Spring 2025 SOWK 587 Week 05 - Collaboration in School Social Work

Slide 1
Four blue person icons encircle chat bubbles, symbolizing communication. Text reads: 'Collaboration in School Social Work,' 'Spring 2025 Week 05 SOWK 587,' 'Jacob Campbell, Ph.D. LICSW at Heritage University.'

Spring 2025 SOWK 587 Week 05 - Collaboration in School Social Work

title: Spring 2025 SOWK 587 Week 05 - Collaboration in School Social Work date: 2025-02-21 22:53:38 location: Heritage University tags:

  • Heritage University
  • MSW Program
  • SOWK 587 presentation_video: > “” description: >

Being able to effectively collaborate is a vital skill in school social work. Week five of SOWK 587 is a synchronous week, with in-person class on Saturday (02/22/25). Students will read about collaboration in their textbook (Jarolmen & Batista-Thomas, 2023) and have opportunities to engage in with other sources exploring how we work together in schools. In discussion forums, students will share real-world examples of collaboration and engage critically with the material. During class, we will build on these discussions by practicing key collaboration techniques in simulated team settings.

The agenda for class is as follows:

  • Multi-disciplinary team meetings
  • Best practices and strategies for effective collaboration
  • MTDM Role-Play Scenarios
  • Intersectionality and working with diverse team members

The Learning Objectives for the week include

  • Critically reflect on the experiences of effective collaboration to draw out common elements
  • Analyze the topic of collaboration from a number of different perspectives and focuses
  • Identify practices that are effective working in teams and strategies for implementing them
  • Assess methods to develop rapport and work with diverse team members
  • Implement a collaborative meeting using active listening, shared decision-making, and conflict resolution skills
Slide 2
The image is a presentation slide titled 'The Plan for Week Five.' On the left, it lists an agenda involving multi-disciplinary team meetings and role-play scenarios. On the right, learning objectives include identifying effective practices and implementing collaborative meetings. Credit is given to Jacob Campbell, Ph.D., LICSW at Heritage University.

Plan for Week Five

Agenda

  • Multi-disciplinary team meetings
  • Best practices and strategies for effective collaboration
  • MTDM Role-Play Scenarios
  • Intersectionality and working with diverse team members

Learning Objectives

  • Identify practices that are effective working in teams and strategies for implementing them
  • Assess methods to develop rapport and work with diverse team members
  • Implement a collaborative meeting using active listening, shared decision-making, and conflict resolution skills
Slide 3
A presentation slide displays the title 'Disciplinary Perspectives' with bullet points asking about multidisciplinary meetings and their uniqueness in schools. A large red circle is featured on the right.

Disciplinary Perspectives (1 of 2) What is a MDTM?

I want to provide definitions to help us discuss collaborative work.

[Whole Group Activity] Reflective Questions

  • What does multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary mean?
  • Why is the work done in these settings potentially different than in single discipline-focused meetings (e.g., just social workers)?
  • What kind of multidisciplinary meetings happen in schools?
Slide 4
The slide illustrates three concepts with colored circles: 'Multidisciplinary' (separate circles), 'Interdisciplinary' (overlapping circles), 'Transdisciplinary' (concentric circles). Text defines each term. Presented by Jacob Campbell, Heritage University, Spring 2023, Week 05, SOWK 487.

Disciplinary Perspectives (2 of 2) A Type of Progression

The terms you might find in the literature around different integrations of disciplines are multi, inter, and trans. Transdisciplinary work is a hallmark of the Ph.D. program I am participating in. Choi and Pak (2006) provide some concise definitions of what each of these is:

  • Multidisciplinary: Multidisciplinarity draws on knowledge from different disciplines but stays within their boundaries.
  • Interdisciplinary: Interdisciplinarity analyzes, synthesizes, and harmonizes links between disciplines into a coordinated and coherent whole.
  • Transdisciplinary: Transdisciplinarity integrates the natural, social, and health sciences in a humanities context and transcends their traditional boundaries.

I’m going to present you with a model for interdisciplinary work. While there are distinct definitions of these concepts in scholarship, in the practical world, terms like multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary are sometimes used interchangeably. In a school setting, these meetings are often referred to as MDTM, and they don’t engage in this higher level of thinking about collaborative processes.

Reference

Choi, B. C. K., & Pak, A. W. P. (2006). Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in health research, services, education and policy: 1. Definitions, objectives, and evidence of effectiveness. Clinical and Investigative Medicine. Medecine Clinique Et Experimentale, 29(6), 351–364.

