East Asia. The participants were 15 people with dementia (mean age = 75.6 ± 9.8 years) who participated in a one-hour rice farming care program once a week for 25 weeks. We also collected qualitative data on the positive experiences of study participants after the program. As a reference data, we also collected the corresponding data of the usual care group which included 14 people with dementia (mean age = 79.9 ± 5.8 years) who were attending the near-by day-care. Results The mean participation rate on the rice farming care group was 72.1%. After the intervention, participants reported experiencing enjoyment and connection during the program. It also changed the staff’s view on dementia. The green care farm group showed a significant improvement in well-being but no significant difference in cognitive function compared to the usual care group. Conclusions Green care farms by using rice farming is promising care method which is evidence-based, empowerment-oriented, strengths-based, community-based dementia service, which also delivers meaningful experience for the people with dementia in East Asia. Trial registration UMIN, UMIN000025020, Registered 1 April 2017.

scholarly journals Approaches to Reducing Risk of COVID-19 Infections in Prisons and Immigration Detention Centers: A Commentary

2020 ◽  
pp. 073401682095770
Author(s):  
Kate Kelly ◽  
Nai Soto ◽  
Nadi Damond Wisseh ◽  
Shaina A. Clerget
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Correctional Staff ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Detention Centers ◽  
Fast Spreading ◽  
Returning Home ◽  
The Face

Although often left out of public health efforts and policy decisions, prisons, jails, and detention centers are integral to community health. With an average of 650,000 citizens returning home from prison each year in the United States, and thousands of correctional staff members returning home every night, there are millions of touchpoints between outside communities and carceral settings. For this reason, carceral communities should be central to planning and policy making in response to the spread of the COVID-19 illness. As social workers and clinicians, we are urgently concerned that efforts to prevent COVID-19 infections in prisons are underdeveloped and inadequate in the face of a fast-spreading virus. In this commentary, we outline a set of public health, policy, and clinical recommendations based upon the existing literature to mitigate various risks to the well-being of carceral communities.

scholarly journals The Organizational Climate in Collegiate Athletics: An Athletic Trainer's Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie M. Mazerolle ◽  
Christianne M. Eason
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Athletic Trainers ◽  
Collegiate Athletics ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Expert Review ◽  
Data Saturation ◽  
Collegiate Athletic Trainers

Context:  An organizational climate is largely based on an employee's perceptions of the working conditions in which he or she engages regularly. A multifaceted concept, the organizational climate is often formed by perceptions of employee welfare, rewards, and support. Achieving work-life balance is also a part of the climate. Objective:  To learn collegiate athletic trainers' perceptions of organizational climate and specifically how it may pertain to their work-life balance. Design:  Phenomenologic study. Setting:  Collegiate practice setting. Patients or Other Participants:  Thirty athletic trainers working in the collegiate athletics setting took part in 1-on-1 phone interviews. The participants were 30.5 (interquartile range [IQR] = 7.75) years old and had been certified for 7 (IQR = 5) years and at their current position for 4 (IQR = 3) years. Data Collection and Analysis:  Participants completed a phone interview that followed a semistructured framework. All transcribed interviews were analyzed using a phenomenologic approach. Researcher triangulation, expert review, and data saturation were used to establish credibility. Results:  Athletic trainers working in the collegiate athletics setting who had positive perceptions of their work-life balance described their organizational climate as family friendly. Our participants' supervisors allowed for autonomy related to work scheduling, which provided opportunities for work-life balance. These athletic trainers believed that they worked in a climate that was collegial, which was helpful for work-life balance. In addition, the importance of placing family first was part of the climate. Conclusions:  The perceptions of our participants revealed a climate of family friendliness, supervisor support, and collegiality among staff members, which facilitated the positive climate for work-life balance. The mindset embraced the importance of family and recognized that work did not always have to supersede personal priorities.

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