Building Trauma-Sensitive Schools: The Need for External Support to Support Primary School Teachers in Managing Childhood Trauma

استهدف البحث تحديد القدرات الإبداعية للإخصائيين الاجتماعيين بمدارس المتفوقن في العلوم والتکنولوجيا STEM من خلال التعرف على مجموعة من الأهداف الفرعية وهى: التعرف على واقع القدرات الإبداعية للإخصائيين الاجتماعيين بتلک المدارس ويمکن تحديد الواقع من خلال الابعاد الاتية: (الأصالة الفکرية – الطلاقة الفکرية – المرونة التلقائية – الحساسية للمشکلات), وکذلک التعرف علي أهم معوقات تنمية القدرات الإبداعية للإخصائئين الاجتماعيين بمدارس STEM . ثم التوصل إلي مجموعة من المقترحات اللازمة لتنمية تلک القدرات لتحديد المتطلبات، لذا اعتمد البحث الميداني على منهج دراسة الحالة بأسلوب المسح الاجتماعى الشامل لجميع الإخصائيين الاجتماعين العاملين بمدارس STEM، وطبق البحث على عينة قوامها (341) مفردة من طلاب تلک المدارس, وتوصل البحث إلى مجموعة من النتائج من أهمها: أن مستوى القدرات الإبداعية مرتفعا لدي الإخصائيين الاجتماعيين العاملين بمدارس المتفوقين للعلوم والتکنولوجيا في کل من المتغيرات التالية وهى:(الأصالة الفکرية.الطلاقة الفکرية.المرونة التلقائية.الحساسية للمشکلات). The present research aimed to identify the creative abilities of social workers in STEM schools by identifying a set of sub-objectives, namely identifying the status-quo of the creative abilities of social workers in these schools. Such status-quo can be determined through many dimensions (intellectual originality - intellectual fluency - automatic flexibility - sensitivity to problems). Furthermore, the study to identify the most important obstacles of developing the creative abilities of social workers in STEM schools. The study also developed a set of proposals necessary to develop such abilities to determine the requirements. The field research made use of the case study approach via a comprehensive social survey of all social workers working at STEM schools, and the research was administered to a sample consisting of (341) students in those schools. The results of the research revealed that the social workers have higher levels of creative abilities at such schools in terms of (intellectual originality, intellectual fluency, automatic flexibility, sensitivity to problems).

School achievement and failure have become growing political and social concerns due to the negative consequences of school failure for individuals and society. The inclusive educational movement, which calls for equal access, permanence, participation, and promotion of all students worldwide, poses many challenges for schools and school systems. As a public policy strategy, some countries have provided additional funds for incorporating non-teaching professionals such as school psychologists and social workers in regular K-12 schools. However, there is lack of research on the effects of these psychosocial professionals on student outcomes. This national multilevel study explored the effect of psychologists (n = 8,469) and social workers (n = 3,524) on indicators of eighth-grade (n = 147,531) and 10th-grade (n = 106,347) students' academic achievement and dropout in Chile. A multilevel secondary analysis was performed using national records of non-teaching professionals working as school staff members, achievement scores on the national SIMCE test, and dropout rates based on official records. Results showed that after controlling for individual and school variables known to affect achievement and dropout, schools with psychologists and social workers working as staff members had lower short- and long-term dropout rates. The presence and higher number of school psychologists per school was positively associated with higher math achievement, with a reduced effect in low-SES schools. Lower-SES schools with more social workers had higher math scores. These results support policies that increase funding for school psychologists and social workers, since their incorporation partly explains better school achievement and less school failure when controlling for individual and school characteristics, but emphasize the need to further explore the mechanisms through which school achievement and failure are developed with the support of psychologists and social workers in schools. We discuss the need to regulate the type of prevention and intervention strategies from a whole-school, evidence-based approach, as well as to incorporate psychosocial training modules and comprehensive guidelines as part of professional training programs and as certified requisites for working in schools.

