Fourth Annual School Social Workers Conference

Tips and Tactics for Talking about Race: A Toolkit for School Social Workers

Kenneth V. Hardy, Ph.D. 

Race remains a potent and polarizing issue in all domains of our society. Schools are no exception. Racial strife, misunderstanding, and even polarization are increasingly common occurrences in many of our schools.  Despite the omnipresence of race in our lives, progressive and meaningful conversations about race remain somewhere between difficult and impossible.  Our efforts to talk about race openly and effectively are often characterized by avoidance, discomfort and awkwardness. School Social Workers are often relied upon to navigate many of these difficult conversations and often without the requisite tools to do so.

This address will provide School Social Workers with tips and tools for promoting sustainable conversations about race within and outside of the school community with students, teachers, parents and each other. Relevant racially based Self of the Social Worker issues that may impede and/or facilitate effective and meaningful conversations will be explored.

Following the completion of the keynote, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and effectively address race-related microaggressions that impede progressive conversations about race;
2. Use the VCR (Validate, Challenge and Request) as an effective tool for addressing hot button racial issues in school and others settings;
3. Use the Privilege And Subjugated Tasks Model (PAST) to effectively engage in conversations about race and culture.

The School Girls Deserve: Creating Safe and Supportive Schools for Girls and Gender Nonconforming Youth of Color

Brittany Brathwaite, MPH, MSW, Organizing and Innovation Manager, Girls for Gender Equity

Findings from Girls for Gender Equity’s Participatory Research Project demonstrate that too many girls and transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth of color are criminalized, marginalized, and neglected because of beliefs, policies, and actions in their schools that render them vulnerable and unsafe in school settings. The School Girls Deserve seeks to center the voices and experiences of girls and TGNC youth of color in a range of conversations including harsh discipline and school pushouts as well as distribution of school resources and support. In this plenary, critical thinking about the many, converging ways in which racist, sexist, classist, Islamophobic, homophobic and transphobic practices marginalize girls and TGNC youth of color in their learning environments will be highlighted. In addition, a constellation of youth-centered visions and policy solutions that affirm and support all students will be presented. The end of the plenary will cover potential approaches  where young people are trusted to be experts in their own experiences and co-create the solutions for the schools they want, need, and deserve.

Following the completion of the afternoon plenary, participants will be able to:

1. Define school pushout in relation to systemic, institutional and interpersonal oppression.
2. Describe 4 school pushout factors impacting girls and TGNC of color.
3. Apply participatory action research methods to identify pushout factors and uplift unique learning environment experiences in their own schools.

WORKSHOP A

Students Speak Out:  The Academic Impact of Environmental Hazards in Low Income and Public Housing
Steven Goodman, Founding Executive Director, Educational Video Center
Raelene Holmes-Andrews, Educational Video Center

Workshop Category: Community

Mold and lead paint are dangerous health hazards which disproportionately impact low-income students of color whose families live in low income and public housing. Students struggling with asthma and the debilitating effects of lead paint are more likely to fall behind academically due to higher rates of school absence from hospitalization. By understanding these health and academic problems as social justice issues, social workers can have the tools to support and engage their students and make their voices heard.

Learning Objectives

After participating in this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify key health and social emotional problems that students experience who are exposed to environmental hazards in low income and public housing.
2. List the steps for facilitating participatory action research projects to engage youth to change these conditions.

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WORKSHOP B

Bold, Brave & Beautiful: Objectification of Black Girls Bodies in Schools
Aisha D. Smith LMSW, Student Services Manager, Year Up

Workshop Category: Community

Black culture and beauty standards are constantly ridiculed, demoralized and criminalized—including in educational settings. How can we as school social workers validate the beauty, history, traditions and experiences of young black women? This workshop will challenge the perception of dominant, hegemonic normative standards against young black women.

Learning Objectives

After participating in this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Differentiate the varied levels of objectification against black bodies.
2. Create environments that facilitate conditions to shift conversations in diversity and inclusion in educational settings.

