Using Social Emotional Learning to Prevent School Violence

A Reference and Activity Guide

Allison Paolini

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000576122
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Didattica
• Categoría: Consulenza nella didattica

Using Social Emotional Learning to Prevent School Violence is an essential resource that seeks to close the existing gap in literature on ways to mitigate school violence, as well as to advocate for the integration of social emotional learning in schools.

In an effort to create culturally responsive, student-centered, and secure school environments, this book outlines strategies that highlight the importance of collaboration between critical stakeholders in identifying and mitigating bullying, assisting students struggling with relationship building skills, grief and loss, and anger; particularly those that demonstrate the need for power and control or the desire for retaliation. Mental health issues are also taken into consideration. Proactive responses and best practices are exemplifed in order to equip struggling students with resources that foster their well-being and success. Dr. Paolini draws upon extensive research in her depiction of school violence in America's education system and designs lesson plans and activities that address and align with each of the social emotional learning core competencies for both elementary and secondary school counselors.

This book will be of interest to critical stakeholders in P-12 settings as well as those in higher education, particularly as a resource for graduate students training to become transformative school counselors.

1 The ASCA National Model

DOI: 10.4324/9781003262183-1

The ASCA National Model is a core framework for school counseling programs, as it highlights and indicates the various components of a school counseling program that are instrumental for the program's success. The ASCA National Model allows school counselors to develop programs that are data-informed, delivered to all students systemically, integrate a developmentally appropriate curriculum, and work to close the achievement gap (American School Counselor Association, 2019). The ASCA National Model addresses three major domains including academic, career, and social emotional development. Therefore, school counselors work tirelessly to ensure that students possess the skills and knowledge that are needed to fulfill these competencies in order to achieve success both in school, as well as in the workforce. The ASCA National Model is divided into four parts including Define, Manage, Deliver, and Assess.

Define: There are three sets of standards that define the school counseling profession. Student Standards are composed of ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for student success: K-12 College and Career Readiness for Every Student (should be capital) (American School Counselor Association, 2019). In addition, Professional Standards including ASCA Ethical Standards, as well as ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

Manage: In order to effectively deliver services to all students, school counselors and counseling programs must be managed in order to promote efficiency. The ASCA National Model emphasizes program focus including beliefs, vision statement, and mission statement of the school, as this helps to drive the school counseling program forward and provide structure and organization. Program planning involves the use of school data, creating annual goals, action plans, lesson plans, advisory councils, and calendars in order to plan and document time being spent on various services (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

Deliver: This is the heart and soul of the school counseling program, as delivery incorporates facilitating developmentally useful activities and interventions to critical stakeholders. Activities and services offered help to augment the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors or student success in order to improve their overall academic achievement, reduce absenteeism, and enhance prosocial behaviors. According to the ASCA National Model, 80% of a school counselors time should be spent on direct (curriculum development, individual student planning, individual/small group/classroom/crisis counseling), as well as indirect services (collaboration and consultation referral) (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

Assess: School counseling programs are fervently passionate about training school counselors to be data-driven practitioners. Data drives practice, enhances accountability, as well as allows school counselors to substantiate and demonstrate their necessity in the school setting. One of the most profound questions school counselors reflect upon is: In what ways are students different as a result of counseling services? School counselors must be data-driven and work intentionally to assess their program to determine its efficacy, identify strengths of the program, and areas for growth, as well as show how students are different as a result of services received within the school counseling program (American School Counselor Association, 2019). School counselors can engage in program assessment via developing annual reports. School counselors can also complete the ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies Assessment or the School Counselor Performance Appraisal Template in order to document the impact of their services on student outcomes (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

According to American School Counselor Association (2019), the recommended caseload and student to counselor ratio is 250:1. In reality, caseloads tend to be significantly higher. As a result, counselors may not be aware of each student who may be struggling with an underlying mental health issue, dealing with bullying, anger, grief, and loss, or may lack motivation and optimism. Consultation and collaboration with critical stakeholders are vital in order to identify students who may be struggling and provide them with services. Additionally, delivering responsive services including individual, small group, classroom, as well as school-wide counseling is imperative in order to ensure that all students are receiving the resources, support, and guidance that they need in order to survive and thrive. In regard to direct services, it is essential for counselors to develop curricula that align with the ASCA National Model (2019) and specifically addresses topics and skills related to social emotional learning, as these skills have shown to play an integral role in promoting feelings of acceptance, belonging, validation, understanding, compassion, empathy, accountability, communication, diversity, self-love, love for others, and hope. In order to create school climates that are inclusive and safe, integrating character education, social emotional learning, diversity, substance usage, as well as bullying programs is imperative for the overall wellness of students personally, as well as academically.

Reference

• American School Counselor Association (2019). The ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCA.