INTRODUCTION: This research investigates social work interventions available for Social Workers based in primary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand, to address surplus suffering related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this research is to explore possible interventions by reviewing literature, and investigating the practice of professionals, in order to discern the best possible practice. The research questions that will be investigated are: 1) How do social workers in primary schools address the surplus suffering of students?; and 2) What interventions are employed when working with children on the spectrum? There is limited relevant literature; however, the published material suggests that most social workers in schools who work with children on the spectrum employ social-ecological perspectives.METHOD: Qualitative methodologies have been employed, focusing on semi-structured interviews that were designed to answer the pre-set questions while also taking note of other concepts and ideas raised by the interviewees. This study has employed social-ecological theory, as well as social theories of disability.FINDINGS: This research has found that, while social workers employ social-ecological interventions readily, they are reluctant to engage in potentially beneficial therapeutic techniques.IMPLICATIONS: The implications suggested by this research are the need for diversification in social work training, and the need for further research to discern the best school social work practice.

School social work is a profession formed and developed from very early in many countries around the world. In Vietnam, this profession is quite new, although the school problems still occur daily at schools such as school violence, sexual abuse, drug abuse, prostitution, game addiction, alcoholism, gambling, truancy, etc. To solve the emerging problems, building a network of school social work to manage the school problems is required. In addition, training of Social work in schools are rapidly developing in Vietnam and it is facing new challenges as it blends the historical, political and cultural influences. This article shows an overview of the theory and practice of school social work in general and training social work school in particular. Especially the challenges and development orientation of this sector in the process of international integration in the current period.

Social workers are not commonly employed in South African schools. However, various role players, policy documents and court findings directly or indirectly refer to the need for social services for learners. Teachers cannot fully provide this service, since they are neither trained to do so, nor have the time to fully support the psychosocial development of learners – and this could be detrimental to the pursuit of quality education. This conceptual article argues that, although not many social workers are employed by the Department of Basic Education, social services as such should be a high priority in basic education. Policy frameworks, legislation and case law provide sufficient evidence that there is a need for more social workers in South African schools. These professionals are a necessity in order to ensure that learners’ right to quality education is fully realised. The article also explains how school social workers could contribute to this quest for quality education, specifically, within the context of the 4A framework. The article concludes with an outline of what could be expected from school social workers within the 4A framework.

A 16-year-old man with occipito-cervical dislocation and survival was treated at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center. The patient had ligamentous instability between the occiput and the cervical spine. His neurologic level was complete at the C1 level, and he was dependent on a mechanical respirator. Sternocleidomastoid and other neck musculature were not functional. A fusion of the occiput to cervical spine and cervical spine to thoracic spine was performed to obviate the need for external neck support. The patient went on to fuse and is now independently mobile with a tongue-switch driven wheelchair with a respirator trailer 2 years after injury. The patient has no need for external support as a result of his fusion.

Child and family social workers in the UK work closely with other agencies including schools and the police, and typically they are based in local authority offices. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of placing social workers in schools (SWIS) on the need for social care interventions. SWIS was piloted in three local authorities in 2018-2020, and findings from a feasibility study of the pilots suggests SWIS may operate through three key pathways: (1) by enhancing schools' response to safeguarding issues, (2) through increased collaboration between social workers, school staff, and parents, and (3) by improving relationships between social workers and young people. The study is a two-arm pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial building on three feasibility studies which found SWIS to be promising. Social workers will work within secondary schools across local authorities in England. 280 mainstream secondary schools will be randomly allocated with a 1:1 ratio to SWIS or a comparison arm, which will be schools that continue as normal, without a social worker. The primary outcome will be the rate of Child Protection (Section 47) enquiries. Secondary outcomes will comprise rate of referrals to children's social care, rate of Child in Need (Section 17) assessments, days spent in care, and educational attendance and attainment. The study also includes an economic evaluation, and an implementation and process evaluation. Social care outcomes will be measured in July 2022, and educational outcomes will be measured in July 2023. Days in care will be measured at both time points. Findings will explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of SWIS on the need for social care interventions. A final report will be published in January 2024. The study was registered retrospectively with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry on 13.11.2020 (ISRCTN90922032).

