Educating Today's School Social Workers: Are School Social Work Courses Responding to the Changing Context?

School social work takes place within the dynamic context of the educational landscape, yet research indicates that school social work practice has been slow to adjust to the demands ofthat landscape. Little research has assessed whether school social workers are being adequately prepared to address...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Children & schools 2010-10, Vol.32 (4), p.237-249
Main Authors: Berzin, Stephanie Cosner, O'Connor, Sarah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caseworker Approach
Children & youth
Core curriculum
Counseling Effectiveness
Counseling Psychology
Counseling Services
Counselor Training
Course Content
Course Evaluation
curriculum
Curriculum Evaluation
education
Education reform
Educational Change
Intervention
Learning
Mental health
MSW
No Child Left Behind Act 2001
Positive Behavior Supports
Response to Intervention
school social work
School Social Workers
Schools
Shift Studies
Social Work
Social workers
Student Needs
Students
syllabus
Teaching Methods
Theory
Theory Practice Relationship
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:School social work takes place within the dynamic context of the educational landscape, yet research indicates that school social work practice has been slow to adjust to the demands ofthat landscape. Little research has assessed whether school social workers are being adequately prepared to address the educational shifts that underlie today's practice. To examine this preparation, the authors examined syllabuses from school social work courses for content and attention to these shifts. The most common topics covered were special education, confidentiality and ethics, the history and role of school social workers, and collaboration. Although calls from research, theoretical literature, and policy changes suggest that evidence-based practice, response to intervention, positive behavior supports, No Child Left Behind, shifts in mental health prevalence, bullying, and school choice are related to large-scale shifts in the educational landscape that affect school social work, syllabuses showed inconsistent incorporation of these contents. Subject matter related to multilevel practice was also limited, with a strong focus on content aimed at clinical practice. Syllabuses included less content teaching school social workers how to make systemic or environmental changes. Implications regarding preparation of school social workers to meet changes in education and calls from scholars to support multitiered approaches to helping students are discussed.
ISSN:1532-8759
1545-682X
DOI:10.1093/cs/32.4.237