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WORKSHOP C

Connecting to Your Own Inner Child:  Using Therapeutic, Play-Based Interventions with Young People
Katherine Tineo-Komatsu, LCSW, School Social Worker, Atmosphere Academy Charter School
Audra Ekeinde-Jimenez, LCSW, IEP Counselor, Comprehensive Psychological Services, LLC

Workshop Category: Community

This workshop will examine strategies that will help school social workers move beyond crisis management into therapeutic treatment.  We will identify how to effectively utilize play-based interventions to address and heal from traumas, mental health conditions, and interpersonal relational issues.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define play-based interventions.
2. Apply at least one play-based intervention in their setting with their population.

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WORKSHOP D

Activating the Minds of Young People: The Role of Critical Consciousness
Amarilis Pullen, MSW, Program Officer, Perrin Family Foundation
Morgan Little, LMSW, Director of Programs, Sadie Nash Leadership Project

Workshop Category:  Individual & Community

In order to effectively engage young people in social change, school social workers require a special set of tools and skills, above and beyond those needed in traditional youth work. This work prioritizes engaging youth voice, fostering youth adult relationships, creating of meaningful opportunities for shared decision making and incorporating sociopolitical competencies as core youth development outcomes.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Broaden youth development principles to include critical consciousness.
2. Critique strengths and challenges to the methodology of including critical consciousness in youth development.

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WORKSHOP E

Engaging Corporations in Social Justice
Jessica James, Founder & Principal, Jessica James Consulting

Workshop Category: Community

Corporations in America hold trillions of dollars in capital and employ millions of individuals. Despite a growing trend towards corporate social responsibility, they are largely absent in social justice movements, public education and education initiatives. In this workshop, we will take a hard look at the corporate sector’s relationship to social justice and how that manifests within the education space. What progress could be possible and what outcomes could be improved for our students if the education sector and corporate sectors collaborated with respect, transparency and mutual accountability?

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Examine causes for current lack of collaboration between corporate sector and educational settings.
2. Create methods for engaging corporations in social justice work within education.

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WORKSHOP F

Confronting Hidden & Vicarious Trauma and Restoring Hope Through Healing Practices
Amy Fabrikant, Nonviolent Communication Facilitator & Critical Literacy Coach
Christina Chaise, Circle Keeper, Institute for Urban & Minority Education

Workshop Category: Individual and Community          

In a world where structural violence is omnipresent and fosters dehumanization and trauma in a multitude of ways, it takes tremendous energy to keep functioning while carrying the memory of terror, shame and painful histories, especially when simultaneously supporting, working with, and caring for others.  This program explores restorative, transformative and healing justice practices to address this violence in school settings.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify harms that transcend the polar ‘victim vs. perpetrator’ narrative.
2. Apply Reconciliation Rituals in personal and professional lives.

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WORKSHOP G

Being Seen & Staying Heard: Trauma-Informed Interventions for LGBTSTGNC Youth of Color Experiencing IPV
Shanée Smith, Co-Founder, Deeply Rooted Healing Collective: Day One
Kimberley Moore, Co-Founder, Deeply Rooted Healing Collective: Ontario Black Youth Action Plan

Workshop Category:  Individual & Community 

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming (LGBTSTGNC) young people of color experience trauma related to sexual and intimate partner violence at disproportionate levels. Due to challenges young people identifying within these communities face in accessing trans and queer-affirming and competent (anti-violence) services, it is imperative that school social workers equip themselves to assess for and develop trauma-informed interventions for cases of intimate partner violence between LGBTSTGNC youth of color. The workshop challenges participants to think critically and reflectively about the intersection of race, gender identity, and sexuality among young people.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Assess for cases of intimate partner violence between LGBTSTGNC students.
2. Apply at the individual and community level trauma-informed practices in IPV interventions for LGBTQ+ students.

