Role of the Social Worker Within the interdisciplinary team, made up of the board, principal, vice principal, teachers, special education teachers, teachers’ aids, school nurse, social workers, guidance counselors, school psychologists, other staff members, custodial workers, students, and parents; their ideal role is to foster and garner the success of the student. Theoretically the mission of the school is to ensure that all students have access to the educational …show more content…
Many are in fact Licensed Clinical Social Workers who are trained mental health professionals.
Drivers and Barriers
The drivers are the high needs within a community. From personal needs such as - food, clothing, housing, basic day to day needs -- to high needs in the area of mental health support. If we can assist in these areas, the students are more able to access the “educational curriculum.”
The barriers are basically that there are so many students for each social worker. All students are not able to access other needs. One other barrier is that members and duties of the interdisciplinary team often overlap.
Since this high school district is ranked it brings in outside pressures; therefore creating a hierarchal structure that showcases how some students rise while others crack under pressure. The downfall to this system is that one sees discrepancies in who succeed and who fail; which is when intersectionality comes into play. Models of Care …show more content…
These principles address the high standard that social workers have to adhere to in their field of practice. For example a social worker in a school setting should adhere to these principles while trying to draft a treatment plan for the student. For the value of service, the social worker’s principle is to address the problem at hand while trying to negotiate a solution with the student by relying on his or her own expertise and passion.
For the value of social justice, the social worker’s principle is to understand and be open to working with students from oppressed backgrounds that may be a reason why you, as a social worker see why the student is failing. Social workers need to be mindful that intersectionality may play into the outcome of student success. And it is the duty of the social worker to navigate/address these issues in a sensitive