Social workers, educators, officials hail curriculum project
On September 14, the Chapter marked the completion of the Curriculum Development Project on Social Work Practice In and With Schools with a reception at the Hunter College School of Social Work.
Thomas Sobel, former New York State Commissioner of Education, Marva Hammons, Commissioner of New York City's Human Resources Administration, Jay Donahue of the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and Isadora Hare of the National Association of Social Workers, delivered congratulatory remarks. A number of local public officials also attended the event.
The Project, which developed specialized graduate courses to prepare social workers for practice in and with public schools, addressed the fact that none of the City's graduate schools of social work and few in other parts of the country, fully prepared their students for expanded roles in public education. Research has demonstrated that the nation's educational goals for youth cannot be met without simultaneous attention to
the social problems that interfere with student learning. Consequently, educational reform efforts now emphasize the importance of restructuring schools in ways that strengthen the linkages among education, health, and social service systems. This trend creates a demand for social workers who can serve new, expanded functions in and with the public schools.
The curriculum development project was sponsored by the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers in collaboration with the NYC Chapter of the New York State School Social Workers Association; the Deans of NYC's five graduate schools of social work; and the New York State Dean's Association. It was funded by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education.
The Project was directed by Dr. Rose Starr and Dr. Elaine Walsh. Dr. Brenda McGowan was the research consultant. Coordinators were Ann Sand and Harriet Putterman, and course instructor was RoseMarie D. Arons.
Materials from the project will be disseminated nationally through associations of practitioners and educators, professional conferences, and journals.
This picture is accentuated by the lack of a social work advocacy effort directed toward the school system and its social service component. While social workers are participants in education reform organizations and coalitions, they and others concerned are not yet organized to press for school-based social service improvement and reform.
While it is a substantial achievement that graduate schools have acknowledged the importance of content in this area, jobs in both the public and voluntary sector of school-related services are in jeopardy. Field placements increasingly are hard to come by, as experienced field instructors, compensating for staff losses, are pressed into direct service responsibilities.
Limiting too is the lack of institutional consensus on the social work function in school-based practice. While many models are implemented in diverse programs and organizations, the school system - still the largest single employer in this area - has not adopted either NASW professional standards for school social work or the ecological framework and its practice assumptions advocated in the literature and practice experience.
The social work profession can become more active in shaping a school system in crisis. Change is occurring at all levels - local, state and national. Reform movements advocating school-linked services and full-service schools are revolutionizing social service arrangements with school systems around the country. As parents, teachers and principals play a greater role in resource decisions, successful programs may find support form the "grass roots" of the educational enterprise.
Social workers know that neglect of the psyche, soul and stomach assures school failure. Many educators know this too.
We must continue to strive for inroads with key decision-makers on the need for social work and social services in schools and on what social workers can do to assist educational achievement. Together in coalition, we can make a difference if we try.