We ended the final day of Re-ED training exploring the world
of Meaningful Collaboration. One of the 12 Re-ED principles states,
"Communities are important for children and youth, but the uses and
benefits of community must be experienced to be learned." So, not only is
the group essential to learning, but the larger community itself plays a role.
We looked at bringing parents, caregivers, community
organizations, primary service providers, state and local agencies, and other
professionals in our buildings to the table to provide support for our students
beyond school walls and to help students and families interact with and become
familiar with community opportunities for engagement and support. Here we spent
some time discussing the communication pitfalls these types of teams might
encounter. General guidelines for forming and maintaining these types of teams
include a strength based focus (building on student strengths), proactive and
comprehensive interventions, use of “natural supports” (the community supports
that already are in place), partnerships between families and direct service
providers, and goals that aim to create meaningful life-long outcomes. For our
students who might struggle to see a place for themselves in a supportive
community environment, it is our job to help them create that vision, while we
support their development.
At the beginning of the training when we looked at the
statistics describing students classified with emotional and behavioral
disorders, I think it was difficult for participants and trainers to avoid
seeing a mythical culture of poverty that produces our students with their
various complicated lives. Many are marginalized by social and institutional
structures that have been historically oppressive. That said, when we build
stories for ourselves about our students and their difficult experiences, we
risk blinding ourselves to those “natural supports” that students and families
already rely on. We also begin to blame parents and particular communities for
our student’s challenges, while averting our eyes from the social, structural,
and institutional inequities that fall disproportionally on the shoulders some
students.
The principles of Re-ED include; all kids need joy in their lives,
being part of a group is important, self-control can be learned, trust between
children an adults is essential to learning, relationships play a key role in
education and in life, life is to be lived now, competence (being able to do
something well) makes a difference, time is an ally, feelings should be
nurtured, cognitive competence can be taught, the body is the armature of the
self, ceremony and ritual give order, stability, and confidence, and the
community is important.