MOD5 DISC1

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RESPONSER 1

Gerri Mitchell 

RE: Discussion 1 - Module 5 

COLLAPSE

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Two Features

The two features that interest me most are reflection and collaboration. I deal primarily with adult learners, designing curricula for corporate training programs.

Reflection

Callahan explained that self-reflection allows for the contemplation of one’s professional and personal development (Callahan et al., 2012). I also believe that group reflection provides for critical thinking skills to flourish. Reflection will help my team look forward to future changes and update as we move forward through additional changes.

Collaboration

Social Change Agents want to build working relationships with other entities, including community leaders, service agencies, neighborhood coalitions, businesses, religious congregations, and other local institutions (Callahan et al., 2012). In my specialty, the collaboration between departments is detrimental to the social change project. The medical department is the parent company of all ancillary businesses. For a social change project to work, we must collaborate amongst departments and have stakeholders on board from all areas.

 

Past Social Change

            A past social change was in my community. I volunteer at the senior center overseeing the meals on wheels program. We were running into a couple of different issues; however, one that was addressed first was the serving line and packing line being separated. The change led to a more efficient process; meals were getting out to our elderly customers, the in-person meals were getting served, and our clients could enjoy more activities because the food lines were being completed faster.

 

Humane Ethics, Collaboration, and Advocacy were the three features shining through this project. Humane ethics primarily because our elderly clients were being affected. Some were not receiving meals, some were getting meals, but they were no longer hot, and others were getting the wrong meals that could have been detrimental to their health. Furthermore, with the proposed changes, my team had to reach out to several entities in the community to help and donate to the project.

 

My Vision

            My vision of social change for my project would be that everyone starts using the application to its fullest capacity. Medical, Dental, Life, & Disability departments have selected trainers and curriculum designers. We all must use the same applications allowing our Learning consultants to work across different lines of business. My vision is for us to use the Socrative application to keep consistency between worksheets, quizzes, and tests. I need support from Learning Consultants, Senior Managers, and Leadership.

 

References

Callahan, D., Wilson, E., Birdsall, I., Estabrook-Fishinghawk, B., Carson, G., Ford, S., . . . Yob, I. (2012).  Expanding Our Understanding of Social Change; A Report From the Definition Task Force of the HLC Special Emphasis Project. Minneapolis, MN: Walden University.

 

RESPONSE2

Kelly Robertson 

RE: Discussion 1 - Module 5

COLLAPSE

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Examining Social Change

            Social change can be described in many different forms including direct services for individuals, positive initiatives within a community, or developing resources and programs to improve lives (Walden University, 2016). The acts within social change come in a variety of sizes from small acts to help individuals or small groups to large scale actions which call all have lasting consequences (Callahan et al., 2012). Social change is intended to provide immediate solutions for societal challenges, enhancing the lives of those positively affected. As a special education teacher, working towards positive social change for exceptional students is vital to ensuring students’ experience educational success through processes such as closing learning gaps.

Social Change

            Callahan et al. (2012) described 8 different features of social change, and two struck me as essential for the students I teach who have been identified with severe emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and struggle with a negative reputation in general education settings and within the community. Advocacy and humane ethics are vital to ensuring my EBD students are part of a positive, improved life and success in educational learning.

            Students identified with EBD often struggle with expressing concerns, anxiety, depressions, and needs in a socially appropriate manner. If students are going to be taught to advocate for themselves, they should witness and experience situations in which someone is advocating for them, rather than fighting against them. Too often students express needs and issues in a manner in which educators and community members misunderstand the student and respond in ways such as reprimand or ignoring the student when the student is really crying out for help, or needs attention due to feeling alone and isolated. According to Callahan et al. (2012), an advocate is a voice for someone or a group of people to negotiate for needs, bring awareness, while mentoring to build confidence and self-reliance.

For example, I have a prior student who was standards based, but struggled and became very frustrated with work and instruction. After his evaluation it was determined the student should be placed in the Georgia Alternative Assessment program. The students’ parents were having a difficult time understanding why the student should be placed in a non-standard based program. As the student’s teacher it was my job to advocate or be the students voice (Callahan et al., 2012) for the student and express to the parents this was a positive placement change and the student’s behaviors would decrease due to a lack of frustration and would eventually transition to a less restrictive learning environment. At the end of the school year, the student was transitioned, and his parents messaged me to thank me for advocating for their child. The parents saw behavioral improvements at home as well.

