A Qualitative Study of Future School Social Workers Understanding of Role Responsibilities in Educational Settings

Background and Purpose: School social workers (SSWs) are increasingly prepared and educated to respond to the national youth mental health crisis in the United States (US). SSWs have engaged in school-community-family services and served as direct mental health providers in schools. Increasingly, SSWs and other school-based mental health professionals are serving in roles as mediators between students and their experiences of trauma and discrimination in their schools (Crutchfield et al., 2020). However, little is known about the school-specific knowledge Master of Social Work (MSW) students gain from their coursework, particularly regarding the role and practice skills of SSWs, from school social work-related electives. This study sought to better understand this phenomenon by employing a qualitative study design where students engaged in repeated reflections. The current study answers the following: 1) What knowledge and awareness of key educational issues do MSW students gain from participating in a SSW elective? 2) How do students perceive the role of SSWs?

Methods: As part of the Social Work in Educational Settings MSW course, students completed weekly significant learning prompts at the end of each 3 hour 15-week class that asked trainees to “Reflect on what you’ve learned today and identify your most significant learning or new knowledge gained from class today” in three to five sentences. Twenty-four trainees participated in the course in Fall 2021. Over 250 qualitative responses were analyzed and independently coded by the two authors with moderate interrater reliability (K = 0.70; 70-80% raw agreement per theme). Then, consensus coding was used to resolve discrepancies between coders and finalize the codebook.

Results: Three primary themes emerged from participants repeated reflections regarding the role and skillsets of SSWs and included: 1) school mental health practices (e.g., multi-tiered approaches, interventions, screening tools, school climate assessment; n = 108; 42%), 2) the importance of fostering school-family-community relationships (n = 55; 21%), and 3) the role of macro-practice community and advocacy work in SSW (n = 42; 16%). For example, one student shared, “I can advocate for different supports for non-academic barriers and gain control over in-and-out of school time.” In addition, students shared gaining general knowledge of SSW roles and certification (n = 55; 21%).

Conclusion and Implications: This presentation will share findings regarding students’ understanding of school social worker roles and practice skills. Social work educators and researchers have a responsibility to not only teach social work trainees interested in working in educational systems the current policies and evidence-based practices, but also evaluate their preparedness to engage in ongoing advocacy and the fight for equity among students of all identities (e.g., racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, immigrant status; Crutchfield et al., 2020). Approaches to integrating critical reflection as an evaluative assessment for future SSWs learning and engagement in application of the national SSW practice model in MSW curricula and research will be discussed.

References:

Crutchfield, J., Phillippo, K. L., & Frey, A. (2020). Structural Racism in Schools: A View through the Lens of the National School Social Work Practice Model. Children & Schools. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdaa015