In the bustling hallways, amid the shuffle of students and the hum of classroom activity, there exists a silent force, often overlooked but profoundly impactful: the school social worker. These unsung heroes play a crucial role in the educational ecosystem, bridging the gap between academic achievement and emotional well-being. Particularly in their collaboration with teachers, their significance shines through, creating a safety net for students and fostering a supportive environment for learning.
March is a dedicated time to recognize and appreciate the many hats that social workers wear! They are advocates, counselors, mediators, and allies. Their main objective is to ensure that every student can thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. They also support teachers in addressing the diverse needs of their students.
While social workers support the needs of children and adults across a variety of industries,their history with school settings is particularly fascinating. In the early 1900s, social workers began working in schools under the title “Visiting Teachers”. Their primary responsibility was to facilitate communication between at-home caregivers and the school itself to improve educational outcomes.
Over the last hundred years, the role of social workers in schools has continuously evolved to meet the needs of students and the adults that support them. Social workers now provide a multitude of services in schools, including: the provision of crisis response and intervention services, connecting resources to students and their families, administering mental health services, addressing attendance concerns, supporting both school and district staff, and participating on school multi-disciplinary teams.
The on-the-ground operations of multi-disciplinary teams provides social workers and teachers the opportunity to collaborate on critical endeavors that ensure successful service delivery to students, along with fostering a positive learning culture. The mental health needs of students are rapidly growing—both in demonstrated demand and complexity. Combining the mental health training and skills of social workers with the education experience of teachers is needed now more than ever.
Through this collaboration, social workers and teachers support the “whole child” so that students can thrive in their schooling environment. Teachers can employ pedagogical tools to enhance student learning, whereas social workers can tend to student social emotional and behavioral needs. This partnership allows each professional to strengthen their efforts and improve outcomes for success. By meeting students where they are, they empower them to grow academically while also increasing their abilities to problem solve, regulate their emotions, and utilize coping strategies.
Mother Theresa once stated, “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”
The embedded presence of social workers in educational settings is still a relatively recent addition, and so there may be growing pains and challenges to the evolving-but-necessary partnership between social workers and teachers. This partnership not only provides opportunities for personal and professional growth, but it also helps to achieve the unified intention of those who work with students: to improve service delivery for both students and their families.
While social workers and teachers each have their own professional lens, both professionals have the well-being of the student as top priority. With regular opportunities for communication, appreciation, and connection, this partnership and collaboration can flourish to such a degree that it powerfully enhances the educational and emotional needs of their students. And finally, the collaboration between social workers and teachers leads to the increased well-being of both parties. By partnering together and supporting one other, social workers and teachers help to cultivate a psychologically safe and rewarding professional work environment that benefits everyone.
Amber Nickels (she/her) has been a Mental Health Specialist with the ESC in the school setting for three decades. In that role, she has provided counseling and support services for students in kindergarten through grade 12 and their families. Most recently, her role includes providing support for educators in the area of mental health and wellness. In addition, her areas of specialty include mental health concerns and supports in the school settings, special education services and mental health, wellness and self-care, social-emotional development of the gifted and twice exceptional student, crisis prevention and response, and trauma-informed care in the school setting.