2 School Counselors Role Importance of Creating a Safe School Climate and Fostering Positive Relationships with Students

DOI: 10.4324/9781003262183-2

One of the most imperative components of the school counselors’ role is to demonstrate leadership, advocacy, and work tenaciously to promote systemic change, as well as to create school climates that are safe, inclusive, and engaging in order to foster success for all students. All stakeholders must work together in order to help students feel safe, facilitate knowledge, and formulate strong and supportive relationships with students so that they feel connected and included. School climate addresses the character of a school and is based on patterns of students’, parents’, and faculty experiences of school. It also is representative of goals, values, relationships, and teaching practices (National School Climate Center, 2021). A healthy school climate allows for:

• Stakeholders to feel supported and safe
• Stakeholders feel respected and validated
• All stakeholders collaborate and work intentionally toward achieving the school's vision and mission
• Educators model and encourage a growth mindset; learning is not fixed and there is always room for improvement if given opportunities and resources

A positive school climate allows for enhanced academic achievement (GPA, test scores, academic performance), greater cohesion, increased graduation rates and attendance, as well as improved student learning outcomes. Schools with negative climates may have students with lower achievement scores, reduced graduation rates, bullying, and violence, as a lack of culture, community, and togetherness is lacking. According to the Safe and Supportive Schools Model in schools that have safe climates have students who feel supported, socially capable, and students who feel motivated and are challenged (American Institutes for Research, 2021). According to Education World (2011), there are a variety of ways to create a safe school environment including

• Assess the school's current climate via a needs assessment to determine the degree to which the school climate is positive
• Emphasize the importance of listening and collaboration
• Take a strong stance against codes of silence and encourage stakeholders with lifesaving information to come forward
• Implement antibullying programs
• Teach empathy, compassion, and resilience; we all face adversity and need to find ways to keep moving forward
• Motivate and empower students to play an instrumental role in creating a safe school climate by being respectful, treating others with dignity and compassion, encouraging leadership, involvement, connectivity, identifying similarities and celebrating differences, as well as focusing on continual growth
• Ensure that all students have a trusting relationship with at least one adult

Further, working to ensure that all students have a trusting relationship with another stakeholder is critical. Positive relationships act as positive reinforcements. When stakeholders believe in their students; they are more likely to believe in themselves. It is vital for students to have another stakeholder to talk, open up, and communicate with especially if they are going through a difficult time in order to express their feelings, as well as experience support, mentorship, and validation. Positive peer relationships, as well as positive relationships with stakeholders, are an instrumental component for reducing school violence, so that each stakeholder experiences support, recognition, inclusion, and a sense of belonging. Building positive relationships with students has also been shown to amplify student achievement, learning, and motivation, as well as shown to decrease bullying, disconnection, and violence. There are several steps that stakeholders can take to foster positive relationships with students including

• Demonstrating kindness
• Providing praise
• Building on previous successes
• Being trustworthy, accepting, and non-judgmental
• Provide structure and organization; students thrive when expectations are clear
• Incorporate humor and passion into instruction
• Display an interest in students’ lives outside of school
• Share achievements with their family

Ultimately, one of the most essential responsibilities of school counselors is to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to create a school climate that promotes cohesion, togetherness, acceptance, belonging, and connectivity, as this plays a significant role in the academic, personal/social, and vocational success of all students. It truly does take a village. Additionally, formulating positive and supportive relationships with students that promote feelings of understanding, encouragement, motivation, resilience, and empowerment is critical for their well-being. According to Maslow's basic needs, on the most fundamental level, we need to experience control to feel grounded, inclusion to feel a sense of belonging, and love; to love and to be loved and experience a powerful connection with others. We have to remember that not all students with who we interact come from homes that are full of unconditional adoration and acceptance. Thus, in addition to being school counselors, we also are advocates, leaders, change agents, observers, collaborators, facilitators, champions, cheerleaders, mentors, supporters, guides, lifesavers, and those really special humans who every day make a notable difference in the lives of others.

References

• American Institutes for Research (2021). School climate. Retrieved from https://www.air.org/our-work/education/school-climate
• Education World (2011). Creating a safe school climate. Retrieved from https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/safe-school-climate-bullying-prevention.shtml
• National School Climate Center (2021). What is school climate and why is it important? Retrieved from https://schoolclimate.org/school-climate/sustainable%2C%20positive%20school%20climate,socially%2C%20emotionally%20and%20physically%20safe

3 Overview of Bullying

DOI: 10.4324/9781003262183-3

Bullying has a monumentally negative impact on students’ academic, social emotional, and psychological well-being. Students who are both perpetrators and victims of bullying struggle both externally and internally for different reasons. Bullying is defined as unwanted, and aggressive behavior amongst children, adolescents, or adults in which there is an imbalance of power. Bullying is repeated and involves bothering and intimidating a person leaving long-lasting physical, emotional, and psychological damage (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). There are predominantly three types of bullying including verbal bullying (name-calling, teasing threatening), social bullying (intentionally leaving someone out, telling others not to befriend someone, spreading rumors, or humiliating someone), or physical bullying (hitting, kicking, or physically assaulting someone) (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Unfortunately, bullying is one of the leading causes of gun violence in schools. Therefore, addressing bullying and implementing antibullying programs is vital for school safety. Promoting family involvement, providing education, strengthening students’ social emotional skills, fostering connectivity, and intervening early on is critical.

Bullying Statistics

Bullying is a serious problem in schools throughout the country. Bullying leads ...