Slide 5
A diagram illustrates 'Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration.' The main object is 'Interdisciplinary Collaboration,' with arrows indicating influences: interdependence, new activities, flexibility, goals, and process reflection. Context includes factors like professional/personal roles and history.Text includes: - 'Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration'- Factors like 'Interdependence,' and 'Flexibility'- Influences such as 'Professional Role,' 'History of Collaboration'- 'Jacob Campbell, Ph.D. LICSW' at Heritage University- 'Spring 2023 Week 05 SOWK 487'

Model for Interdisciplinary Model

So, how can we conceptualize working together in teams? Bronstein (2003) provides a model for interdisciplinary collaboration. This model comes from and is helpful for us to understand what we should be thinking about when working together and in teams from different disciplines.

She describes five components of the Interdisciplinary Model that we should be considering and thinking about.

  • Interdependence: The reliance on interactions among professionals where each depends on the other to accomplish their tasks, requiring a clear understanding of roles and mutual respect.
  • Newly Created Professional Activities: Collaborative actions, programs, or structures that achieve more than what individual professionals could accomplish separately, fostering innovative service delivery.
  • Flexibility: The ability to adapt roles and responsibilities based on the needs of the collaboration, allowing professionals to respond creatively and reach productive compromises.
  • Collective Ownership of Goals: Shared responsibility for goal-setting, development, and achievement, ensuring all professionals, clients, and families are actively engaged.
  • Reflection on Process: The practice of discussing and evaluating the collaborative process to improve teamwork, address challenges, and enhance effectiveness.

We can think about some factors that influence our interdisciplinary collaboration.

  • Professional Role: A strong professional identity, respect for colleagues, and a perspective that aligns or complements other disciplines’ approaches.
  • Structural Characteristics: Organizational factors such as manageable caseloads, supportive agency culture, administrative backing, and sufficient time and space for collaboration.
  • History of Collaboration: Previous positive experiences with interdisciplinary teamwork, which foster familiarity and ease of collaboration in future settings.
  • Personal Characteristics: Traits such as trust, respect, openness, and effective communication, which facilitate strong interpersonal relationships among collaborators.

Bronstein, L. R. (2003). A model for interdisciplinary collaboration. Social Work, 48(3), 297-306. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/48.3.297

Slide 6
The slide features a black text box reading, 'What are the skills we need to be effective collaborators?' below an 'A-Z' design. Alphabet letters are scattered in the background. Additional text includes 'Jacob Campbell, Ph.D. LICSW at Heritage University' and 'Spring 2023 Week 05 SOWK 487.'

A-Z Skills Needed for Collaboration

We need many best practices and skills to be effective collaborators.

[Small Group Activity] Working in groups of 3 or 4. Use the form to come up with an example for each letter. Creativity is encouraged. Have groups call out when they are done, like a race. The following is the prompt:

What are the Skills We Need to Be Effective Collaborators

Bring 7 or 8 copies of the following: 2025-02-21, List from A-Z - What are Skills We Need to Be Effective Collaborators.pages.

Go through each letter and hear what other groups used.

Slide 7
The slide presents text: 'How do we develop rapport with' next to a blue box listing 'Students, Parents, Teachers, School staff, Community workers.' It's part of a presentation identified as Spring 2023, Week 05, SOWK 487.

Building Connection and Work

One crucial tool that is vital as a part of being able to collaborate is rapport

[Small Group Activity] Small Group Discussion

How do we develop rapport with…

  • Students
  • Parents
  • Teachers
  • School staff
  • Community workers

[Whole Group Activity] Share back with the group

  • What are some of the things you came up with?
  • What are some particularly helpful strategies for building rapport with team members with diverse needs, beliefs, experiences, identifying factors, etc?
Slide 8
Slide title: 'Obstacles to Teamwork: What Makes it Not Work.' **Categories and points:**- **Interpersonal and Communication Difficulties:** - Lack of shared professional language and technologies - Personality conflicts among team members - Lack of experience or training in teamwork- **Structural and Organizational Barriers:** - Inadequate organizational/administrative support and resources - Limited physical space for team meetings - Time constraints- **Commitment and Leadership Issues:** - Divided or conflicted commitment between the team and individual affiliations - Unclear or unskilled team leadership - Difficulties resolving conflict- **Power and Role-Related Challenges:** - Continued dominance of higher-status professionals - Role competition or 'turf' issues - Excessive role blurring or lack of role clarity - Differential professional socialization processes - Emphasis on autonomy rather than teamwork in professional educationBottom left: Contact and source information. Bottom right: 'Spring 2023, Week 05, SOWK 587'.

