Public School Social Work - Case Study Example

Process RecordingMichelle WilliamsSUNY Albany

Agency description: Public School 2

My social work placement practice is at PS 2 in Troy New York that is a Focus school. As a Focus School, means that it gets extra help from the state through a program called receivership which is design towards the improvements of pupils in areas that are specific to the school. The school’s mission is the provision of students with learning opportunities directed towards fostering academic proficiency while also modeling and expecting a strong character from all and collectively own and celebrate the school community. The school’s vision is that itseeks to ensure that they continually increase their graduation class along with parents and students eagerness to attend Public School 2. The school is within an urban school district and is dedicated to ensuring that its graduates 90 percent of its students who are not only college but career ready.

Personal Role with the Agency

The service outcomes that the school seeks include ensuring the delivery of high-quality education that is not only beneficial to the student but also the society as a whole. Within the organization’s context, the role of the social worker which I play is the provision of services that improve the lives of the individuals being served. One of my roles as an intern social worker in the organization is to identify social, behavioral issues amongst the students. Another role is to meet weekly with assign students to help them make better choices and discuss issues that are school and family related.

The students with IEP (Individualized Education Program) are mandated to have weekly sessions and work on goals that they want to achieve such as learning how to manage frustration that affects their social and behavioral skills. I am also involved with the assisting of the ratio classes which are the learning and social developmental classes. The students in these classes have an IEP, and many take various medications to help with their behavior issues. The population that I work with is the elementary age children who have adversaries that affect their social and learning skills.

Description of Client’s Situation and Reason for Seeking Help

My client is called Maria French. She is an eleven years old African American student in a New York based Focus school by the name PS 2, located in Troy. As such, the focus school is directly supported by the state and is further required to provide quality graduates who are not only self-adequate to undertake personal issues but also able to tackle community matters excellently. Notwithstanding, the Focus school has thus sought the services of various categories of social workers to ensure that their students meet the set criteria despite having some students from the minority groups and who may perform poorly, if adequate interventions are not employed, due to family problems that disturb them during the learning process.

Moreover, the strict environment where students are required to either pass or pass is also expected to be piling excessive pressure on some students more so those that have challenges in some areas and thus subjected to the IEP (Individualized Education Program). Consequently, French is the last born in a family of four where she lives with her mother and her three older sisters in a humble disconnected African American family. She moreover has problems with learning math and reading skills together with social behavior and has thus been subjected into an IEP. Moreover, she easily gets frustrated and often her behavior consists of yelling and being disrespectful to others. Such is costing her education and thus needs to be resolved through a social worker’s intervention. With this regard, the goal of this work is to assist her improve her learning and socialization behavior by equipping her with better skills or techniques of managing her difficult conditions. These skills include self-talks, deep breath taking, as well as applying laughter therapy when experiencing her frustrations.

History of Prior Contact

I have not had prior contact with the client.

Length of Counseling Session and Client Engagement

The length of a counseling session is critical and is determined by several factors. When determining the length of the session, the client’s demographics should be put into consideration. In this case, the client is a young girl. At her tender age, most children do not have a long attention span. As such, it would not be strategic if the counseling session took too long since the client will not be able to comprehend and remember much that is discussed in the session. On the other hand, different techniques might be applied to boost their attention such as taking short breaks during the session or doing something the client would consider to be fun filled in order to recapture their concentration. In consideration of these facts, I undertook a counseling session with French that was strategically timed.

Dialogue

Skills/Intent

Feelings/Reactions

Comments/Alternative Interventions

Writer: Good AfternoonMaria French, how hasyour week been?

Open questionStyle intended toprovide diverseinformation about myclient’s past week’sexperience.

I am quite optimistic this point that I will be able to help the child deal with the issues she is experiencing in her life.

At this point, I was just establishing a relationship with French. I intended on making her feel safe with me and this will facilitate her opening up to me as we progress on with the session.

French: It has been good

The student is reserved. Shedoes not want to talk muchabout the week.

At this point, I was thinking of ways that could motivate her to open up and feel comfortable. Perhaps she did not open up to me because of certain insecurities. On the other hand, my greeting and initial question might not have been strategic enough as a means of starting the session with her. I am thinking that I should have been more genuine with my communication and not just asked a question in order to embark on the session.

Writer: Okay, I am happy for you that you decided to accept my proposal to attend the session. That is a wise decision especially since most people do not think these sessions are necessary.

Affirmation. Focused on encouraging the client.

French: Thank you. I really struggled with the idea. I am glad I did.

Writer: That’s great! did you have a good end to last week?

Verbal promptingFocus on strengths

I intentionally tried to revert back to my initial question about the last week. I needed to have her concentrate and remember the things that she experienced in the last week.