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WORKSHOP H

Title:  Understanding Cultural Bias and Building Awareness using a Mindfulness-based Model
Kamakshi Sankar Boyle, LCSW-C, Clinical Social Worker & Supervisor, Private Practice

Workshop Category: Individual

This workshop will help school social workers understand the psychology of implicit bias that impacts people of color and other minority groups. It provides research to build awareness of stigma, bias, prejudice, and stereotypes. Participants will engage in reflective activities and learn a mindfulness -and acceptance-based approach to improve their ability to connect with others from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify examples of bias in their own cultural experience.
2. Apply Mindfulness- and Acceptance-Based Model.

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WORKSHOP I

Resilience and Intervention Applications from a Social Justice Perspective
Meeta Gandhi, LCSW-R, Clinical Supevisor, KIPP College Preparatory Schools, NYC

Workshop Category: Community

As a school social worker in our client’s school settings, we are ideally poised to be a protective factor and promote our client’s resilience when facing adverse environmental conditions. Resilience is not limited to assessing and promoting individual resilience but also includes an assessment of our students’ environmental strengths and vulnerabilities. This workshop will provide tools to help develop our students’ personal models of resilience.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Use a Resilient Assessment Matrix to identify vulnerabilities and strengths in both individual and environmental domains of students.
2. Identify interventions to promote resilience.

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WORKSHOP J

Restorative Justice in Schools: Reflection as the Key for Healing
Shana Louallen, LMSW, Co-Founder, Peer Connect
Tyler Brewster, MSEd., Co-Founder, Peer Connect

Workshop Category: Individual and Community

Restorative Justice is defined by a commitment to the building, maintaining and repairing of relationships. Self-reflection is crucial in this work.  In this workshop we examine how deeper reflections around race, class, power and privilege can make a world of difference in how healing is communicated, received or rejected.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define the basic principles of Restorative Justice & Restorative Practices.
2. Identify key areas for self-reflection in Restorative Justice work with respect to deconstructing privileges.

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WORKSHOP K

Hopes, Fears, and Expectations: Empowering Youth through Transformative Organizing
Melody Benitez
Shaktii Mann

Workshop Category: Individual, Community & Political

Two leaders of the YA-YA Network present the YA-YA youth-led organizing model based in anti-oppression and youth empowerment. Participants will get tools to reproduce the effectiveness of restorative justice community-building, peer education and other practices for challenging adultism, racism, and punitive disciplinary practices.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Identify integral frameworks such as positive youth development, trauma-informed care, and transformative methods used to develop resilient leaders.
2. Generate strategies to work with youth organizers in transforming attitudes and local policy that impact their schools.

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WORKSHOP L

Promoting Equity in a Suburban School: A Case Study of One School’s Transformation Process
Leticia Villarreal Sosa, PhD, LCSW, School Social Work PEL, CADC, Associate Professor, Dominican University

Workshop Category: Individual

Discussions of equity have become commonplace and the focus of national attention. This case study examines one Chicago suburban district’s efforts to promote equity. Data from focus groups with teachers and administrators are used to understand how this process is experienced and the perceived outcomes. Documenting these successes and challenges faced by this district can inform other schools in their efforts to promote equity and reduce racial disparities.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. List best practices for promoting racial equity in schools.
2. Define strategies for overcoming potential challenges when doing equity work in the schools.

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WORKSHOP M

Creating a Culture of Belonging: Alternative Strategies for Clinical Engagement and Treatment in the School Setting:.
Frank Zinzi, LCSW, School Social Worker, NYC Department of Education

Workshop Category: Community

This workshop highlights non-traditional methods to clinically engage students in the school setting and how the school social worker can use these methods to facilitate a school climate that emphasizes social justice and equity. Participants will be encouraged to explore and develop their own alternative forms of engagement that  are “outside the box” on how their role as a school social worker can be adapted to actively promote social justice in their school.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define alternative, student-centered engagement techniques and philosophies and their various applications within the school building.
2. Describe how being an active presence in the school building increases opportunities for prevention and intervention and promotes a school culture of social justice and equity.

