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SOCIAL JUSTICE: FAD, FASHION, OR THE FUTURE FACE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY. Charles Barrett, PhD, NCSP California Association of School Psychologists Spring Institute March 2019. #itsalwaysabouthechildren. @_charlesbarrett. @charlesabarrett. NASP AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
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SOCIAL JUSTICE: FAD, FASHION, OR THE FUTURE FACE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY Charles Barrett, PhD, NCSP California Association of School Psychologists Spring Institute March 2019
#itsalwaysabouthechildren @_charlesbarrett @charlesabarrett
NASP AND SOCIAL JUSTICE • Social Justice is one of five NASP Strategic Goals • Workforce Shortages • Leadership Development • NASP Practice Model • Mental/Behavioral Health Providers • In September 2017, a definition for school psychologists was adopted by the Board of Directors and Leadership Assembly
SOCIAL JUSTICE: A DEFINITION • Social justice is both a process and a goal that requires action. • School psychologists work to ensure the protection of the educational rights, opportunities, and well-being of all children, especially those whose voices have been muted, identities obscured, or needs ignored. • Social justice requires promoting non-discriminatory practices and the empowerment of families and communities. • School psychologists enact social justice through culturally-responsive professional practice and advocacy to create schools, communities, and systems that ensure equity and fairness for all children.
Ensure that all children and youth are valued and that their rights and opportunities are protected in schools and communities.
SOCIAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE: 2016-2018 • Elizabeth A’Vant • Charles Barrett • Khadijah Cyril • Sycarah Fisher • Nikole Hollins-Simms • Niekema Hudson • Emily Klein • Angela Mann • Shereen Naser • Daphne Perry • Rosalyn Pitts • Sherrie Proctor • Tara Raines • Tracey Scherr • David Shriberg • Amanda Sullivan
SOCIAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE: 2016-2018 • Privilege • Understanding Race and Privilege • Talking about Race and Privilege: Lesson Plan for Middle and High School Students • Understanding Race and Privilege: Lesson Plan and Activity Guide for Professionals • Implicit Bias • Implicit Bias: A Foundation for School Psychologists • Implicit Bias, Part 2: Addressing Disproportionality in Discipline: A Prospective Look at Culturally Responsive Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports • Intersectionality • Intersectionality and School Psychology: Implications for Practice • Intersectionality Infographic
Social Justice Committee: 2018 • Charles Barrett • Sherrie Proctor • Carlos Calderon • Adrianna Crossing • Danielle Guttman-Lapin • Tiombe Kendrick • Leandra Parris • Sheila Desai, Staff Liaison • Celeste Malone, Strategic Liaison
Social Justice Committee: 2018 • Engage members around social justice and related issues using NASP resources such as publications, presentations, and social media • Develop social justice resources to support members in increasing their awareness, knowledge, and skills regarding social justice issues that are relevant to children, families, schools, and communities • Provide consultation to NASP committees engaging in social justice work • Build NASP leaders’ and delegates’ capacity to support the organization in integrating social justice as a strategic goal • Expand the available pool of NASP members prepared to offer social justice related support to school psychologists, school systems, state associations, and other stakeholders
Social Justice Committee: 2019-2020 • The Social Justice Committee will focus on the justice implications of poverty throughout 2019-2020 • This examination will include an interdisciplinary analysis—sociology, social work, economics, public policy, and other fields • Historically, school psychology research has not focused on the impact of poverty, specifically, on adverse outcomes for children, families, schools, and communities
NASP EXPOSURE PROJECT • We need every school psychology graduate student, faculty member, and practitioner to present to high school students and/or undergraduates at least once each semester • https://tinyurl.com/NASP-ExposureProject • https://tinyurl.com/NASP-EP-Tracking
Graduate school • In reflecting on my own graduate school experience, my peers and I knew that the end of the semester was upon us when we had what seemed to be the obligatory multicultural or diversity session in each of our classes • Rather than being embedded into the course material, it felt like a topic that was added so that we would have 14 weeks of instruction • We were not challenged to think critically about issues related to diversity, inclusion, and equity while learning about assessment, intervention, consultation, and all of the other foundational areas of school psychology
THESE ARE Exciting times • Albeit cliché, for a variety of reasons, school psychology is at a crossroads • We can continue as we’ve been doing in years past • Or, we can seize the opportunity to forge ahead into areas that have traditionally not been central to our practice • Intentionally focusing on equity rather than only diversity and inclusion will lead to significant positive outcomes for children, families, schools, and communities
SOCIAL JUSTICE IS… • To some, social justice may be a fad • The next hot topic or buzz word in psychology and education • Social justice is a way of thinking and practicing • Similar to various schools of thought or psychological perspectives, it is a framework that informs the manner in which we conceptualize and approach serving students, families, schools, and communities
Asking questions • Good research studies don’t only lead to answers, but they also raise additional questions • Similarly, social justice is more than knowing all of the answers to the ills that face children • Social justice is having an intellectual curiosity to constantly interrogate systems and practices that lead to inequitable outcomes
What we cannot do… • Because of what social justice is, we have to guard against the following • SIMPLY DOING SOCIAL JUSTICE • Rather than only engaging in activities, we must learn to think differently about the field and the children, families, schools, and communities that we serve • SEEING IT AS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN MEASURE • In a field that is driven by observable and measurable outcomes, social justice may seem antithetical to the manner in which we conceptualize and practice school psychology • Rather than oversimplifying social justice and boiling it down to checklists and rating scales of behaviors that we engage in, we must become comfortable with the reality that we may not be able to measure it—at least in the same ways as other aspects of school psychology
WHAT WE CANNOT DO… • SEEING IT AS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH* • Compared to the other Strategic Goals, it is a process and a goal • We can conceivably address critical workforce shortages by hiring enough school psychologists and building capacity for training programs to continue develop the next generation of school psychologists; successful advocacy can embed the NASP Practice Model in state and federal education policy and school psychologists can be seen as mental and behavioral health providers • However, we must continue developing leaders and issues of equity and justice will likely remain
