I hope you all are all doing well and see you on Saturday.

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

Being able to effectively collaborate is a vital skill in school social work. Week five of SOWK 587 is a synchronous week, with in-person class on Saturday (02/22/25). Students will read about collaboration in their textbook (Jarolmen & Batista-Thomas, 2023) and have opportunities to engage in with other sources exploring how we work together in schools. In discussion forums, students will share real-world examples of collaboration and engage critically with the material. During class, we will build on these discussions by practicing key collaboration techniques in simulated team settings.

The tentative agenda for class is as follows:

• Best practices in collaboration
• Strategies for effective collaboration
• Multi-disciplinary team meetings
• Intersectionality and working with diverse team members

The Learning Objectives for the week include

• Critically reflect on the experiences of effective collaboration to draw out common elements
• Analyze the topic of collaboration from a number of different perspectives and focuses
• Identify practices that are effective working in teams and strategies for implementing them
• Assess methods to develop rapport and work with diverse team members
• Implement a collaborative meeting using active listening, shared decision-making, and conflict resolution skills

Unit Assignments

Content

• Read Jarolmen and Bautista-Thomas (2023) Chapter 5: Collaboration and Consultation with Parents, Faculty, Staff, and Administration
• Read Avant and Swerdlik (2016) A Collaborative Endeavor: The Roles and Functions of School Social Workers and School Psychologists in Implementing Multi-tiered System of Supports/response to Intervention
• Read the RCW 28A.320.280, 28A.320.290, and 28A.410.044 providing context to school social workers, counselors, and psychologists and our related domains, professions, and collaboration.
• Listen to Lefkowitz et al. (2020) Podcast episode S5E22 - Family Engagement and Equity

A-02 Asynchronous Weekly Small Groups Discussion Forums

W-05 Small Group Discussion Forums

This week’s focus is on collaboration within schools. This collaboration often occurs within teams, including parents, teachers, administrators, and others. Working together is a vital aspect of being a school social worker, and our focus should be using these teams to support the learning outcomes for all students. You can find what group you are in the A-02 Group Assignments and Description handout. Students must submit at least three replies this week in their group’s forum. The discussion prompts focus on sharing examples of collaboration, learning from that, reflecting, and engaging with the content shared this week.

• Small Group Discussion Forums - Group 01
• Small Group Discussion Forums - Group 02
• Small Group Discussion Forums - Group 03
• Small Group Discussion Forums - Group 04

This week, the Third person on each group list is the leader (unless your group determines to have somebody else do it). It is the responsibility of the group as a whole that one of the members engages in this leadership role. This team leader will develop a reply in W-05 Discussion Forum Synthesis that will provide an overview of your group’s discussion. Even though only the team leader needs to post in this forum, I’d like for everybody to read it so you can hear what other groups discussed.

Unit Resources

If you haven’t ever gone through a training regarding suicide, QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) is a good model to learn. There is a training being offered at Heritage next Thursday at 12 PM on Campus in Rau. You can see the Heritage University QPR Training Flyer if you are interested.

Your A-03: Ethical Decision-Making Video Presentation is due next week. You can post any questions you might have and I will attempt to answer them so everybody can read them in the forum W-05 Questions about Ethical Decision-Making Video Presentations.

I’m asking you all to read some of the legal codes defining school social workers. First in, in the state definition of certifications, they differentiate between school psychologists and social workers (School psychologists and social workers - Domains and roles, RCW 28A.410.044, 2018). The laws that lay out expectations of districts also include two sections that guide school social counselors, psychologists and social workers and what their priorities as professions are in schools and expectations on professional collaboration (Priorities, RCW 28A.320.280, 2018; Professional collaboration, RCW 28A.320.290, 2018)).

As discussed over the last couple of weeks, a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) and response to intervention (RTI) are essential places for social collaboration. Avant and Swerdlik (2016) provide examples of this collaboration.

Coordinating and collaborating with families is another important aspect of our work. Lefkowitz et al. (2020) explore coordination and communication through family engagement and equity. It is a good episode. You can find the podcast posted on their website S5E22 – Family Engagement and Equity or Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Overcast.

I will share the presentation as we get closer to class here. After class, there will be a link to the lecture video.

To-Do Lists

• Attend class on Saturday
• Engage with the content for the week
• Complete three replies