Racism is a crucial issue that Canadian schools continue to face, which results in negative emotional and academic impacts on students. Based on a 2020 survey done by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (2020), 42% of Indigenous students and those from Black backgrounds in schools reported facing racism. These facts indicate the persistent nature of racism within the educational setting and the need for tailored interventions and support mechanisms to be put in place. This aspect underscores the need to reflect on social work practices within the educational context critically. This essay, therefore, analyses the philosophy of practice by concluding a practicing social worker’s interview. It aims to explain both the operating model that the agency has at the moment and the philosophical standpoint of practice that is based on social justice, equity, and trauma-informed approaches. Through careful examination of responses obtained from the interview, a reflection of what measures need to be implemented to curb racism in Canadian schools will be provided.
Part 1: Analysis of the Agency’s Philosophy of Practice
My main focus in the interview with practicing social workers was to obtain the viewpoints of the agency relative to racialism in Canadian schools and methods of curbing the social foe. The interviewee provided informative responses that enlightened the philosophy behind every practice the agency follows and their overall equity and inclusion efforts in schools. While discussing the agency’s philosophy of approach with the interviewee, she revealed various essential aspects that require critical scrutiny.
First, the interview explained that this agency applies the systemic ecological-collaborative approach to fight racism in schools. Notably, the interviewee highlighted racism as a multifaced problem. She asserts that racism is a complex phenomenon that has no single cause and which results in a range of consequences. Such understanding corresponds with the leading opinions such as those by Halladay et al. (2020), who consider racism as an issue of broader significance rather than a mere individual problem. Halladay’s (2020) research accentuates the intricacy of racism and explores its wide-spanning influences on many aspects of students’ lives, such as their psychological and academic performance. Thus, the agency’s move to recognize racism as a systemic issue implies their understanding of the seriousness of the structural inequalities embedded in the educational system. This means that efforts to fight racism ought not to be limited to personal interventions but can also target the deep-rooted and systemic societal factors that perpetuate inequality. This perspective is backed by research through an array of studies that have proven that systemic racism contributes to the academic achievement and wellbeing gap among marginalized students (Paisley, 2020). The agency’s stance on racism embodies a mindset that acknowledges the systemic nature of the problem and the necessity to combat the underlying structural inequalities within the educational environment. This emphasis, therefore, explains the need to develop strategies targeting systemic barriers hindering equality and inclusiveness rather than just focusing on individual activities and attitudes.
In addition, the interviewee’s pointing at the agency’s pledge to push for resource accessibility amid systems reinforces their view of the obstacles, stigma, and marginalization that less conditional students experience. Acknowledging these challenges proves that the agency is devoted to eliminating the structural inequalities that create difficulties for students in achieving academic and social success. The interviewee’s statement further demonstrated the imperativeness of equipping students to stand up independently, thus embodying the strength-based perspective that focuses on an asset-based approach to foster positive consequences. This method resonates with the fundamental principles of strengths-based social work, summarized by Campell (2021). The strengths approach, in other words, stresses providing opportunities where people can identify, stimulate, and develop their inner power to overcome obstacles and move closer to success. Through strengthening the students’ capacity to advocate for themselves, the initiative is about developing the students’ agency and self-determination, as well as group responsibility and community spirit. By cultivating a combined effort, this approach may result in a better living for all the students while enriching the ones from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Moreover, the interviewee highlighted that the agency aims to cooperate with the school team to create and maintain support circles that improve affected students’ socio-academic well-being. According to Dhillion (2018), this coordinated approach correlates with social work’s ecological and systemic perspectives, which emphasize overcoming the systematically derived barriers to achieve better student life conditions. Through interacting with various stakeholders within the school, the organization will ensure that the needs of all the students affected by racism are met. This will include interaction with the teachers, administrators, and support staff, thus forming a network that can help alleviate the problem. Nevertheless, there is a need to conduct a critical investigation to ensure that the strategies employed by the agency fight racialization and not just the symptoms. While encouragement networks can provide a vast range of resources and support to marginalized students, they may not always deal with the structural issue of the system that leads to concentrated racism in the education system. According to the expert investigation by Hess (2021), customized and accurate interventions are critical as they seek to attend to the unique needs of marginalized students. This implies that though a collaborative effort is vital, the activist group, too, might need to be more target-oriented and aggressive as it concerns racial discrimination in schools to have a real impact.
Moreover, the interviewee revealed the agency’s dilemmas regarding the lack of resources and mental health problems, which were worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. This statement aligns with Hill et al. (2020) research showing that an overwhelming majority of efforts to address racism-based actions often fail due to a lack of adequate resources. This shows the need for the agency to ensure resource adequacy for the success of its initiatives (Willims et al., 2020). This aspect thus implies that the agency should lobby for policy changes that will ensure that all schools allocate their resources fairly. The agency’s philosophy of practice concerning racism in Canadian schools, as revealed from the interview, is an ecological, collaborative, and strengths-based approach that accentuates individual and community strengths through its programs.
Part 2: Emerging Philosophy of Practice
In developing my theory of practice, I take cognizance of a blend of different theoretical models as well as lessons from academics, my personal experiences, and the interview with a social worker. My perspective is grounded in principles of social justice, equity, and trauma-informed practices that aim to support individuals, mitigate systemic barriers, and create an environment for positive change in the education system and society.
Throughout the course, I have learned about the various theoretical aspects of social work practice and its practical applicability. Those include critical race theory (CRT), trauma-informed care, strengths-based, ecological, and collaborative systemic approaches. Under the influence of these models, I want to create a practice that is durable to social issues that are very complex and intersect while continuing to be a model of systemic inequalities and an advocate for marginal communities.
