Strength and Resilience of Refugee Students: School Supports

By Rachel Ruiz

For my professional training, I decided to attend the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) convention held in New Orleans, Louisiana. This convention is held every year in a different location in the U.S. and provides mini skills workshops, poster presentations, research paper presentations, and guided discussions about various topics within the School Psychology field. I chose this experience because it provides a thorough overview of the many issues and innovations that school psychologists face during practice today. While I was at NASP, I learned about many different populations of students and how school psychologists nationwide interact and intervene with these students.

Groundspark Blog-Straight-laced Curriculum Training

Groundspark Blog Entry

Straight-laced Curriculum Training

Jennifer Bolaski - March 29, 2016 

Professional Growth Opportunity Information: I attended the GroundSpark-Straightlaced Curriculum Training, presented by Nita Vjaters of San Diego Unified School District, on February 4th from 8:00am-3:00pm held at Monroe Clark Middle School in the Parent Center located in City Heights. I decided to attend this training because our practicum site currently has a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club during lunch.  

Objective: The focus of this training was to help educators “create an inclusive, bias-free school and community by giving youth and adults the tools they need to openly discuss diversity in all its forms.” The director created this program to bring attention to how all youth are affected by homophobia and gender pressures. The film shares the stories of more than 50 students who share the pressures they are dealing with around culture, gender and sexuality. The curriculum is fairly new (2011) and does not mention any evidence based data. 

Key Themes & Issues: 

• Gender pressures and expectations are all around us, limiting youth from reaching their potential
• Gender expectations exist across cultures and are expressed differently in different contexts.

Audience: The curriculum we were given is designed to be primarily used within high schools, grades nine and above because of mature themes such as sexuality, suicide, violence and drug use, however parts can be shared with middle school students. The activities are meant to use in groups. Counselors can use the unit of study lesson or simply share and discuss the film with their students. (Both resources are available for borrowing!) Although the curriculum was created for use with students, you can also share it in a different context such as hosting a parent/guardian/community screening of the film to engage viewers in exploring these issues. Another way to build support is to invite principals, administrators and colleagues to watch the film. 

Assessment: To measure it’s effectiveness, students will first be given a personal experiences survey/questionnaire of approximately 14 questions such as: “Do you act differently when you are with a group of girls than when you are with a group of guys?” Students can then respond: “yes”, “no”, “sometimes” and explain/give an example. The survey can be used as a reference tool for students to measure and discuss their level of individual growth. Also included in the curriculum as a School Climate Assessment and the School and Community Action Plan. Both involve students working together in teams to assess different aspects of their school climate relating to gender and sexuality by developing their own research questions, carrying out quantitative and qualitative surveys and sharing their findings and coming up with a plan for action. 

Considerations: Before beginning a lesson or showing the video, it is important to devout enough time for discussion, both in preparing students for what they are about to see, and allowing time to help them process what they saw. As a group, come up with some shared agreements for discussion in order to create a space where everyone feels safe and respected. Since the film has mature themes, it is recommended to provide some background to families (perhaps in the form of a letter) about what the students will be doing and why. 

Counseling Techniques: The particular counseling techniques I will be sharing relate to the following two student objectives as outlined in the curriculum:

• Understand how gender-role pressures affect all young people’s lives
• Explore connections among issues of gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, class and other aspects of identity. 

The training recommends coming up with group norms (such as the ones listed below) before beginning a group discussion. Some of the ones listed below are similar to the ones used for group therapy as outlined in our textbook and also include counseling strategies used in both Narrative Based Therapy and Solution-Focused Therapy.

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• Be an active and caring listener
• Assume best intentions
• Use “I” statements
• Disagree respectively
• Support each other in trying on new ideas
• Point out hurtful comments
• Ask if you aren’t sure how to say something respectfully
• Keep the discussion confidential
• Everyone has the right to pass or not answer
• Allow everyone the chance to speak  

The training also included techniques to use when facilitating dialogue. They recommend using participatory strategies such as THINK-PAIR-SHARE (participants think of a response quietly, then pair up and share) so that everyone has a chance to develop and express their own ideas. 

