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The mission of social work is to help people meet their basic needs and enhance their well-being.... more The mission of social work is to help people meet their basic needs and enhance their well-being. Through a strong empowerment orientation, the profession can aid people vulnerable to oppression as a result of racism, discrimination, and poverty. Social work can be a powerful force in advancing the practice of Indigenous education. Social workers and educators working together can use empowerment-oriented strategies to enable Indigenous people to influence educational decisions and practices that affect their lives. These strategies include building strong collaborative relationships with parents, teachers, students, and school administrators to increase their personal and political power; moving away from models that blame the student, family, or culture for Indigenous students' low academic achievement, high dropout rates, and nonconforming behavior; and overcoming oppressive structural aspects of school and community life that create disappointing outcomes for Indigenous children. Social workers and educators must acknowledge their professions' role in the painful legacy of boarding schools and mass removal of Indigenous children from their homes. Honest and meaningful dialogues with Indigenous peoples on this subject will promote respect for and validation of their narratives, survival, and experiences. Social workers can advance Indigenous education by assuming various roles: human services broker, teacher, counselor, staff developer, and social change agent. Social workers can use their understanding of social policy to analyze social problems and programs relevant to First Nations communities, and students of social work with field practicum experience in Indigenous communities can bring important cultural knowledge and understanding to schools. Contains 80 references and endnotes. (TD)
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work
This narrative shares my experiences teaching diversity in an undergraduate social work program. ... more This narrative shares my experiences teaching diversity in an undergraduate social work program. First, J begin by sharing my experience teaching diversity as a Ph.D. student. Second, J discuss my experience teaching social work with First Nations in Canada and tell how this experience influenced how I later taught diversity. Third, I attempt to define diversity and discuss how broad and elusive J have found this topic to be. Fourth, I share different instructor roles I assumed in order to get students to appreciate the importance of this course. In this narrative, "Indigenous " and "First Nations " Peoples are used interchangeably to refer to the aboriginal Nations of the United States. I avoid, as much as possible, the terms "Indian, American Indian, and Native American " because I consider them to be colonized identities. When they are used, it is only in the context of a direct quote. by
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Columbus was a wetiko. He was mentally ill or insane, the carrier of a terribly contagious psycho... more Columbus was a wetiko. He was mentally ill or insane, the carrier of a terribly contagious psychological disease, the wetiko psychosis. The Native people he described were sane people with a healthy state of mind. Sanity or healthy normality among humans and other living creatures involves a respect for other forms oflife and other individuals. I believe that is the way people have lived (and should live). The wetiko psychosis, and the problems it creates, have inspired many resistance movements and efforts at reform or revolution. Unfortunately, most of these efforts have failed because they have never diagnosed the wetiko as an insane person whose disease is extremely contagious. (Forbes, 2008: 22)
In this narrative I share four aspects of storytelling that support the spirituality of First Nat... more In this narrative I share four aspects of storytelling that support the spirituality of First Nations' people. I begin with a portion of the Sahnish genesis story and its identification of our spiritual beliefs and history. I discuss the significance and purpose of traditional narratives in relation to the manner of storytelling by the elders in our village. I then explain how the telling of narrative in our indigenous languages is diminishing, illustrated by a story that my mother has shared concerning my grandfather's "Indian" boarding school experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Reflections : Narratives of Professional Helping is the property of Cleveland State University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the...
Contemporary Social Work Studies is a series disseminating high quality new research and scholars... more Contemporary Social Work Studies is a series disseminating high quality new research and scholarship in the discipline and profession of social work. The series promotes critical engagement with contemporary issues relevant across the social work community and captures the diversity of interests currently evident at national, international and local levels. CSWS is located in the School of Social Sciences (Social Work Studies Division) at the University of Southampton, UK and is a development from the successful series of books published by Ashgate in association with CEDR (the Centre for Evaluative and Developmental Research) from 1991.
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
Indigenous peoples are resilient peoples with deep traditional knowledge and scientific thought s... more Indigenous peoples are resilient peoples with deep traditional knowledge and scientific thought spanning millennia. Global discourse on climate change however has identified Indigenous populations as being a highly vulnerable group due to the habitation in regions undergoing rapid change, and the disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality already faced by this population. Therefore, the need for Indigenous self-determination and the formal recognition of Indigenous knowledges, including micro-level molecular and microbial knowledges, as a critical foundation for planetary health is in urgent need. Through the process of Indigenous decolonization, even at the smallest molecular scale, we define a method back to our original selves and therefore to our planetary origin story. Our health and well-being is directly reflected at the planetary scale, and we suggest, can be rooted through the concept of molecular decolonization, which through the English language emerged from the ‘...
