The HUMAN
Resource
Toolkit Item #1
Toolkit URL: http://uletoolkit.blogspot.ca/
September 14, 2014
What, in my opinion, is the
number one resource to support all educators’ work, and students’ learning, in
an inclusive environment? It’s
people. Human Resources. Of course, learning support assistants will
spring to many peoples’ minds and these talented people are certainly
invaluable. But this description of the
human resource component serves to inform those in my Rocky View cohort, who
may be so entrenched in their classrooms they don’t even realize all the other
people who are out there and available to assist.
Prior to going into
Administration, I was certainly one of these teachers. Sure, I had heard of SRTs and REACH and COPE,
to name a few, but didn’t really know what they were, how they might help, or
how to access them even if knew how I’d use their service! Wasn’t I just better off to focus my time on the little people within my four walls, and to refine the talents and
experiences I already had? And anyway,
wasn’t knowing about “these things” up to my Basic and Supplementary Resources
teacher colleagues anyway? (Aside: You know you have worked in Rocky View for
more than a decade if you remember those resource classifications!)
Human resources – individuals
– are one thing and then the support for inclusion through wrap around services
is another. Rocky View is committed to both of these as wrap-around services are, of course, delivered by people! Key government, community, health and service
agencies are now coming together like never before to support schools,
teachers, families and individuals.
Most of the remainder of this
post will offer a synopsis of the many people (and related services) out there
to support Rocky View teachers’ work in universal learning environments,
including a “quick critique” for each.
In places I will provide a few quick links to more information but these
won’t be exhaustive. Depending on where
readers are in their careers, there may be some “Aha” or “I never knew that!”
moments.
SRG – A
School Resource Group is made up of professionals within the schools: classroom and learning support teachers,
child development advisors, literacy specialist, assistants and administration. The Group generally meets to brainstorm
classroom teacher referrals around behavior, academics, social-emotional and
mental health as well as family and/or parenting concerns. We all already have so much brain power in
our own buildings. I often call these
our “million dollar meetings” because how fortunate are the children and
families to have so many professionals investing time into their needs, and
wanting them to be successful?!
SLSG (formerly called SRT) - The School
Learning Support Group consists of Learning Specialists from the division,
usually a: learning/program specialist,
psychologist, family school liaison and a positive behaviour strategist. This becomes, then, an even greater depth of expertise
devoted to keeping Rocky View kids included in our schools, programs and
classrooms. Access to speech-language
pathologists, occupational therapists, English language learning specialists,
autism specialists and other “human resources” are the next layer to consult,
dependent on the recommendations from SRG / SLSG meetings. These teams are only limited by how often
they are able to meet in ratio to how many needs there are in a given
school. While school budgets can
sometimes make maximizing human resources difficult, the SRG and SLSG teams are already staffed. The following
link explains the roles and responsibilities of the experts in our division, as
well as how to access them beyond an SLSG meeting. http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/21stC/supporting/learning-supports-team
Wrap-Around Services - Provided by organizations such as Alberta Health
Services / Alberta Mental Health, Regional Educational Assessment and
Consulting Services (REACH), Community Outreach of Pediatrics and Psychiatry
(COPE), Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada and more. Rocky View is committed to working with
outside agencies in order to share knowledge with experts in other fields. Constraints arise when these agencies are
restricted by their own limitations, such as the maximum number of hours REACH
can offer each school or the overall demand on a system such as mental health
or COPE.
Educational Assistants (Learning Support, Program
Unit Funded – PUF - and Preschool Intervention Program - PIP) – No one needs to tell a classroom teacher what a
difference an extra set of hands makes!
While inclusion doesn’t necessarily mean all students in a mainstream
classroom 100% of the time, having an educational assistant working with our
most complex kids certainly makes this immersion easier. (Usually!)
Being able to staff these positions becomes challenging on a variety of
levels. On one hand, the overall funding
to Rocky View schools today (after allocation from Alberta Education) is based
on a “best guess” formula where equity across the division is as much a
consideration as individual school needs.
Further to this, school administration then needs to triage the
multitude of needs in a building in order to stretch this envelope of money to
capacity. No matter the school and no
matter the year, my personal experience has always been that a school budget
falls short by the dollar figure attached to hiring “just one more”
much-needed assistant. Another barrier,
after affording “X” number of assistants, is finding people qualified for the
21st Century demands of the job.
Where stay-at-home moms used to apply in the hopes of keeping busy and earning
a few dollars while on the same schedule as their kids, today's administrators
are tasked with finding educated, certified professionals who are able (and
willing) to assist with toileting, feeding, explosive behaviours and other
challenges not previously associated with the role. Thankfully, there are many post-secondary
institutions providing diplomas and certificates for these skills and many
candidates out there willing to expand their repertoire of knowledge on behalf
of kids.
In Summary
Kids are our most valuable
commodity in education and there is NO undervaluing the further human element as it
relates to advocating for, and assisting, these young clients in an inclusive setting. When it comes to resources there is no
replacing another person's brain power and heart.
Thankfully, Rocky View is very dedicated to finding such people, coordinating their services
and, compared to many other large boards in the province, still seems able to
manage the tasks well. Thank goodness for
good people!
References:
Learning
Supports Team (— Rocky View Schools)
MacLennan, John D., Reckford, Mark, Clarke, M.(2008). A Mental Health
Outreach Program for Elementary Schools J
Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. Aug 2008; 17(3): Retrieved from, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2527764/
Programs
(- Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary)
Schools
& Teachers (Home)
Vision Education Alberta (Vision Education Alberta)
http://www.vision.alberta.ca/educators/reach.aspx
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