When conversations turn unfamiliar, model willingness to engage with new or unfamiliar topics or themes such as setting the tone, model thinking, and remind students of the right to pass.

Incorporation: Even though I plan on becoming an Elementary School Counselor (and may not use the film itself with my younger students) I plan on incorporating the techniques in the unit with my students such as developing lessons that include: developing empathy for others, learning skills to reach across differences and become an ally, and working toward creating safer and more inclusive climates. I also would start a social justice club. I may use the film during a staff meeting or parent night to create awareness of the issues. As an educator, the training also included 10 Things You Can Do to Make a Difference: 

• Honor the identity of every student
• Reach out to those that are marginalized
• Ensure the visibility and acceptance of a wide range of gender experiences, identities and forms of expression.
• Set clear school rules and expectations that promote safety and respect.
• Engage in professional development on issues of gender, sexuality, bias and equity.
• Teach about gender, sexuality, culture, race and other diversity issues.
• Intervene when you witness bullying, bias, harassment or disrespect.
• Sponsor a gender support group, social justice club, or Gay-Straight Alliance
• Ensure school policies are fully inclusive of both girls and boys, as well as of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming students, and students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
• Engage parents, guardians and caregivers in this dialogue.

Link to the video trailer: http://groundspark.org/our-films-and-campaigns/straightlaced

The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium (Jinhui Kiang)

On Feb. 27^th, Michael and I went to The Post-Modern Social Justice Symposium, hosted by the Counseling and Social Change Club. This event took place in the Aztec Union Theater on campus. Upon our arrival, we received a booklet with the schedule for this six-hour long workshop and some information about the keynote speakers.

Dr. Sarah Kahn, the Director of the Counseling and Social Change undergraduate minor, welcomed everyone with a welcome speech. Then, Dr. Starck delivered an exciting and passionate motivational introduction on why social change needs to be addressed urgently among young professionals and college students. At the end of Dr. Starck’s speech, she encouraged everyone to stand up and to shout “Social justice!” three times with her. As a person coming from an introvert culture background, this format of the speech seemed a little overwhelming for me. However, the speeches led us into a curious stage where we were afforded a learning opportunity of diverse identities.

The first speech, Embracing Complexity and Breaking the Binary: The Future of the LGBTQ+ Movement, was delivered by Liz Roccoforte. She talked about the fluidity of one’s sexual and gender orientation, which gave me a better understanding of the identities of LGBTQ groups. The most fascinating part of this speech was the Gender Unicorn.

The unicorn was used as a model to represent the many aspects of gender identity, gender expression/presentation, sex assigned at birth, sexually attraction, and romantic/emotional attraction. The unicorn provided a full picture of the fluidity of sexual/gender orientation that have challenged the stereotypes that people in general have about LGBTQ groups. This speech, along with a PBS documentary Growing Up Trans, reminded me how little the majority of heterosexual people acknowledge the way LGBTQ people see themselves and the identity struggles they experience in everyday life. In the documentary, transgender children started to explore their identity at a very young age. For school psychologists and counselors, the support we offer will be crucial to those children. The fundamental premise of providing adequate service is to fully understand the interchangeable identity of LGBTQ children and to stay professional and compassionate during counseling sessions with them.

Elisa Barnett gave the second speech, with the topic about biracial identity issues. She utilized narratives to explain biracial identity and some common assumptions people will make. One of the questions she asked the audience was, “When we ask biracial people to give up one nationality or ethnicity, what are we asking them to give up?” Answers such as culture, heritage, and identity were shouted out from different corners of the theater. She acknowledged those answers and continued, “We are asking them to give up all those factors of their lives. In fact, we are asking them to give up a part of themselves”. I was deeply touched by her statements. Personally, I’ve been going through some moments of merging a new identity to my original one, that of an unsolidified Chinese. Inevitably, conflicts and accords both appeared in my process. As school professionals, instead of judging dogmatically on someone’s complex identity, our job is to help biracial students to merge both their heritages and cultures more successfully so that they can have a more efficient and more productive school life.