Looking back at how French reacted to the question, I am of the opinion that I was a bit hard on her. After noticing that she did not want to go directly to the last week, I should have started another conversation and then strategically gone back to the same question through having paraphrased it. Although concreteness is critical in such sessions, it is also vital to consider the client whom in this case is a young girl and thus, I should have approached her with much more sensitivity and showed more empathy.

French: (facing down and interlocking fingers. Suggesting the week was not so good to her)

She does not intend to tell me much as depicted by herlack of eye contact. I am thinking she doesn't want meto judge her. I will explore.

Writer: Will you kindly inform me what made the week not so good for youplease? Anything badhappened to you?

Use of open endedquestioning to clarifycontent

French: (more movementof fingers. Her head is stilldown with the neckbending one side. Suggeststhat she is not comfortabledisclosing the issue).

Writer: It is okay my dear not to talk about that which you are not comfortable do it. I am here to make a good friend with you and also help youmanage some ordinary challenges in life that some of had to go through to become the good people we are today. Kindly do not be afraid as I mainly intend to offer you some audience and aid you in meeting your life and education goals. I thus will not judge you nor by reprimand you my dear.Kindly feel free to talk to me about anything that bothers you anytime youfind yourself frustrated, sad, unwell, or not feelinglike your real self. You get me my dear please?

Unconditional positiveregard.

Counselor’s self-disclosure. Hoping tobuild trust

Empathic response(intent)

Closed ended question.

French: Yes (her head is still down but the hands movement has stopped).

Her moods have changed.She is now willing to talk.

I am of the opinion that perhaps French has some other underlying issues that are affecting her. The reason for my opinion is that she took too long to adjust to my cues.

Writer: Okay, last week you had provided some ofyour intentions and Iwould like us to discuss them and also share on how you can achieve them.

Holding focus ongoals- For relevance.Concreteness.

French: Okay

Client relieved. Has accepted to talk. She is ready to talkabout the goals but not how last week was

Writer: I can see from the list we made last week that some of your goals are toimprove yourunderstanding in math and reading, reduce the number of punishments you

undertake both in school and at home, improve your school attendance, as wellas relate well with your peers and be able to share personal things with the other people. I can also seethat you agreed that these challenges have becoming difficult for you and your major intention is to workthrough your frustration by displaying and usingappropriate behavior and language. May you tell me what happens and how your respond.

Holding focus ongoals- for relevance

Concreteness.

French: Okay, I often do not like answeringquestions in class andwhen asked to do so Iusually put my head down. I also do not like sharing my personal property such as pen or pencil with anyone else and when I am forced to that I simply destroy the property. I as well hate waking up early for school and moreover dislike being punished.

Focused listening

Tuning into clientstruggles

(Styles used toestablish more rapportand concern)

She struggles to speak about her problems.

Writer: Wow, I like the way you use your tools for defense. What feelings youusually have when your teacher or parent is correcting you or giving direction?

Counselor’s self-disclosure.

(I want French todisclose more of heremotions, feelings andstruggles)

French: I oftenly walk away. I mostly do that in the math and reading classes because I do notunderstand. The teacher instead of helping me simply asks me to consultfrom my classmates. I sometimes also leave home when subjected to punishments or forced to share things with my friends or siblings. That is because I do not like it

Further struggles, but now with firmer voice.

Writer: It is okay my dear.What feelings do youexperience when you walk away from your teacher or parent? What is happeningin that moment?

Holding focus ongoals.Moving from generalto specific (Styles used for relevance and specificity of thesession.)

Reassures that things will work out so not to give up.

I felt saddened by what she was going through. This is critical since it summons my empathetic nature.

French: I usually take a break from class while the teacher continues helpingmy fellow classmates. Athome, I also take a break from the condition whilethe others do their work

Writer: Do you usually go back to finish getting the help in class or resolve issues with your parents?

Holding focus ongoals.Tuning into clientstruggles(For rapportestablishment andshowing concerns)

French: Not often, many of the times that I go back tothe class the teacher asks me to get help from my classmates and rarely do they personally help me

Holding focus ongoals.Concreteness.(Exploring the dynamics of seekinghelp)

French also comes across as being quite analytical in her responses. She should be encouraged to use this skill in other ways to improve her life.

French: I feel bad. Itmakes me look like a dull student. The students oftenprovide me with answers to questions but cannot explain the concept to meand that does not help me at all. It simply increasesmy agony.

This makes French sad and uncomfortable.

