Empowering Essential Adults: All Adults. All Settings. |
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Empowering Essential Adults: All Adults. All Settings.
Empowering Essential Adults: All Adults. All Settings.  The Readiness Projects ·Follow Published inChanging the Odds for Youth: A Community Dialogue on What it Will Take ·5 min read·Nov 30, 2020-- This is the second in a series of blogs curating The Readiness Projects Making the Invisible Visible Discussion Series. View the session recording here. More than half of the staff in school buildings are not classroom teachers — counselors, nurses, security staff, bus drivers, secretaries, custodians, lunchroom staff, and more. Every day, considerably more than half of students leave school to spend time in learning and development opportunities guided by a wide range of adults in a wide range of settings — child care centers, after school programs, libraries, sports teams, recreation centers, arts programs, service projects, part-time jobs and more. Yet, our conversations about learning have tended to focus almost solely on teachers and the classroom. In this year — when learning is happening at kitchen tables and in community hubs — the “all hands on deck” response is bringing awareness to the incredible roles played not just by classroom teachers, but these other adults dedicated to the learning and development of our young people. This new awareness leads to a realization that this workforce is in many ways invisible. We don’t know as much about the other adults working with young people — who they are, where they work, etc. — but we do know two critical things about them: Science affirms the power they hold to create learning and development opportunities for young people through the voluntary relationships and experiences they build.They are more likely than classroom teachers to look like and live near the youth and families they serve.Meg Pittman from the Boys and Girls Clubs of America sees the power of the adults in community programs and outside the classroom and the science informed strategies they use to engage young people as the “secret sauce” to supporting and complementing the role that teachers play. (A quick play on words created a lively chat discussion about the fact that the power of this “secret sauce” workforce is the natural opportunities for adults to use the “science sauce” in these settings). This scope and scale of this workforce should not be a secret. As we Build Forward Together, the second Making the Invisible Visible discussion focused in on the questions: Who are the adults that work with young people throughout the community ecosystem?What are they saying they need to be effective during these challenging times?What resources and supports do they need to maximize their impact?Engaging all adults in all settings is more critical now than ever. While eventually students will return to the classroom, we know that learning and development is going to continue to look and feel different — shifting the expectations for all adults who create these opportunities. As one example, new survey data from the Afterschool Alliance indicates that 76% of afterschool programs have extended their hours to support kids during the day (with those in districts operating virtually more than twice as likely to have extended hours). In addition to extending hours, programs have extended services to include taking on the role of providing learning environments during virtual school days, providing virtual afterschool programs, serving meals, connecting families with resources, and caring for children of essential workers. Yet even with this expanded role, programs providers worry about meeting the needs of young people and families. As we Build Forward Together there will be greater need for training on creating emotional support, safety, and belonging for young people. Communities tackling an 18 month Build Forward Together plan (spring-summer-school year- summer) must include design for collaborative professional learning and support for all adults in all settings. The session dialogue raised several key points for us to consider as we build these plans: Support the learning and development of adults with what we know about the science of learning and development. The same guiding principles and non-negotiables of learning and development that apply for young people are also necessary for adults. They need to experience positive relationships, must feel they are safe and belong, and must have opportunities to engage with rich content to grow their practice, knowledge, and skills. Through these rich learning experiences, they can increase their impact with young people. Leaders within schools, organizations, and communities must recognize this need and be equipped to support their teams.Engage in experiential learning. There is power in experiential learning and a focus on youth development best practices and program quality. The Playworks team has noticed that when teachers witness their students demonstrating mastery in a space outside the classroom, or leveraging problem solving strategies like Rochambeau, they see their students’ joy and it inspires curiosity to learn about what is working in other spaces. A school-wide, experiential learning approach not only allows teachers to figure out these strategies might be applicable for their context, but for all adults in the building to actively engage in learning, through play, together.Diversify leadership. We must consider how to increase diversity of leadership within these organizations and roles to match the diversity of the workforce. Workforce development strategies like apprenticeships and job pathways and learning opportunities like the National Afterschool Association’s Emerging Leaders of Color PLC can begin to change that.Tap into the potential of “all adults, all settings.” There is untapped potential in leveraging these essential adults across settings in a way that builds their skills, increases relationships, and connections with young people, and meets organizational goals (Stay tuned for a Bright Spots blog on one example of this type of partnership between Playworks and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America).Compensate these essential workers. Urgent attention must be given to the compensation for all adults working with young people. The current rhetoric in the broader community is correct — they are essential. They are on the front lines. They are expanding access. They are caring for families. Yet, as Aleah Rosario of the California Afterschool Network said, “Ability to recognize staff is great, but sentimental without material gains.”We invite you to continue to make visible all the adults creating opportunities for learning and development in your community. Who are they? Where do they work? What are you hearing they need in this challenging times? What have you found successful in supporting them? As you uncover answers to these questions, please join our conversation here as we continue to grapple with how best to empower the essential adults that work with young people and their families. |
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