Among the significant components of my emerging philosophy is acknowledging that social problems are intertwined; therefore, we have to look at them holistically to intervene successfully. This has been reinforced by the acquired information in the interview with the social worker in the field, who cruelly pointed out the systemic nature of racism in the education system and how that needs to be tackled together. The interviewee showed great concern for agencies that continuously advocate for the resources and systems that exclude marginalized people and believe in equality of opportunity. This aligns with Mahabi et al. (2021) research, which showed the importance of advocacy. This will thus be my central initiative.
Moreover, trauma-informed approaches to my practice expand my understanding of the effects of trauma on people and also emphasize creating healing and resilience-building environments that are safe and supportive. This perspective conforms with the impressions from the interview, where the respondent stressed the institution’s goals of creating and maintaining support circles for the student’s emotional and academic lives. Using trauma-informed strategy in the context of my practice, I hope to design spaces conducive to the validation of students’ situation and their healing.
Additionally, strengths-based approaches augment my evolving philosophy by highlighting and tapping into the strengths and resourcefulness of individuals in the virtues of empowerment and transformation. This viewpoint is represented in the interviewee’s stress on making students themselves the source of change rather than someone else and a feeling of group agency. By identifying and capitalizing on a student’s fortitudes, my mission is to encourage resilience and agency, allowing the pupil to cope with and tackle issues. The ultimate goal is to give power to them.
In shaping my emerging practice philosophy, I draw upon two main theoretical frameworks: critical race theory (CRT) and trauma-sensitive approach. Such underpinning theories give me strength while offering the possibility to focus on understanding complex social challenges, redistributing systemic inequalities, and guaranteeing empowerment and healing. Critical Race Theory is a critical analytic tool that examines power struggles and provides space for social justice and equity. In contrast, trauma-informed care focuses on creating a safe, supportive environment for persons who have experienced trauma (Liu et al., 2023).
According to Logan et al. (2024), critical race theory (CRT) is a framework that analyzes how race and racism intertwine with other dimensions of oppression to maintain an unequal system for the masses. CRT reflects that structural and systemic issues are as significant as personal racial prejudices. This theory is an important one to consider because structural racism is explained here as a mechanism that pushes society to maintain an unequal state. CRT implies the ability to unmask the underlying causes that precipitate racial inequalities and help rectify these by promoting systemic changes (Vang et al., 2024). Furthering, CRT discloses the concept of multi-dimensionality and shades of discrimination, which can be combined with others such as gender, class, and sexuality. This multifaceted approach not only serves as a means to better comprehend the complexities of individual experiences. Still, it can also help address several types of exclusion at the same time (Bach, 2012).
However, CRT could be a complicated concept to apply both practically within the institutional framework and to the people who may oppose the recognition of systematic racism. According to Kennedy et al. (2017), such complexity could cause concern when relying on CRT concepts to develop social work practice. CRT has also been criticized for representing separate races and possibly solidifying race categories. These reinforced racial categories may keep CRT from being a platform that can address the immense historical context of humanity and deal with diverse and complex racial identities (Dhillon, 2018). Although these aspects pose challenges, CRT contributes to our understanding of racism as a structural issue and gives a framework to the path of social justice and equity in social work practice.
A trauma-informed approach is a way of thinking sensitive to the significant role of trauma in people’s lives and seeks to offer support, security, and enablement (Monchalin et al., 2020). This is a relevant theory for me because it underlines the significance of basing treatment strategies on the underlying trauma that leads to the social and emotional difficulties many individuals experience. Lopez (2020) asserts that trauma-informed care employs a holistic approach that considers that different factors influence the well-being of the individual, ranging from physical, emotional, and social well-being. Besides, this standpoint is all-around orientating so that it gives a possibility of absolute actions aimed at meeting the complicated demands of the person who experienced trauma.
In addition, trauma-informed care is forward-looking as it focuses on empowerment and collaboration, thereby enabling individual involvement in their recovery and restoring confidence in their lives (Gebhard et al., 2022). This self-determination is crucial in creating a resilient and phoenix-like new self through trauma. Yet, overall comparison with trauma-informed care can be challenging since proper implementation may require training, staff support, and organizational changes. Resource-constrained barriers may prevent organizations from applying trauma-informed approaches where resource understaffing will impede efficient service delivery. Moreover, trauma-informed care unintentionally may bring trauma upon the individuals whenever the process is not implemented well. Procedures like forced tests or overly intrusive attempts would risk the reactivation of traumatic memories and might make the problems even worse (Logan et al., 2024).
In practice, a social worker applying CRT could critically consider educational policies and practices to recognize those that maintain racial injustice. For instance, they may conclude their investigation with the analysis of disciplinary practices and academic tracking systems to look for indicators of outcome disparities for students of different ethnic origins. In this way, the social worker can stand against these outdated institutional blocks and secure a more equitable and inclusive environment. In addition, a social worker who uses trauma-informed care principles in school may work with teachers and administrators to create a safe atmosphere for students suffering traumatic events (Vang et al., 2024). This could be conducted by introducing trauma-informed classroom practices, preparing staff on symptom identification and response, and implementing support groups that would enable students to share their experiences of emotional context and receive confirmation, support, and validation. These interventions allow the social worker to foster healing and resilience amongst the trauma-affected students and, at the same time, bring empathy and understanding to the school community.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper has looked at the philosophy of practice in the context of dealing with racism in Canadian elementary and high schools, using information received from an interview with a practicing social worker. Through critical analysis and reflection, both the framework and practice discipline have been assessed, pointing out the role of advocacy in speaking about social justice, equity, and trauma-informed approaches. Therefore, in the future, it is pivotal to redress structural obstacles, and to campaign for a shift in the educational ecosystem toward sustainability and equity.
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