The Essential Relationships Between School Social Workers and Teachers, Paraprofessionals, and Other School Personnel

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
Deirdre N. Scott ◽  
Summer G. Woodside ◽  
Melissa Bunch ◽  
Abby Cobb
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Professional Boundaries ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
The Difference

This chapter offers practical strategies that school social workers can use to build relationships and establish trust with teachers, paraprofessionals, and other school personnel. The chapter illustrates the difference between interdisciplinary collaboration and parallel practice. With an understanding of systems and the person-in-environment fit, school social workers are in a unique position to serve as the vital link that pulls the various disciplines together on behalf of students and families. The chapter offers suggestions on ways school social workers can support teachers, students, and families by using a strengths-based perspective and a trauma-sensitive approach. Finally, the chapter explores ethical considerations and issues related to professional boundaries.

The School Social Worker and the Community School

1974 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 224-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Magill
Keyword(s):  
Urban Education ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Community School ◽  
Professional Roles ◽  
School Social Worker ◽  
Unique Position

School social workers are in a unique position to improve urban education by facilitating innovation and by expanding their professional roles

Developing Credibility and Establishing Trust

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-106
Author(s):  
Ricki L. Moran ◽  
Cristina Marquez ◽  
James Garner
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
School Setting ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Professional Relationship ◽  
The Social ◽  
Solid Foundation

This chapter discusses the importance of clearly establishing social worker roles within and outside of the building and the professional ramifications of differential training between school social workers and teachers. Steps are outlined for maintaining the social work code of ethics while partnering with other school personnel who are not bound to the same code. The importance of explaining confidentiality and its limitations early in the professional relationship is stressed. The social worker should remember to self-disclose only when it benefits the client. Advice is offered for building a solid foundation of trust and establishing credibility during a school social worker’s first three years in a school setting. Potential pitfalls will be discussed as well.

The Ten Principles of Trauma-Informed Services and Application to School Environments

2019 ◽  
pp. 58-66
Author(s):  
Eileen A. Dombo ◽  
Christine Anlauf Sabatino
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Vicarious Trauma ◽  
Self Care ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Educational Settings ◽  
School Environments ◽  
Trauma Informed

For a school to be considered trauma-informed, the services and care must be provided in the context of an organization-wide approach grounded in an understanding of trauma and its consequences, with a focus on strengths, healing, and resilience. This requires a shift in the questions that are asked about children who have trouble learning or who interrupt the learning of others. Instead of asking a child, “what’s wrong with you?” the question becomes, “what happened to you?” Chapter 5 addresses the ten principles of trauma-informed services and delves into ways school social workers can create trauma-informed environments in educational settings to prevent children from being triggered and experiencing trauma in schools. Information and resources on self-care and vicarious trauma for school personnel are provided. The connection between culture and trauma is also explored.

scholarly journals Practice in a Pandemic: School Social Workers’ Adaptations and Experiences During the 2020 COVID-19 School Disruptions

2021 ◽  
pp. 104438942110098
Author(s):  
Michael S. Kelly ◽  
Rami Benbenishty ◽  
Gordon Capp ◽  
Kate Watson ◽  
Ron Astor
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Virtual School ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Traditional Practice

In March 2020, as American PreK-12 schools shut down and moved into online learning in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was little information about how school social workers (SSWs) were responding to the crisis. This study used a national online survey to understand how SSWs ( N = 1,275) adapted their school practice during the initial 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Findings from this study indicate that SSWs made swift and (relatively) smooth adaptations of their traditional practice role to the new context, though not without reporting considerable professional stress and personal challenges doing so. SSWs reported significant concerns about their ability to deliver effective virtual school social work services given their students’ low motivation and lack of engagement with online learning, as well as significant worries about how their students were faring during the first months of the pandemic. Implications for school social work practice, policy, and research are discussed.

