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.

scholarly journals “It’s about the most needy children”: A Foucauldian analysis of school social workers’ responses to need in post-earthquake Canterbury

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raewyn Tudor
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Social ◽  
Foucauldian Analysis

INTRODUCTION: After the 2011 Canterbury earthquake, the provision of school social work was extended into a larger number of schools in the greater Christchurch region to support discussions of their practice priorities and responses in post-earthquake schools.FINDINGS: Two main interpretations of need are reflected in the school social workers’ accounts of their work with children and families. Firstly, hardship-focused need, which represented children as adversely influenced by their home circumstances; the interventions were primarily with parents. These families were mainly from schools in low socioeconomic areas. Secondly, anxiety-based need, a newer practice response, which emphasised children who were considered particularly susceptible to the impacts of the disaster event. This article considers how these practitioners conceptualised and responded to the needs of the children and their families in this context.METHOD: A qualitative study examining recovery policy and school social work practice following the earthquakes including 12 semi-structured interviews with school social workers. This article provides a Foucauldian analysis of the social worker participants’ perspectives on emotional and psychological issues for children, particularly those from middle-class families; the main interventions were direct therapeutic work with children themselves. Embedded within these practice accounts are moments in which the social workers contested the predominant, individualising conceptualisations of need to enable more open-ended, negotiable, interconnected relationships in post-earthquake schools.IMPLICATIONS: In the aftermath of disasters, school social workers can reflect on their preferred practice responses and institutional influences in schools to offer children and families opportunities to reject the prevalent norms of risk and vulnerability.

scholarly journals Pivoting during a Pandemic: School Social Work Practice with Families during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley-Marie H Daftary ◽  
Erin P Sugrue ◽  
Brian D Gustman ◽  
Stephanie Lechuga-Peña
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
K 12

Abstract The COVID-19 global pandemic led to the unprecedented shuttering of nearly all K–12 public education settings across the United States from March through June 2020. This article explores how school social workers’ roles, responsibilities, and work tasks shifted during spring 2020 distance learning to address the continuing and changing needs of families and the larger school community. Interviews were conducted with 20 school social workers in K–12 public schools, across three states, to understand the primary needs of children and families during the pandemic and to learn how school social workers can be most effective in responding to these needs. The data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Study findings revealed that during spring 2020, school social workers consistently had increased contact and interaction with students’ parents that centered around two major activities: (1) food assistance and referrals for families and (2) parent check-ins and coaching. The article discusses implications for the field of school social work during crises and beyond. Considerations include increased funding for schools that serve communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic and the reprioritization of school social workers’ roles and responsibilities to include increased contact with parents.

Mapping the field of international comparative research in school social work

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087281989774
Author(s):  
Kathrin Franziska Beck ◽  
Juha Hämäläinen
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
International Comparative Research ◽  
International Comparative ◽  
National Boundaries

This article maps the field of international comparative research in school social work. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was conducted and subjected to a narrative synthesis. The review reveals 11 publications that are predominantly non-empirical, take mainly Asian, European, North American countries and Australia and New Zealand into account, and are focused on profession-related and sociopolitical aspects of school social work. A synthesis of school social work practice themes transcending national boundaries emerged from the findings, covering child-, family-, school-, and community-related issues. Accordingly, children are predominantly confronted with similar issues, irrespective of the place where they live, such as violence toward themselves, at home, in school, and in their community. Bearing in mind methodological challenges when carrying out comparative studies, recommendations include the conduct of practice-focused studies that generate new stimuli to improve already well-developed practices in a culturally appropriate way and enable mutual learning among school social workers.

