You may recall one of our discussions and activities during orientation this year was to think about the Seneca Model and how we might apply its principles to our work in partnership. We’re nearing the end of our first cycle of interventions in our schools. We are deep into the work, pulled in a lot of directions, sometimes scratching our heads about the next right thing to do, sometimes wondering, are we making a difference?
I think now is a good time to revisit your insights from that conversation, and the concepts we explored together. To freshen your memory: we looked at partnership in parallel to our work with clients and considered the Relational, Ecological and Behavioral streams of our clinical work. How, we pondered together, can we advocate for what we see as needed change in our schools, while maintaining an open, curious and engaged stance with our partners? How can we apply that same patience and openness we bring to our work with the students, who may not change as quickly as we wish, but whom we would never give up on? What helps us understand the process of systems-change, and how can we bring our spirit of respectful collaboration to the process every time?
I was enlivened by the insights so many of our All-In! teams brought to the discussion. The concepts of curiosity in the face of adversity, supporting change through reflection, compassion and positive reinforcement, finding alignment in values when we face challenges on the system level – these ideas, in their abstract form, flowed from the room and inspired me. I’ve heard from some of you that having this conversation with your site-based team could be extremely helpful now that you’re settled at your sites. Here are some suggestions and guiding questions you could bring to your next team meeting, as a check-in question at the start of COST, or even when you’re simply taking a few moments to connect with a partner.
I think now is a good time to revisit your insights from that conversation, and the concepts we explored together. To freshen your memory: we looked at partnership in parallel to our work with clients and considered the Relational, Ecological and Behavioral streams of our clinical work. How, we pondered together, can we advocate for what we see as needed change in our schools, while maintaining an open, curious and engaged stance with our partners? How can we apply that same patience and openness we bring to our work with the students, who may not change as quickly as we wish, but whom we would never give up on? What helps us understand the process of systems-change, and how can we bring our spirit of respectful collaboration to the process every time?
I was enlivened by the insights so many of our All-In! teams brought to the discussion. The concepts of curiosity in the face of adversity, supporting change through reflection, compassion and positive reinforcement, finding alignment in values when we face challenges on the system level – these ideas, in their abstract form, flowed from the room and inspired me. I’ve heard from some of you that having this conversation with your site-based team could be extremely helpful now that you’re settled at your sites. Here are some suggestions and guiding questions you could bring to your next team meeting, as a check-in question at the start of COST, or even when you’re simply taking a few moments to connect with a partner.
And now, without further ado, here are some of the beautiful haiku our teams wrote as a reflection exercise during orientation. Thank you for taking the time to summarize deep learning in the 5-7-5 format. So simple and powerful!
Blog post written by:
Emily Marsh, Director of Clinical Intervention Services
Emily Marsh, Director of Clinical Intervention Services
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