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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 6, Issue 36
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ACSSW is pleased to announce two upcoming national school social work events.
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The first is October 17-18, 2016 in Milwaukee. This Mental Health in Schools Institute is designed for school social workers and offers an opportunity for training in PREPaRE 2, a nationally acclaimed training for those who provide crisis and trauma response. Brochure.
Register now or submit a proposal. Join your colleagues in a professional learning experience that is worth your time!
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...In the aftermath of recent events, many youth-oriented organizations have stepped forward with suggestions about how to talk with children/teens about the events and how to anticipate and provide support for emotional reactions. Talking with youngsters is important.
But schools also have other roles to play. For example, schools need to increase their capacity for helping students, staff, families, and community stakeholders understand the many factors underlying violent events around the world, locally, and in the home. These include factors such as:
- political stakes
- economic inequities
- religious doctrines
- racial and ethnic biases and tensions
- gender discrimination and biases
- immigrant discrimination and biases, and
- mental illness. Read more.
...This article draws from an interdisciplinary body of scholarship, including social work, to highlight both shared and distinct experiences among multiracial populations. We posit that by comprehending the experiences of multiracial people and how multiracial identities are influenced by multisystemic factors, including the intersection of other identities (for example, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality), we can expand rather than constrict the lens social workers use to understand ethnic and cultural identity processes within and across diverse groups. This article guides social workers through the first phase of competence--initially expanding our knowledge, awareness, and skills to be more inclusive of multiracial individuals and families. By introducing an initial discussion of this topic, we hope to challenge traditional notions of homogeneous racial groups and expand our commitment to the growing group of people who identify as multiracial. Access article.
...Anger is an opportunity to learn, adjust, and get closer to where we want to be. Anger is not failure, but rather a teacher. Anger, like other emotions, exists to convey information. Full article.
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Being a change agent means taking the leap before anyone else.
"Someone has to go first." My swim coach's words repeated in my 9-year-old mind as I shivered from adrenaline, my toes grabbing the edge of the high dive. Her challenge pushed me out into space as my body arched into an awkward dive before breaking the surface of the water. Clumsily combining a dolphin kick and a dog paddle, I moved toward the side of the pool, reveling in my accomplishment.
Someone has to go first.
Even when it's scary. Even when you're all by yourself. That's what I knew then, and that's what I know now.
... Change agents know this lesson all too well--that bringing about necessary change often means taking a risk and being the first to try something new. Continue.
Influence is defined as our capacity to affect someone else's behavior and decision making. If you're a leader, you will likely have gained your position by being an effective influencer. However, it's important not to rest on your laurels. The most influential leaders don't assume that their people will blindly buy into and implement their vision. Instead, they work to create a story that their people can get on board with and share. They also use Transformational Leadership methods to inspire their teams and to set high expectations for them. Learn more and take the quiz.
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Abstract: Loneliness is a public health concern that increases the risk for several health, behavioral and academic problems among adolescents. Some studies have suggested that adolescents with an ethnic minority back-ground have a higher risk for loneliness than adolescents from the majority population. The increasing numbers of migrant youth around the world mean growing numbers of heterogeneous school environments in many countries.Even though adolescents spend a substantial amount of time at school, there is currently very little non-U.S.research that has examined the importance of the ethnic composition of school classes for loneliness in adolescence. The present research aimed to address this gap by exploring the association between loneliness and three dimensions of the ethnic composition in the school class:(1) membership of ethnic majority in the school class, (2)the size of own ethnic group in the school class, and (3) the ethnic diversity of the school class. Read more.
Bullying has long been tolerated by many as a rite of passage among children and adolescents. There is an implication that individuals who are bullied must have "asked for" this type of treatment, or deserved it. Sometimes, even the child who is bullied begins to internalize this idea. For many years, there has been a general acceptance when it comes to a child or adolescent with greater social capital or power pushing around a child perceived as subordinate--such that you can almost hear the justification: "kids will be kids." The schoolyard bully trope crosses race, gender, class, ethnicity, culture, and generations, appearing in popular media ranging from Harry Potter to Glee, and Mean Girls to Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. Its prevalence perpetuates its normalization. But bullying is not a normal part of childhood and is now appropriately considered to be a serious public health problem. Full study.