The changing context of China: Emerging issues for school social work practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn A. Levine ◽  
Kai Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Effects On Children ◽  
The Impact

This article provides a contextualized analysis of the ways in which school social workers may address the impact of economic, social and political challenges as they will be experienced by the children of mainland China, and how the profession of school social work may serve to ameliorate the negative effects on children as they transition through these developments.

scholarly journals Practice of School Social Worker with Children for Facilitating Social Needs in Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Varathagowry Vasudevan ◽  
Osamu Kobayashi ◽  
Kazue Kanno
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
School Social Worker ◽  
The Social

School social workers adopt ecological perspectives to facilitate children with social needs. The purpose of this study is to explore school social work practice in Sri Lanka to cater the children with social needs. A semi structured interviews was conducted with selected five school social workers. The interview questions were about their practices as a school social worker, daily activities especially effective support activity for students with social needs, student’s school life and their home, especially difficulties for supporting their families. Findings reveal that School Children with social needs around social problems, social relationship problems, structural and systemic problems such as child poverty, mother labour migration, lack of housing, lack of love and affections, lack of acceptance, love and kindness, belongingness, lack or inadequate security for the children. These social needs related lack of emotional and social developmental needs lead to impact on children’s educational performance. School social workers are very proactive in applying social work generic skills in school context in Sri Lanka. This study provides evidences for professionalizing the social work profession and enhances school system to provide guidance and consultation to school administrators, policy makers and practitioners focusing the significance of fulfilling the social needs of children during each stages of life via school social work programmes.

School Social Worker Practice Decisions: The Impact of Professional Models, Training, and School Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate L. Phillippo ◽  
Michael S. Kelly ◽  
Emily Shayman ◽  
Andy Frey
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
School Context ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Practice Models ◽  
Contemporary Practice ◽  
The Impact

School social work practice decisions have been the focus of local and national surveys for several decades, most recently in 2014. The need to better understand these findings, particularly school social workers' practice decisions that appear counter to what the field's evidence base indicates is sound practice, led to the current qualitative study. Our inquiry focused on developing a deeper understanding of the impact of professional models (particularly the multitiered systems of support), training, and school context on practice. Data from 16 focus groups (N = 60) revealed that practitioners struggled with contextual constraints upon their work and encountered limited learning opportunities and support, to the extent that they could not consistently implement contemporary practice models. Implications for school social work policy, training, and practice are considered.

scholarly journals Who owns the case record? Client access to case records in Canadian social work practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-350
Author(s):  
Marina Morgenshtern ◽  
Nilan Yu
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Case Record ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Issue

This study looked into client access to their case records routinely maintained by social workers in the course of professional practice. An online survey and semi-structured interviews were undertaken with Canadian social workers. The study found that while the majority of the participants indicated that they granted clients access to their case records, clients were not effectively granted such access in practice. Client access to their case records is a core issue in social work, and social workers need to proactively grant such access if they are to live by the core values of social work.

School social workers as partners in the school mission

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (7) ◽  
pp. 26-30
Author(s):  
Nadine M. Finigan-Carr ◽  
Wendy E. Shaia
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Community ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Struggling Students ◽  
School Mission ◽  
The Family

Social workers in schools provide benefits not just for struggling students, but for the entire school community. But, the authors argue, school social workers are often relegated to monitoring IEPs and doing basic casework. By using skills and values that have long been fundamental to social work practice, school social workers can advocate for, develop, and assume leadership in providing services that bring together the school, the family, and the community to meet students’ needs.

Structural Racism in Schools: A View through the Lens of the National School Social Work Practice Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-193
Author(s):  
Jandel Crutchfield ◽  
Kate L Phillippo ◽  
Andy Frey
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
School Social Work ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
School Social Workers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Practice Model ◽  
National School ◽  
American Society

Abstract Structural racism—implicitly discriminatory practices and policies that have negative consequences for individuals and groups of color—is a powerful force in contemporary American society, including in our public education system. This article explores the potential for school social workers (SSWers) to address structural racism through the use of the national school social work (SSW) practice model as a tool to guide systemic, ecologically oriented intervention within schools and educational policy spaces. In this article, the authors review data on racial disparities in educational attainment, placement, opportunity, and discipline practices that have led to increased attention to structural racism in schools. They then discuss and describe the national SSW practice model and its suitability for the structural interventions in response to structural racism in schools. Finally, they provide recommendations for how SSWers can respond effectively to this pressing social problem. These recommendations include a list of resources for addressing structural racism.

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