Comments From the Readers

Dear Readers,

I read the last issue of the Disruptor and was so pleased to hear more from students about your SSW experience. We all say how much we want to hear from students, and I appreciated hearing from you -- especially during the forced online environment of COVID. I have to admit, though, I was saddened to see the incomplete timeline of DEI events from the student perspective. Incomplete, because there was no specific mention of field seminar in the timeline. As one who takes on DEI and anti-racist work deeply, and since I remain primarily responsible for implementing field seminar, hearing from students about your seminar experience is crucial. I think it’s great that we now have the History of Oppression and Resilience pre-requisite, as well as the Structural Oppression and Social Work course. I believe both are excellent and overdue, and am glad they are in full-swing for AY 2020-2021. But Field Seminar, with intentional DEI/cultural humility curriculum, was implemented last year – a full year prior to these courses.

So, I turn to wonder… why was field seminar not included specifically? Was it overlooked? Unsuccessful?

We sent a survey after last year’s seminar with hopes of hearing more, but the response rate, as with everything else, was negatively impacted by COVID. Still, we did the best we could to respond to what we received, modified the facilitator guide and offered more training to seminar instructors on implementing the 6 Pillars of Brave Space and improving integration of critical self-reflection. And we will re-issue the survey to get your feedback from this year. So, back to wondering… will you respond? Will you be a part of change?

We are already beginning to implement improvements – students will have a syllabus for seminar next year, seminar instructors will get more training over the summer to further enhance use of restorative practices, and we will have an orientation specifically for seminar – separate from field. These are ideas – perhaps good ones – but not the only ones. We need to hear from you. Our survey will go out in a couple weeks. It takes about 10 minutes to complete – tops – and is worth every minute. I hope to read your feedback, and thank you in advance for providing it.

Good luck with the rest of your spring!

Be well,

Laura

Assistant Director, Field Education