SOCIAL WORKER AS A MEMBER OF A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM IN A SCHOOL SETTING

Authors : Adem DAĞ

Pages : 56-64

View : 15 | Download : 8

Publication Date : 2019-06-27

Article Type : Conference Paper

Abstract :Schools are the systems that are open to society. It is impossible to solve the problems of students in school setting with reference to only students. It is clear that most of these problems are based on external factors such as family system and peer groups. School social service appeared in the US in 1906. One can see plenty of problems necessitating social service at schools, which are migration, child workers, the handicaps for the access to education and etc. School social service, which appeared as a result of a social need, adapts ecological theoretical view and empowerment approach as theoretical framework. School social service involves the interventions carried out in school setting. The organization and processes of each school are different. In this regard, the problems causing educational inequality in relation to the type of school, climate and culture will be different and school social service interventions will not be homogeneous. A school social service worker works as a part of a multidisciplinary team consisting of the principal, deputy principal, teachers, nurses, clerks and etc. Also, school social workers work under the principal at schools and they are supposed to apply 20-60-20 theory of school change so as to increase students’ academic success. With the efforts of school social service workers, the climate and academic culture of a school will improve in a positive way. Revealing school social service workers’ affairs with the other workers and laying out their duties and responsibilities together with their ethical rules are the main purposes of the current paper. In order to realize the aforementioned purposes, both international and local literature related to social work were reviewed. Today, school social service workers have not been assigned to work at schools in Turkey yet. There is a need for school social workers to minimize the internal, external and social behavioral problems of students. Education as a social equalizer undertakes important tasks. To this end, the tasks of school social service workers are crucial in order students to have equal opportunities at schools. 
Keywords : School Social Service Worker, Multidisciplinary Team, Equality in Opportunities