Obstacles to Teamwork: What Makes it Not Work

Bronstein later wrote with her colleague Abramson in 2017 a chapter about group processes and dynamics in interdisciplinary teamwork. They compile many common problems that get in the way of teams working collaboratively.

Interpersonal and Communication Difficulties

  • Lack of shared professional language and technologies
  • Personality conflicts among team members
  • Lack of experience or training in teamwork

Commitment and Leadership Issues

  • Divided or conflicted commitment between the team and individual affiliations
  • Unclear or unskilled team leadership
  • Difficulties resolving conflict

Structural and Organizational Barriers

  • Inadequate organizational/administrative support and resources
  • Limited physical space for team meetings
  • Time constraints

Power and Role-Related Challenges

  • Continued dominance of higher-status professionals
  • Role competition or “turf” issues
  • Excessive role blurring or lack of role clarity
  • Differential professional socialization processes
  • Emphasis on autonomy rather than teamwork in professional education

[Small Group Activity] Combine your groups from the A-Z activity (e.g., now groups of 6-8 members). Reflect on how your proposed skills and practices impact these obstacles.

==The categories are not from the source and are my grouping.==

Reference

Bronstein, L. R., & Abramson, J. S. (2017). Chapter 27 - Group process dynamics and skills in interdisciplinary teamwork. In C. D. Garvin, L. M. Gutierrez, & M. J. Galinsky (Eds.), Handbook of Social Work with Groups (pp. 491-509). The Guilford Press.

Slide 9
Title board lists 'MTDM Role-Play Scenarios.' Text describes scenarios: 1. Behavior-Focused Conference (BFC) - Addressing Chronic Disruptive Behavior2. Tier 1 Team Meeting – Addressing Classroom Disruptions3. IEP Meeting Follow-Up - Reviewing Accommodations & Progress4. Threat Assessment Team Meeting - Addressing Concerns About Student Well-BeingAdditional Instructions:- Read the scenario; discuss roles.- Stay in character.- Debrief between scenarios. Facilitator: Jacob Campbell, Ph.D. LICSW at Heritage University.Spring 2023 Week 05, SOWK 487.

MTDM Role Play Scenarios

  • Scenario 1: Behavior-Focused Conference (BFC) - Addressing Chronic Disruptive Behavior
  • Scenario 2: Tier 1 Team Meeting – Addressing Classroom Disruptions
  • Scenario 3: IEP Meeting Follow-Up - Reviewing Accommodations & Progress
  • Scenario 4: Threat Assessment Team Meeting - Addressing Concerns About Student Well-Being

Bring 6 copies of week-05-handout-collaboration-role-play-scenarios.pdf

[Small Group Activity] MTDM Role Play Scenarios (About 15 Minutes Per Scenario)

Working in groups of five or six, you will role-play various scenarios. We will set a timer and for the experience and give you an opportunity to swap scenarios and change roles.

  • Read the scenario and discuss who is going to do what
  • Try to follow the situation and stay in character assigned by your role.
  • When it is time to switch scenarios, spend a couple of minutes debriefing
  • As a facilitator and social worker, I work to collaborate effectively and bring the group to consensus.

[Whole Group Activity] Debrief Experience

  • How was it to lead a team meeting or be a part of it. Did it feel similar to meetings you have been in?
  • What were things you were trying to do as a facilitator and how did that go?
  • I developed this activity using ChatGPT. Thoughts or reflections about that?

About:

These scenarios were adapted from a collaborative process with OpenAI’s (2025). Prompts were focused on developing scenarios, providing explanations problem summaries, identifying roles and team members, and potential agendas. I reviewed the outputs and changed parts that did not fit as well, removing extraneous information, and requesting adaptions based on experiences.

Reference

OpenAI. (2025, February 21). ChatGPT-4-turbo (June 2024 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Slide 10
Silhouette of a person standing, beside text discussing intersectionality and teamwork. Questions focus on diverse perspectives, cultural challenges, valuing all voices, and promoting inclusivity in schools. Includes a name, title, and university affiliation.

Intersectionality and working with diverse team members

We have talked about intersectionality in seminar, and in Miguel’s class last semester. I want to spend some time framing it for school

[Small Group Activity] Small Group Discussion

  • How can diverse perspectives strengthen a team’s ability to support students?
  • What challenges can arise when team members have different cultural backgrounds or communication styles?
  • How can school teams ensure all voices are valued, especially those from marginalized groups?
  • How can social workers promote inclusive policies in schools?
Slide 11
Slide text reads, 'Questions About the Presentation?' with contact information and course details at the bottom corners. The background is plain white.

Questions About the Presentation?

[Whole Group Activity] Open floor for questions about presentation.