Social work in the context of schools has been attracting growing interest in the Turkish education field over recent years, as evidenced by discussions and a significant body of literature regarding introducing social work services in schools alongside counselling services. However, while social workers and social work academics debate over the practicalities of social workers working in schools for various reasons including new employment opportunities and better education environments, it appears that none have examined counsellors’ perceptions about the possible future collaboration with social workers in schools. From our perspective, it is vital to know what and how counsellors think of social workers with regards to a possible future professional partnership. In this sense, our research investigated what counsellors, who were currently working in state schools, knew about social work, particularly in a school setting. Quantitative descriptive methods were employed to understand school counsellors’ perceptions. The study’s population consisted of 295 school counsellors that were working in state schools in Altındağ, Çankaya and Yenimahalle; three provinces in Ankara, Turkey. The study showed that although the counsellors’ reports suggested that they were self-assured in working with social workers in schools, they were not satisfied with their understanding of the social work profession, school social work in particular. The participants emphasized that familial problems and low levels of motivation towards school were prevalent problems for the students. The counsellors were not opposed to working with a social worker in schools; in fact the vast majority of the participants believed that working as part of a psychosocial team in schools could enhance school psychosocial services. Lastly, counsellors’ perceptions about social workers were dominantly positive despite their self-reported inadequate information of the social work discipline in general.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of school social workers and the services they deliver in schools for the Deaf. A 15-item survey was sent to 101 schools for the Deaf in the United States. The survey consisted of questions relating to personal characteristics, work experience, and job responsibilities of school social workers. A 72% response rate was obtained. Results suggest that, in general, social workers in schools for the Deaf perform functions similar to those of other social workers. However, social workers in schools for the Deaf tend to handle more health and financial concerns of students and their families. Social workers in schools for the Deaf lag behind other school social workers in professional training. Approximately a quarter of the surveyed social workers were deaf or hard of hearing.

BackgroundChild and family social workers in the UK work closely with other agencies including schools and the police, and typically they are based in local authority offices. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of placing social workers in schools (SWIS) on the need for social care interventions. SWIS was piloted in three local authorities in 2018–2020, and findings from a feasibility study of the pilots suggests SWIS may operate through three key pathways: (1) by enhancing schools’ response to safeguarding issues, (2) through increased collaboration between social workers, school staff, and parents, and (3) by improving relationships between social workers and young people.MethodsThe study is a two-arm pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial building on three feasibility studies which found SWIS to be promising. Social workers will work within secondary schools across local authorities in England. 280 mainstream secondary schools will be randomly allocated with a 1:1 ratio to SWIS or a comparison arm, which will be schools that continue as normal, without a social worker. The primary outcome will be the rate of Child Protection (Section 47) enquiries. Secondary outcomes will comprise rate of referrals to children’s social care, rate of Child in Need (Section 17) assessments, days spent in care, and educational attendance and attainment. The study also includes an economic evaluation, and an implementation and process evaluation. Social care outcomes will be measured in July 2022, and educational outcomes will be measured in July 2023. Days in care will be measured at both time points.DiscussionFindings will explore the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of SWIS on the need for social care interventions. A final report will be published in January 2024.Trial registrationThe study was registered retrospectively with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry on 13.11.2020 (ISRCTN90922032).

In rural and remote areas of Australia, the social determinants of health continue to influence the health and wellbeing of children and young people. In existence for a decade, the Social Work in Schools (SWiS) program offers opportunities to support the wellbeing needs of school students. However, to date, it is unknown how the SWiS program is perceived by school leaders over time. In the qualitative study reported here, semistructured interviews with school leaders (n = 5) were conducted in regional New South Wales. An inductive thematic analysis of data generated four themes: settling in (enhancing the establishment of the student social work role), scope of practice (the complex ways in which social work students can be utilised in a school setting), challenges of supporting social work students, and the perceived benefits of the SWiS program. The findings revealed an ongoing appreciation by school leaders towards the implementation of the SWiS program and the role played by social work students in supporting children and young people in their school communities. These findings help build evidence for the expansion of the program to include other allied health professional students in schools. IMPLICATIONS School social workers can assist in addressing the impact of the social determinants of health on the wellbeing of children and young people living in rural, regional, and remote areas. School leaders perceive the University of New England SWiS program to be a positive step in responding to the needs of vulnerable children and young people. Identifying the enablers and challenges of implementing the Social Work in Schools program over time has positive implications for expanding the program to include other allied health roles.