The Art of Becoming Indispensable

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Academic Preparation ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Master Of Social Work ◽  
New School ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Work Practitioner ◽  
Social Work Programs ◽  
The Impact

Despite their academic preparation and lived experiences, new school social workers face a learning curve when moving from entry-level practice to proficiency. The Art of Being Indispensable: What School Social Workers Need to Know in Their First Three Years of Practice is the first book focusing specifically on the needs of new school social workers as they transition to this complex role. Each of the book’s 20 chapters features an academic scholar and at least one school social work practitioner; overall, there are 18 academics and 42 practitioners from 28 different states. The diversity of the authors’ experiences, representing all variations of schools and districts, ensures that the content is applicable to a variety of practice contexts. Each chapter addresses the challenges of a public health pandemic and the impact of racial injustice. There is a timeless quality to this text since every year, new school social workers are being hired, whether from master of social work and bachelor of social work programs or from the ranks of professional social workers changing fields and becoming school social workers. This indispensable guide will help new school social workers to effectively execute their roles and responsibilities.

Between empowerment and discipline: Practicing contractualism in social work

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-339
Author(s):  
Ida M Solvang ◽  
Truls I Juritzen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Welfare Policy ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Disciplinary Actions ◽  
Contrasting Cases ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Professional Authority ◽  
Contemporary Development

SummaryAs a contemporary development in welfare policy, contractualism stipulates discretionary rights and obligations for each client, some of whom are quite vulnerable. The contractual design promotes empowerment, but entails sanctions for non-compliance. This article investigates how rationales of empowerment and discipline shape social work practice and uses a Foucauldian governmentality perspective to investigate interrelations between political objectives and individual practices. Two contrasting cases are used to explicate how rationales of empowerment and discipline simultaneously operate in social work within the contractual design.FindingsWith its emphasis on clients’ responsibility and empowerment, contractualism is a subtle yet efficient mode of governance, but disciplinary actions both rely on and undermine objectives of empowerment.ApplicationsSocial workers and clients must manoeuvre complexities as they exert empowering and disciplinary practices. These rationales of governance should be explicit and subject to professional and ethical considerations in the same way as other forms of professional authority directed at reliant, vulnerable clients.

School Social Workers and Teachers' Strikes

1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Marion Huxtable
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
School Social Workers

scholarly journals Challenges Facing School Social Workers in Saudi Arabia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulhadi Sharhan Alotaibi ◽  
Mohd Suhaimi Mohamad ◽  
Nor Jana Saim ◽  
Ezarina Zakaria
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
School Social Workers

Job stress, perceived inequity and burnout among school social workers in Hong Kong

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony S.K. Tam ◽  
Lilian P.K. Mong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Job Stress ◽  
Personal Accomplishment ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Identity Confusion ◽  
Stress Au Travail ◽  
Social Welfare Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
Milieu Scolaire

English Job stress and perceived inequity are revealed as correlates of burnout among school social workers in Hong Kong. The findings do not support the expectation that burnout is general, in spite of the government’s reforms in the social welfare services. A sense of personal accomplishment may serve as a mediator. However, the respondents suffer from role strain and identity confusion due to lack of communication among schools authorities, students and parents. French Cet article décrit comment la conjugaison du stress au travail et inéquités perçues sont liées au `burnout' chez les travailleurs sociaux en milieu scolaire à Hong Kong. Les résultats ne semblent pas confirmer la croyance que le `burnout' existe de façon généralisée malgré les changements observables introduits par le gouvernement en vue d'améliorer l'efficacité des coûts des services de bien-être social. Un sentiment d'accomplissement personnel sert possiblement de médiation efficace. Les répondants souffrent néanmoins de tensions face à leur rôle et de confusion identitaire dues à l'incompréhension du rôle du travailleur social scolaire par les autorités scolaires, les étudiants et les parents. Spanish Este trabajo describe el agotamiento en el trabajo y la percepción de inequidad como correlatos del descontento entre los trabajadores sociales de la escuela en Hong Kong. Los hallazgos no parecen apoyar la expectativa de que el descontento exista como patrón general a pesar de los cambios observables introducidos por el gobierno en los servicios de bienestar social. Un sentido de realización personal puede servir como ,mediador efectivo. Sin embargo los entre,vistados padecen una tensión de rol y confusión de identidad que proviene de la falta de comunicación entre autoridades de la escuela, los estudiantes y los padres de familia.

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