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WORKSHOP N

Addressing Chronic Absence in Schools
Lissette Gomez, LCSW, Director of Special Projects
Lukas Weinstein, LMSW, Senior Director of Regional Initiatives 

Workshop Category: Community

Chronic absence – when students miss 10% of school for any reason – has emerged as a critical leading indicator that schools and communities should track and address. Following a review of recent national research, we will discuss the root causes and impact of chronic absence and explore key strategies schools can employ to assess their attendance patterns and organize their resources to meet students’ and families’ needs

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define Chronic Absenteeism and why it is so important to address.
2. Identify and apply strategies for supporting Chronically Absent students.

Child Therapy Toys

Pearson

Raise NYC

U.S. Open

Dreams Live

The artwork selected to promote the conference is titled Dreams Live, and was created by mixed media artist Lance Johnson. This piece symbolizes the dreams that live in the hearts and minds of young people who dwell in urban environments. Too often they are seen as a monolith but there is a diversity of hopes and dreams, trials and tribulations that often go overlooked or misunderstood. This is a piece that serves as a reminder that with work and belief…all dreams are possible!

An exhibition of Johnson’s work will be on view at Conference Reception on Thursday, June 7 at CSSW.

Lance Johnson’s Bio

Think…create…inspire. That’s the motto mixed media artist Lance Johnson brings to every piece he creates. He sets out to create pieces that celebrate the beauty that thrives in urban settings. At an early age, Johnson was seduced by the process of creating something vibrant and thought provoking to share with the world. He has set out to not only celebrate the legacy of his African American heritage but add to it. When Johnson was about 14 years old, his mother showed him a video tape of a documentary that would expose him to the rich legacy of African American art. He was particularly struck by the bold and vibrant artworks of collage artist Romare Bearden. It had a profound effect on him. Collage became his medium of choice because like jazz music, it allowed improvisation and the juxtaposition of unlikely parts combined to create familiar images. It fostered in him, the idea of combining random images and creating stories from the parts. Like, hip hop, Johnson’s favorite mode of music, his work grabs from the past to decorate the present.

Johnson has exhibited his art in various art shows throughout the boroughs of NYC as well as in South Carolina and Boston.

Morning Workshop
Implicit Bias: Knowing Thyself as an Instrument of Social Justice
Implicit Bias Handout

Afternoon Workshop A
Students Speak Out: The Academic Impact of Environmental Hazards in Low Income and Public Housing

Afternoon Workshop B
Bold, Brave & Beautiful: Objectification of Black Girls Bodies in Schools

Afternoon Workshop C
Connecting to your own inner child
Inner Child Worksheet
Creating A Play-Based Intervention Plan

Afternoon Workshop D
Activating the Mind of Youth
From Assets to Agents of Change Social Justice Organizing and Youth Development

Afternoon Workshop E
Engaging Corporations in Social Justice

Afternoon Workshop F
Confronting Hidden & Vicarious Trauma and Restoring Hope Through Healing Practices

Afternoon Workshop G
Being Seen Staying Heard Presentation

Afternoon Workshop H
Understanding Cultural Bias and Building Awareness using a Mindfulness-based Model

Afternoon Workshop I
Resilience and Intervention Applications from a Social Justice Perspective
»What is Resilience
»Conceptual Framework
»Top Ten Key Messages
»Working with Children/Youth K-8

Afternoon Workshop J
Restorative Justice in Schools: Reflection as the Key for Healing

Afternoon Workshop K
Hopes, Fears, and Expectations: Empowering Youth through Transformative Organizing

Afternoon Workshop L
Promoting Equity in a Suburban School: A Case Study of One School’s Transformation Process

Afternoon Workshop M
Creating a Culture of Belonging: Alternative Strategies for Clinical Engagement and Treatment in the School Setting

Afternoon Workshop N
Addressing Chronic Absence in Schools

Afternoon Plenary
The School Girls Deserve