The last speech, Intersectional Feminism, was presented by Patricia Ruiz. I was a little confused about the title before the speech. Patricia made it clear to the audience during the speech – feminism is in the center of an intersection, where one never knows from which direction the criticism (e.g.: racism, sexism) is coming from. Patricia ended her speech with a video of Astraea, a lesbian foundation for justice.

The implication for my future counseling in schools is that, as a school psychologist, I need to respect that students, just like adults, have complex identities that have been shaped from their diverse experiences. When we utilize solution-focused counseling techniques, details like past experience and identities are usually left out. It wouldn’t hurt if we spend a little more time on building rapport and truly get to understand the students. Last, but not least, this photo shows my goal of being a future school psychologist.

Jinhui Kiang

Kumeyaay Transborder Education

I attended a presentation and discussion titled Kumiai/Kumeyaay Transborder and Transnational Education: Intermixing Traditional and Formal Education by Cynthia Vasquez. Cynthia is currently a Ph.D. candidate at University of California, San Diego and the workshop was sponsored by the Native American and Indigenous Scholars Collaborative (NAISC). Cynthia works at two schools located on reservations: one in Juantos de Neji on a Kumiai reservation in Mexico and one in Campo on a Kumeyaay reservation in the U.S. Cynthia’s research and community services are focused on the Kumiai/Kumeyaay Nation’s process of bridging traditional knowledge and formal education. In addition, Cynthia illuminates how the Kumiai/Kumeyaay Nation is affected by the U.S./Mexico border. The event was held on March 14, 2016 at San Diego State University. 

I chose to participate in this event because I have little knowledge about the Kumeyaay people’s culture and felt it important to learn more about their specified educational needs. I was also very interested in this workshop because of the focus on transborder education and the problems caused for the Kumeyaay people from the U.S./Mexican border. I felt that this is such a lesser known topic to public it would be an extremely valuable opportunity to be able to learn more about these issues and share this information with others. 

Due to the trauma the Kumiai/Kumeyaay have faced from colonization and the creation of the U.S./Mexican border, there is a need to make the formal education system more accessible in a way that is culturally valuable. In order to allow Kumeyaay students better access to formal education, Cynthia suggested that the formal education system should utilize their traditional knowledge in order to better support Kumeyaay students education. Traditional knowledge can include ecological knowledge, oral history, and ethnoatronomy. While in the past formal education has been used as a means to acculturate Native Americans and wipe them of this traditional knowledge, Cynthia spoke about claiming formal education as a space for survival and preservation of culture. An key intervention that Cynthia spoke about was the need for increased preservation of the Kumeyaay language through language classes and camps. The methods of the classes are unique in their holistic approach. Rather than overtly teaching using traditional methods, Kumeyaay language teachers teach using more immersive techniques, such as completing daily activities in the language, going on walks in nature and using the language to explain, and use of personalized picture/language books. These methods are more beneficial to the students because they are more in line with their traditional knowledge. 

Many of the students in school on Kumiai/Kumeyaay reservations face unique challenges and are often taught to have a victim mentality. When working with this population, it is important to use a strength-based approach to combat such mentality. While it is important to recognize the current and historical traumas these students have faced, it was suggested that focusing too much on this can lead to learned helplessness. Counseling groups at the aforementioned sites are called “Resiliency Groups” rather than counseling groups or anger management groups. Students are also encouraged to determine their own strengths and make that the name of the group. 

Another important counseling tool suggested for use with Kumeyaay students was incorporating cultural aspects into the counseling group. This is important because it honors and values the student’s unique culture and the importance in plays in their identities. Healing, through the use of smudging or burning of sage, has been positively used at the beginning of groups to start when cleansed energy. The use of weaved baskets and the stories they tell have also been used as a way to value culture and discover patterns. 

A page from a Kumiai language booklet children in the language class used. Note that children write the numerical representation as well as the word and a picture to foster a fuller comprehension of the language. In these language booklets, pictures are incorporated with various words in both Kumiai and Spanish to help children make a meaningful connection with the language, which is a very important part of their culture that has largely been lost. 