The second feature, humane ethics, is a feature I find to be essential if you are an educator, in general education or special education. Moral principals guide decisions, rightness or wrongness, which affect the outcome of situations. Providing tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for others, particularly those who are suffering or distressed (Callahan et al., 2012) are part of one’s moral compass to engage in improving lives of others. When someone or a group of people are struggling, such as in school academically and/or behaviorally, it is important to help guide those people through. One’s ethical code can motivate and guide the social change process.

Past Social Change Experience

            Two years ago, the district special education leadership came to my school and asked questions concerning the resources and materials available within the school. I was very vocal about the social studies and science materials and resources available for my students. The textbook were surplus books from 2006, which had been replaced in the other district middle school classrooms several years ago, but my school was not provided with the new resources and materials. A week later my students had new social studies textbooks, and I was provided with training for a new science program which is offered digitally for all students to access in school and at home without having to carry around heavy books. Due to the nature of my school, a most restrictive therapeutic setting for students identified with severe EBD, our school often is forgotten when new products become available to other schools. My students witnessed me advocating for them to gain access to equal resources and materials, and now have a sense of belonging within the school district.

 The web of eight within this experience:  

1. Scholarship: The inquiry into real life dilemmas and possibilities included realizing my students were not provided with the most up-to-date and relevant materials and resources more typical students had access to. This is a high-level feature.

2. Systems thinking: The situation required a systemic solution by multidisciplinary collaboration, including district special education leaders, the materials manager, school administrators, and myself to determine not only what middle school required, but our elementary, and high school classrooms as well. This is a mid-high-level feature.

    3.  Reflection: Reflecting on the short term and long-term outcomes provided positive actions allowing students to gain access to more                   relevant instructional materials and resources. This is a high-level feature.

1. Practice: The new materials and resources provided the students with relevant information, resulting in intellectual student growth. This is a high-level feature.

2. Collaboration: The collaboration required to gain access to more relevant materials and resources was abundant as it was not something one person could just fix. Multidiscipline members worked through the authorization process to get the instructional materials and professional development training for the new programs. This is a high-level feature.

3. Advocacy: As a small school, it is vital to advocate for all students in the school setting. This is a high-level feature.

4. Civic engagement: Civil engagement was not required for this action. This is a low-level feature.

5. Humane ethics: My current school is often forgotten when new programs are put in place. This is morally wrong, as my students desire the same opportunities, resources, and materials typical students and schools have access to. This is a high-level feature.

Vision for Positive Educational Change

            A positive social change within my school setting I would like to enact involves engaging our students in activities typical schools provide for the students. Due to the students’ extreme emotional and behavioral deficits our students are educated in a small school setting with approximately 60 students in grades K-12, ranging in age from 5 to one day shy of their 22nd birthday. The students need to feel a sense of community, through activities such as daily announcement, school and classroom jobs, and friends club with our dual diagnosis students identified with lower cognitive skills. The goal of our program is to teach our students the social skills, which are critical for promoting positive social, emotional, and behavioral competency (Hutchins et al., 2020) and tools required to succeed in school and in the community, and then get the students back into a “typical” school setting when they are ready. To accomplish this, staff buy-in will be vital to success, through a shared vision for the change process and implementation, through clear communication and shared collaborative efforts. According to Cooper et al. (2016), communicating the vision through various modes and forms, including faculty meetings, and casual conversations, delivered through continual messaging, will be more appealing to educators. This will more likely lead to a broad buy-in and implementation.

References

Callahan, D., Wilson, E., Birdsall, I., Estabrook-Fishinghawk, B., Carson, G., Ford, S., … Yob,

(2012).  Expanding our understanding of social change: A report from the definition task force of the HLC Special Emphasis Project [White paper]. Minneapolis, MD: Walden University.

Cooper, K. S., Stanulis, R. N., Brondyk, S. K., Hamilton, E. R., Macaluso, M., & Meier, J. A.

(2016). The teacher leadership process: Attemping changing within embedded systems.  Journal of Educational Change, 17(1), 85-113.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-015-9262-4

Hutchins, N. S., Burke, M. D., Bowman-Perrott, L., Tarlow, K. R., & Hatton, H. (2020). The

effects of social skill’s interventions for students with EBD and ASD: A single case meta-analysis.  Behavior Modification, 44(5), 773-794.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445519846817

Walden University. (2016). Global days of service.

             https://www.waldenu.edu/why-walden/social-change

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