Writer: I appreciate how asking for assistance fromyour fellow studentsmakes you feel less smart.It is never cool requesting for help from a peer whomyou are in the same class and whom you should be at par in understanding.You get my dear? (She nods)It is also commendablethat you have realized that their provision of direct answers to you hardly helps as it never allows you to master the concept,more so in math. Such is so brilliant of you (she smiles)However, I want you to understand that seeking help from a friend helps both the seeker and thehelper. That is because it for one creates team workamongst you asclassmates, and also boost both of yourunderstanding. As you pay attention to the classmate, you are able to grasp some understanding of the concept, and also learning how a young person likeyou can become a teacher and help the others. By asking for assistance fromthe classmates, you are also able to identify the smart students in the classthat you can becomefriends with to be able to realize your goals as stipulated earlier.Moreover, by earningfrom the friends, you also make their understanding increase and in that way, you are also teaching themin a way. Now you see my dear? (a yes nod with asmile from her). Now, that is how we work together while assisting each other.May we continue focusing on our feelings by doingthis work sheet together, does that sound good for you my dear?

Unconditional positive regard.Interpretation.Information giving and removing obstacles to change.Genuineness.(Styles used to remove any sense of being judgmental. Also helped in promoting rapport and trust.

French: Yes

French is interested in the exercise as shown by her smiling face as well as her act of drawing nearer to participate in the test through my help. That gladdens me.

Writer: I would also like to suggest to you that you consider that perhaps the teacher tells you to ask for help from some student because he/she is confident that they can help you. Maybe you should consider the student that you ask the question. Could be you ask for help from students that are not very bright and do not know how to offer assistance. Do you think that is a good idea?

Interpretation: offered advice to the client on the possible reason as to why the teacher asks her to enquire from her classmates.

French: Oh yes I think so. At times there are some students whom I ask for help from and they seem not to be very knowledgeable. I will try out your idea.

Writer: (I provide some math problems that we do together. I also read the directions for a reading test which we as well tackle together)

Concreteness.

For relevance

French: (struggles with the calculations and latter completes the reading andwriting test. Sheexperiences difficulties in spelling some words afterwhich I help in writingthem. She is happy to have completed the work withmy assistance).

Struggled with bothcalculations and spelling.

Writer: It great to see you try to work out your assignments. May we handle one more then end this week’s exercise. (Shewillingly draws nearer the table for the second exercise)

Genuineness.Information giving and removing obstacles to change.(Styles used to heal the client and initiatechange in her)

French: Yes we can do it madam.

I am happy for herwillingness to challenge the status quo she has been in.

Writer: Wow, you have done a commendable workFrench. You havesuccessfully managed your feelings and solved the questions well. You havealso been able to request for help in the areas you faced challenges. That isso great of you. We will continue in the coming week. My you have a greatweek and continue making good choices. See you.

Genuineness.

Information giving and removing obstacles to change.

Unconditional positive regard.

Counselor’s self-disclosure.

Styles used to heal the client and promote change in her

French: Okay, see you madam.

Interview Review and Analysis

From the above session, I was able to appreciate the use of the various counseling skills that I have learned over my past counseling experiences from other agencies along with what I am currently learning in this Micro class. This allowed me to adequately realize some of the challenges I have when asking the appropriate questions in order to receive an accurate response. What is most important about analyzing my counseling style and techniques is that it has me continuously asking myself questions before, during and after the counseling session. It is a month now that Maria and I been meeting for weekly sessions and this last session I am happy to say I think we are finally making a trusting connection. As one of her issues is that she can be refrain from communicating when experiencing and uncomfortable situation. What made this last session important besides building trust is that I found a tool that helped us to have vivid conversation.

This worksheet not only helped Maria to explain and explore her feelings it also allowed me to help her with reading and spelling. I was happy when she asked for assistant with spelling one of the feeling we were exploring. As an adult learner I see myself similar to Maria,someone who was afraid to ask for help or just didn’t know how to ask the right questions. Being empathetic with her feelings of sadness and not smart asking for help allowed me to disclose that I too seek tutoring in Math and English because those are the areas I struggle with the most. Receiving eye contact from Maria when I disclose was another moment of developing atrusting relationship and minimizing that I may be judging her.

Judgment can make a person feel protective or want approval therefore can lead to the student not getting the services needed. I also plan to reach out to her Mother and Teacher to review her work habits which will include her completing homework assignments. Upon completing a conversation with Maria's mother I hope to have a better understanding of her social and learning behaviors. This will also help me to help her have a successful year.

I see myself as being an absorbing learner which will further my learning experience while completing this internship. Moreover, I was able to identify the specific behavior of concern with my client and also applied some vital therapy techniques that provided the potential of my client’s improvement. Equally, through the use of the various skills, as outlined in the above counseling session, I was able to know when the specific behavior occurs in my client and when it does not. As well, I also managed to acknowledge the various antecedents to the client’s problematic behavior as well as learnt about its patterns.