A pamphlet Cynthia provides to teachers at schools who work with Kumeyaay students. Many of the teachers at the schools are White and know little about Kumeyaay culture and the importance of incorporating their culture into the educational setting. As described above, it is extremely important to incorporate Kumeyaay culture into the classroom so that traditional knowledge and formal knowledge can both be utilize to better support and motivate Kumeyaay students' learning.

A page from the pamphlet. These pages list various effective teaching strategies that should be used when working with Kumeyaay students. Important factors include building trust with the students and the teacher learning along side the students. 

Another page from the pamphlet. This describes pieces important to Kumeyaay culture. Many teachers and staff have little knowledge about Kumeyaay culture. This serves as a positive introduction to staff so that they can gain a better understanding of the students they are working with. 

Sarah Nakutin

Diversity Narrative

I attended a workshop titled Journey’s in Identity: Diversity Narrative that was put on by the Asian Pacific Islander Social Work Association (APISWA) at San Diego State University. The event was held on campus on Friday, March 4^th. I decided to participate in this professional growth opportunity because of the ties I saw to the Narrative Therapy technique I learned about last semester in CSP 600. After our initial introduction to Narrative therapy in this program, we were introduced to Motivational Interviewing and Solution Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC). I have adopted aspects of the second two styles in my personal counseling work and I have been looking for ways to incorporate the Narrative therapy framework that I believe has a lot of potential in schools. Narrative therapy is typically used in the context of 30-45 minute regularly scheduled sessions that can continue for an indefinite amount of time. This is not feasible in schools so I was excited by this opportunity to learn about its use in a more condensed timeframe and format that I feel can be transferrable to my work.

This workshop was formatted to give individuals working in the helping fields an introduction to Narrative therapy and the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR). It began with a short lecture on the importance of knowing our own stories. People in the helping professions are constantly thinking about the identities of their clients, but many times not of our own. Each of our narratives are strong and weave together. Understanding the stories that shape our lives can allow us to develop awareness and reflecting on them enables us to build off them rather than be driven by them. Awareness opens us to the possibility of re-authoring our lives to create a new narrative for ourselves. They emphasized that our stories begin with our first relationships and that the human mind learns without conscious awareness. This influences how we see ourselves and interact with others throughout our lives. The workshop took us through a booklet with a series of small-group activities to reflect on our own identities. We examined the impact of the messages we receive and our own ideas about our identities.

I would like to use Narrative Therapy techniques with youth in middle school and high school where they are at a critical age for developing their sense of self. I think these techniques could help them develop security in their identities as well as give them the power and autonomy to take on the role of ‘author’ of their lives. I believe time for reflection of this kind could be effective in helping students understand the importance of their relationships in shaping patterns of how they relate to others. I think this work could be particularly beneficial if done in groups to allow students to ‘humanize’ others that may seem very different from them. An exercise such as this would give them a voice to communicate their frustrations with the messages they are constantly being told. This can bring awareness to students of the impact they have on others to lessen the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and to ultimately improve a school’s social climate.

Towards the end of the workshop we were introduced to the use of EMDR in concordance with Narrative Therapy. Both techniques are evidence-based practices. EMDR focuses on changing how your story is stored within you. It is based on information-processing theory and combines the use of stimuli to reflect eye movements found in REM sleep to bring up memories and to reprocess and integrate the occurrences back into your memory in a healthier way. It has been found to be particularly effective with individuals experiencing PTSD symptoms but is also used to ‘edit’ ones story and process smaller traumas. Although I will not be able to incorporate EDMR into my work in schools, I may be able to refer students struggling with trauma symptoms to outside help. Narrative therapy is more feasible in schools and I could use it with individuals and small groups. If implementing in a small group, I will want to be sure that the group is a safe place for individuals to be vulnerable with each other in order to learn as a group. One method of measuring it’s effectiveness may be through the use of self-rating scales to look at students sense of identity and the way they view and treat others based on these factors. My hope is that through the use of Narrative therapy techniques and workshops students (and even staff!) could develop more understanding of their identity to bring mindfulness to the effect they have on those around them and to be empowered to re-author their stories.

Hannah Swanson