The mission of social work is to help people meet their basic needs and enhance their well-being.... more The mission of social work is to help people meet their basic needs and enhance their well-being. Through a strong empowerment orientation, the profession can aid people vulnerable to oppression as a result of racism, discrimination, and poverty. Social work can be a powerful force in advancing the practice of Indigenous education. Social workers and educators working together can use empowerment-oriented strategies to enable Indigenous people to influence educational decisions and practices that affect their lives. These strategies include building strong collaborative relationships with parents, teachers, students, and school administrators to increase their personal and political power; moving away from models that blame the student, family, or culture for Indigenous students' low academic achievement, high dropout rates, and nonconforming behavior; and overcoming oppressive structural aspects of school and community life that create disappointing outcomes for Indigenous children. Social workers and educators must acknowledge their professions' role in the painful legacy of boarding schools and mass removal of Indigenous children from their homes. Honest and meaningful dialogues with Indigenous peoples on this subject will promote respect for and validation of their narratives, survival, and experiences. Social workers can advance Indigenous education by assuming various roles: human services broker, teacher, counselor, staff developer, and social change agent. Social workers can use their understanding of social policy to analyze social problems and programs relevant to First Nations communities, and students of social work with field practicum experience in Indigenous communities can bring important cultural knowledge and understanding to schools. Contains 80 references and endnotes. (TD)
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work
This narrative shares my experiences teaching diversity in an undergraduate social work program. ... more This narrative shares my experiences teaching diversity in an undergraduate social work program. First, J begin by sharing my experience teaching diversity as a Ph.D. student. Second, J discuss my experience teaching social work with First Nations in Canada and tell how this experience influenced how I later taught diversity. Third, I attempt to define diversity and discuss how broad and elusive J have found this topic to be. Fourth, I share different instructor roles I assumed in order to get students to appreciate the importance of this course. In this narrative, "Indigenous " and "First Nations " Peoples are used interchangeably to refer to the aboriginal Nations of the United States. I avoid, as much as possible, the terms "Indian, American Indian, and Native American " because I consider them to be colonized identities. When they are used, it is only in the context of a direct quote. by
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
Columbus was a wetiko. He was mentally ill or insane, the carrier of a terribly contagious psycho... more Columbus was a wetiko. He was mentally ill or insane, the carrier of a terribly contagious psychological disease, the wetiko psychosis. The Native people he described were sane people with a healthy state of mind. Sanity or healthy normality among humans and other living creatures involves a respect for other forms oflife and other individuals. I believe that is the way people have lived (and should live). The wetiko psychosis, and the problems it creates, have inspired many resistance movements and efforts at reform or revolution. Unfortunately, most of these efforts have failed because they have never diagnosed the wetiko as an insane person whose disease is extremely contagious. (Forbes, 2008: 22)
In this narrative I share four aspects of storytelling that support the spirituality of First Nat... more In this narrative I share four aspects of storytelling that support the spirituality of First Nations' people. I begin with a portion of the Sahnish genesis story and its identification of our spiritual beliefs and history. I discuss the significance and purpose of traditional narratives in relation to the manner of storytelling by the elders in our village. I then explain how the telling of narrative in our indigenous languages is diminishing, illustrated by a story that my mother has shared concerning my grandfather's "Indian" boarding school experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Reflections : Narratives of Professional Helping is the property of Cleveland State University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the...
Contemporary Social Work Studies is a series disseminating high quality new research and scholars... more Contemporary Social Work Studies is a series disseminating high quality new research and scholarship in the discipline and profession of social work. The series promotes critical engagement with contemporary issues relevant across the social work community and captures the diversity of interests currently evident at national, international and local levels. CSWS is located in the School of Social Sciences (Social Work Studies Division) at the University of Southampton, UK and is a development from the successful series of books published by Ashgate in association with CEDR (the Centre for Evaluative and Developmental Research) from 1991.
Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work, 2020
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
Indigenous peoples are resilient peoples with deep traditional knowledge and scientific thought s... more Indigenous peoples are resilient peoples with deep traditional knowledge and scientific thought spanning millennia. Global discourse on climate change however has identified Indigenous populations as being a highly vulnerable group due to the habitation in regions undergoing rapid change, and the disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality already faced by this population. Therefore, the need for Indigenous self-determination and the formal recognition of Indigenous knowledges, including micro-level molecular and microbial knowledges, as a critical foundation for planetary health is in urgent need. Through the process of Indigenous decolonization, even at the smallest molecular scale, we define a method back to our original selves and therefore to our planetary origin story. Our health and well-being is directly reflected at the planetary scale, and we suggest, can be rooted through the concept of molecular decolonization, which through the English language emerged from the ‘...