Most importantly, I managed to learn that my client exhibits the said behavior with the intention of avoiding being compelled to do that which she has not yet understood. As a matter of fact, I realized that she yells and moves out of class when the math as well as the reading and writing teachers force her to undertake class tasks that she deems beyond her understanding. I believe that I have not convinced her that asking for help and dealing with her feelings will get easier with time. Maria is only 11 years old and she'll become a better student as she continue to gain confidence with making mistakes. What I hope for Maria as for is that the Troy School District keep her in counseling preferably with the same counselor. Having the same counselor may minimize her openness and willingness to be expressive. I can empathize the struggle of being comfortable with new counselors.

However, despite the success of the counseling session, I realized that I need to improve on my skills of engaging my clients as my excessive inquisitiveness can be very traumatizing. As a learner myself my goal is to stay focus and not understand the frustration that comes with making mistakes while having counseling sessions with clients or groups. Know gaining a better understanding of being a student learner allows me the room to grow having a Field Supervisor and Field Liaison because they both allow me to express my feeling and thoughts along with providing constructive critism and positive feedback. Overall, this has been thus far a great learning experience due to my aspiration for be a thorough counselor upon graduating. As my caseload increases I will gain more learning experiences with the different issue each student will bring.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is worth noting that the education system applied by Public School 2 is quite important in that it facilitates the development of academic proficiency a fostering of a strong character in the students. In this context, the IEP comes in handy to facilitate the wholesome growth and development of children. My client, Maria French, who has had issues with her math and reading skills as well as her social behavior, required counseling in order to improve her learning and socialization behavior as well as problem solving skills. Though I did not have prior contact with her, I was able to counsel her in an averagely timed session due to the low concentration levels usually experienced by young children. As I counseled her, I utilized different skills to facilitate the session. As a result, I was able to communicate with her and influence her thinking and responses as well. Through the session, French was able to articulate her issues and feelings as well. Notably, the major success experienced in the session was due to the trust I gained with her. Nonetheless, after reflecting on self, I was able to ascertain that I was a patient, empathetic and strategic person. However, I also determined that my excessive inquisitiveness needed to be reduced. Overall, it was a great practice and learning experience which definitely open doors for further learning.

Moreover, the strict environment where students are required to either pass or pass is also expected to be piling excessive pressure on some students more so those that have challenges in some areas and thus subjected to the IEP (Individualized Education Program). Consequently, French is the last born in a family of four where she lives with her mother and her three older sisters in a humble disconnected African American family. She moreover has problems with learning math and reading skills together with social behavior and has thus been subjected into an IEP. Moreover, she easily gets frustrated and often her behavior consists of yelling and being disrespectful to others. Such is costing her education and thus needs to be resolved through a social worker’s intervention. With this regard, the goal of this work is to assist her improve her learning and socialization behavior by equipping her with better skills or techniques of managing her difficult conditions. These skills include self-talks, deep breath taking, as well as applying laughter therapy when experiencing her frustrations.

History of Prior Contact

I have not had prior contact with the client.

Length of Counseling Session and Client Engagement

The length of a counseling session is critical and is determined by several factors. When determining the length of the session, the client’s demographics should be put into consideration. In this case, the client is a young girl. At her tender age, most children do not have a long attention span. As such, it would not be strategic if the counseling session took too long since the client will not be able to comprehend and remember much that is discussed in the session. On the other hand, different techniques might be applied to boost their attention such as taking short breaks during the session or doing something the client would consider to be fun filled in order to recapture their concentration. In consideration of these facts, I undertook a counseling session with French that was strategically timed.

Dialogue

Skills/Intent

Feelings/Reactions

Comments/Alternative Interventions

Writer: Good AfternoonMaria French, how hasyour week been?

Open questionStyle intended toprovide diverseinformation about myclient’s past week’sexperience.

I am quite optimistic this point that I will be able to help the child deal with the issues she is experiencing in her life.

At this point, I was just establishing a relationship with French. I intended on making her feel safe with me and this will facilitate her opening up to me as we progress on with the session.

French: It has been good

The student is reserved. Shedoes not want to talk muchabout the week.

At this point, I was thinking of ways that could motivate her to open up and feel comfortable. Perhaps she did not open up to me because of certain insecurities. On the other hand, my greeting and initial question might not have been strategic enough as a means of starting the session with her. I am thinking that I should have been more genuine with my communication and not just asked a question in order to embark on the session.

Writer: Okay, I am happy for you that you decided to accept my proposal to attend the session. That is a wise decision especially since most people do not think these sessions are necessary.

Affirmation. Focused on encouraging the client.

French: Thank you. I really struggled with the idea. I am glad I did.

Writer: That’s great! did you have a good end to last week?

Verbal promptingFocus on strengths

I intentionally tried to revert back to my initial question about the last week. Read More