My experience this term has been much more interesting than the previous terms. As mentioned in my latest journal, I feel as though I have had more independence this term. We are now placed in schools on a regular basis and are doing applied school psychology. There are still things that we are observing, but it feels more integrated with practice now. All of my courses this term were about practicing and very little about theory. After five years of learning about theory, it was a refreshing term.
One of the main concepts I learned about while in practicum is the nature of school systems. While we learn many possible ways of implementing ideas in our coursework, the actual format of implementation in a school can be very different. Things that seems to be common sense to a school psychology student (like progress monitoring) are not necessarily common sense in the schools. For example, PBIS is a research based program that we have been taught is an effective means by which to increase positive behavior in students. This idea is so ingrained in my mind that I thought anyone would jump on it for the same reasons that I saw. However, to implement a program like PBIS would require that 80% of the staff were on board (which can be a lot of work in a high school). Therefore, simply introducing the idea does not mean everyone will agree.
The mechanics of systems change are fascinating to me. I feel like my school is sometimes too afraid to make changes, yet it has also been around a long time and has gone through many things. It feels as though there is some resistance. Perhaps the people who run the school are familiar with "what works." Regardless, if I were the school psychologist, I would want to present researched ideas to the school and work on implementing them before assuming they would not work. I have not gotten too much of an opportunity yet, but I have been keeping track of the people at my school who seem to be motivated by creating changes. If I were to ever continue work with my high school, I would want to find the people with a similar vision for change and build off of that.
This term was also great for developing my research project. I feel I have not been able to gather enough background literature for this project, but am hoping I can add to it over break. I have so far enjoyed working with the ED program team in determining what their program is all about. It is my hope that I can help create a framework for their program and a consistent system for reevaluation.
While this term has been interesting, I imagine that the next two terms will be even more busy. The winter and spring are testing seasons for the traditional schools and I expect to get a lot of testing experience. This will be helpful for the school psychologist and I will feel more confident in my abilities to give standardized tests. I do have some ethical questions about using these tests, but I realize the value that is placed on them by society at large. Besides, if I hope to be a facilitator of change, I will need to know both sides of the coin. In general, this term has been a good experience and has helped me to connect theories with practice.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Seminar - Independence
The last week or so in practicum I have been establishing greater independence. I have been able to review more research and present my articles to the ED program team. Particularly, I found a research article about how to evaluate ED programs and some of the components of effective ED programs. While the surveys were meant for internal use only, I still decided to give them to the team so that I could figure out for myself some of their focal points.
It has been difficult to build and discover what the framework of this ED program is. It has appeared thus far to be a program based on ideas that have "worked" for a number of years and not based on any one theory. This has made for an interesting project as I attempt to find the strengths and weaknesses of this program. I gave the surveys to three of the team members and expect to have them back in a week or so. These surveys will inform me in the subject areas that the ED program is focused in (e.g. academics, social skills, or behavioral management). My plan is to then take that information and find out some similar problems or theories based on what the team views as the strengths of the ED program.
Aside from the research project, I have started a weekly counseling group with a social worker. There are 2-5 girls weekly who come in for about 20-30 minutes to talk about various problems. The focus of the program is around self-esteem, assertiveness building, talking out problems, and facing anxiety. I had my first session and it was pretty interesting.
The social worker was used to giving information or talking out problems, so I was able to offer some school psychology perspectives on her tactics. I brought up the idea of progress monitoring and solution-focused brief therapy treatment techniques. I suggested to have much of the therapy client-directed or group created. For example, if we asked the students to come up with their own answers on "how to talk out a problem," we could use their creation as a means for monitoring their success. At various points, we could ask them how they think the counseling is going. And finally, I added how I thought we could relate an individual's problem to another group member's similar (but not identical) problem in order to make solving the problem relevant for everyone. The social worker valued all of my input. She decided to hold a follow-up meeting with the girls this week on an issue that was brought up by one of them and is planning to use my ideas.
Overall, I am feeling like I am able to do more here. The social services team is becoming more familiar with who I am and are taking some of my suggestions seriously. It will be a difficult decision about whether I should apply for the internship with this high school. I feel very connected with the research project I will be working on and do not want to leave it. At the same time, I would like a well-rounded experience by trying an RTI school or elementary school. At this point, I am desiring to stay at my current site, but it may depend on the upcoming testing crunch.
It has been difficult to build and discover what the framework of this ED program is. It has appeared thus far to be a program based on ideas that have "worked" for a number of years and not based on any one theory. This has made for an interesting project as I attempt to find the strengths and weaknesses of this program. I gave the surveys to three of the team members and expect to have them back in a week or so. These surveys will inform me in the subject areas that the ED program is focused in (e.g. academics, social skills, or behavioral management). My plan is to then take that information and find out some similar problems or theories based on what the team views as the strengths of the ED program.
Aside from the research project, I have started a weekly counseling group with a social worker. There are 2-5 girls weekly who come in for about 20-30 minutes to talk about various problems. The focus of the program is around self-esteem, assertiveness building, talking out problems, and facing anxiety. I had my first session and it was pretty interesting.
The social worker was used to giving information or talking out problems, so I was able to offer some school psychology perspectives on her tactics. I brought up the idea of progress monitoring and solution-focused brief therapy treatment techniques. I suggested to have much of the therapy client-directed or group created. For example, if we asked the students to come up with their own answers on "how to talk out a problem," we could use their creation as a means for monitoring their success. At various points, we could ask them how they think the counseling is going. And finally, I added how I thought we could relate an individual's problem to another group member's similar (but not identical) problem in order to make solving the problem relevant for everyone. The social worker valued all of my input. She decided to hold a follow-up meeting with the girls this week on an issue that was brought up by one of them and is planning to use my ideas.
Overall, I am feeling like I am able to do more here. The social services team is becoming more familiar with who I am and are taking some of my suggestions seriously. It will be a difficult decision about whether I should apply for the internship with this high school. I feel very connected with the research project I will be working on and do not want to leave it. At the same time, I would like a well-rounded experience by trying an RTI school or elementary school. At this point, I am desiring to stay at my current site, but it may depend on the upcoming testing crunch.
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