School social work is one of social work’s oldest subspecialties and has just entered its 2nd century. In the United States, school social work has grown from a few “visiting teachers” in 1906 working in community schools in Boston, New York, Hartford, and Chicago to a profession that now numbers over 20,000, having a national and over thirty state associations. Internationally, recent estimates place school social work in over forty countries, with over 50,000 practitioners. School social work is alive and doing (relatively) well, and in some areas, like the state of Illinois, appears to be growing. But the question to ask is what’s behind these numbers of school social workers? What are school social workers actually doing? And in the spirit of this volume, what kinds of interventions are they using, and what does the best available evidence tell us about what school social workers might do to make their practices even more effective?

Summary This study evaluated the feasibility of ‘Social Workers in Schools’, an intervention that involved social workers being based within schools across three local authorities in England (SWIS). Schools make a large number of referrals to Children's Social Care and play an important role in recognizing risks to children and protecting them from harm, but it is unusual for social workers to be based in schools in the U.K. and to do statutory work. We evaluated the pilots on the basis of the feasibility of implementing SWIS, how promising it was in terms of reducing the need for statutory intervention, and the extent to which it be scaled. We used a mixed methods approach, with a process evaluation and a difference in differences analysis of indicative impact on key social care outcomes. In addition, we estimated the cost of implementing and maintaining SWIS. Findings We found high levels of acceptability among those involved, and examples of how SWIS enhances the way safeguarding issues are addressed. There was also some evidence that it may reduce the need for social care interventions, though this needs ratifying with more and better data. Applications The study suggests that SWIS is a promising intervention. Both the qualitative and quantitative findings suggest it may have the intended policy impact, but this needs to be tested on a larger scale and with a more rigorous counterfactual comparison. Such a study—a randomized-controlled trial involving 21 local authorities—was commissioned in 2020.

The article examines social discourse in the views of the outstanding Ukrainian pedagogue Vasyl Sukhomlynsky on the essence and content of social work in the school environment. The main directions of social work in school are determined by the outstanding teacher: a) social assistance and real children’ support (individual and group); b) humanistic orientation and the teachers' set-up on the social and pedagogical protection of students; c) the socialization of the student's personality; c) educationally didactic support of the social work organization; d) creation of a educationally social and cultural environment; e) organization of students’ rehabilitation as a result of different life circumstances; e) formation the teachers' experience and readiness to conduct social work activities with students V. Sukhomlynsky’ opinion that social assistance is a system of social measures in the form of promotion, support and services that the social service provides to the certain individuals or groups in order to overcome or mitigate life difficulties, support their social status and full-valued life in society was confirmed. The authors stopped on the analysis of identified by V. Sukhomlynsky priorities in social work with children. The pedagogue emphasized the attraction of social work not only to the pedagogical team, but also to parents, various social, socially cultural institutions and organizations. It has been proved that social assistance is mainly based on the capacity of one or another educational institution that provides the specific needs of students, and the consciousness of teachers as to this charity action. V. Sukhomlynsky insisted on the position of a controlled personality development process, although he did not deny the natural factors influence on the consciousness of individual in different situations. The scientist believed that the most active individual socialization occurs in the process of its activity, socially useful labor. He also argued that social work in school becomes effective in a well thought-out subject-subjective relationship between teacher and student.

The role of social work in schools remains underdeveloped as there appears to be a lack of nuanced understanding of social work practice in the education system. In providing a localized perspective of the Illawarra region, which consists of a socio-economically diverse demographic, this research strives to contribute to the literature accounting for the understanding of social work in schools by school staff across a region. A qualitative study design was applied to this study and the data collection included online semi-structured interviews with school staff. Participants with experience in areas independent, public, and catholic school systems were included in the sample. A manual thematic analysis was conducted using the interview transcripts and audio-visual recordings. Findings indicate that the role of social work remains underdeveloped due to the lack of understanding by school staff as to what social work practice is and, in some cases, uncertain due to the lack of priority on student wellbeing. The recommendation of this study is that a collaborative approach, including all key stakeholders promoting education on social work practices in schools is needed in the Illawarra region and could be most effective in addressing the underdeveloped nature of school-based social work.