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Recommended Read for July & August
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Traumatic Experience and the Brain: A Handbook for Understanding and Treating Those Traumatized As Children
by Dave Ziegler
Traumatic Experience and the Brain is the result of Dr. Dave Ziegler's three decades of experience with children traumatized by abuse and/or neglect. This book details the effect of such trauma on the developing brain, describing how it actually rewires one's perceptions of self, others, and the world. It is a book of hope for foster, natural, and adoptive parents of such "broken" children and the therapists, teachers and social workers who attempt to help them. Dave Ziegler, M.S., Ph.D., is the director of Scar/Jasper Mountain, a residential treatment program in Oregon for some of society's most damaged children.
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| Professional Development Opportunities |
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With millions of students across the United States set to begin returning to school in coming weeks, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance Wednesday for states and school districts on how to respond to the specific needs of homeless students.
The guidelines, provided in response to new provisions in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, emphasize practices aimed at providing stability and safety for the homeless public school population, which included more than 1.3 million students in the 2013-2014 school year. Access article.
The Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will provide nearly $2.8 million to seven organizations to support minority and disadvantaged children and youth who have been exposed to childhood trauma.
The grants were made under the Communities Addressing Childhood Trauma (ACT) program, which aims to develop and evaluate new approaches to promoting healthy behaviors among youth who have experienced significant incidents of trauma. The ACT program hopes to address poor health outcomes that may result because of child trauma. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study and other work has linked child trauma to depression and other mental health disorders, substance abuse, high rates of school dropout and chronic absenteeism, post-traumatic stress disorder, incarceration and violence, among other health issues. More.
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School Social Work Positions
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ESSA: Meeting Students' Needs Under Title IV
August 25, 2016 - 3 - 4 pm ET
Rather than continuing to authorize individual programs that support a well-rounded education, ESSA creates a block grant that provides formula funding to states and districts. Districts that receive funds under this block grant must spend at least 20 percent of their allocation on a well-rounded academic activity and 20 percent on an activity that supports safe and healthy students, and they may use some funds to expand the use of technology. This means that, although discrete funding streams will no longer be available to support programs such as physical education, district leaders can allocate funds from the block grant according to their schools' needs, without the hassle of applying for a myriad of grants to support various activities. Learn more and click on "add to calendar."
The Intersectionality of Race and Class in Identity-Based Bullying
October 6, 2016 - 2 - 3 pm ET
This session will focus on creating greater awareness of the intersectionality of race and class in bullying incidents and the role of the educator in understanding the subtle and more nuanced differences from traditional bullying . Drawing on recent examples, as well as participant experiences, this interactive workshop will explore the relationship between bullying, stereotypes, race, class and school climate. We will discuss strategies for responding to bias-motivated bullying ,help students better understand the specific role of being an ally and to develop the motivation to create inclusive school environments for all students. Learn more and register.
The Impact of Terrorism on Children: What Harms, What Helps
The University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium, in collaboration with the Society for Research in Child Development, hosted "The Impact of Terrorism on Children: What Harms, What Helps" webinar on February 16, 2016. Based on an SRCD Social Policy Report written by James Garbarino and colleagues, and the Social Policy Report Commentary by Ann Masten, this webinar will discuss the research on the effects of children's exposure to terrorism. Access webinar. Approx. 1 hr.
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3rd Quarter Deadline: September 30, 2016
Grants of up to $500 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation for Michigan, Wisconsin or Illinois. Apply online using their easy application that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. These grants are open to any employee of a K-12 public or private school. Universities and colleges may also apply. Fill-in-the-blank application.
Grants are accepted year round, but the third quarter cycle ends September 30th. Grants are up to $500. Recipients will be notified by November 15th.
The foundation says it supports "basically anything that supports teachers and enhances the student's educational experience" - from field trips to books to behavior modification programs; science, music, or art equipment to professional development.
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