Sources of Inspiration

I am so fortunate to be able to read the newspaper every morning.  Without fail, I read about something that adds value to my personal or professional life and often touches my heart, either in concern about an ongoing social problem (child abuse, poverty, homelessness) or in enlightenment about new opportunities (a book to read, a movie to see, a place to visit).  I do get weary of the constant bombardment of bad news about the wars in Iraq, Afganistan, and now Gaza.  News about the economy are even more frightening as friends and neighbors are losing their jobs and bearing the personal toll of hard times.  So, I skip through those stories in the paper and look for stories that enlighten my world.  

This morning, I had extra time after reading the newspaper, and to my delight, I discovered the latest edition of the National Geographic. Check out "Your Shots" - my favorite is by Meaghan Davidson, 18, taken December 2008. The amazing photographs inspire my hope to learn how to use our digital camera and perhaps one day take a photo worthy of one "fav" on Flickr.  

So, what enlightened me this morning?  Check out the photo journal in the November 2008 edition of National Geographic about how a daughter and her her husband take care of her father, Herbie, who suffered from dementia and a Parkinson's-type movement disorder.  The story of the "sandwich generation" and caring for loved ones who have dementia is powerful and beautiful, and the photographs are simply endearing.  This story caught my attention because I didn't expect National Geographic to tell this type of story (not your typical story about elephants in Africa).  I am grateful that the editors put this story in and are helping to raise awareness about the challenges facing the "Sandwhich Generation."  

A second moment of enlightenment happened when I discovered the web site Talking Eyes Media.  Here is a quote from their vision statement:  

Talking Eyes Media is a multi-media public interest organization that creates and distributes compelling visual materials that advocate for positive social change.  We concentrate on issues that are currently underrepresented in the mainstream media, and we use our books, exhibitions, websites and films to raise awareness and broaden public debate. 

Wow!  Talking Eyes Media is a fantastic new resource for my teaching tool kit.  I will be following it closely and using it in my social work courses at TCU.  

Staying informed without getting overwhelmed is a challenge for me.  Finding avenues for inspiration and enlightenment is an important part of my mental 

health and ongoing professional development.  What are your sources of inspiration and enlightenment?

I just discovered several new websites about elearning, social bookmarking, and social networking and am very excited to learn more about these tools for teaching and learning.  The Learning Circuits Blog caught my attention today and the biq question for January 2009 "What are your challenges, plans, and predictions for 2009?  

My plans and goals for 2009 are to 

• improve my teaching evaluation scores and gather feedback from several different sources to improve my teaching effectiveness (build my teaching portfolio)
• integrate ideas about eLearning and use digital tools in assignments to engage my Millennial students in meaningful learning (dump old ways of teaching and old assignments!)
• submit a literature review for publication on compassion fatigue and self-care in social work
• submit a presentation at the NASW Texas Conference on compassion fatigue and self-care in social work
• help a colleague publish results of her work with child sexual abuse treatment and pet-assisted therapy
• work on a research project with my colleague at TCU on peer-supervision and elearning in field education
  
• implement an online data collection process in field education that will be used for program evaluation as well as individual student evaluation

What are your goals and challenges for 2009?  

Reflective Practitioner - Another Self-Care Strategy

Today I discovered Michele Martin's Bamboo Project and am hooked!  What an "Ah HA!" moment in my personal and professional life!  When I read her posting about Becoming a More Reflective Individual Practitioner, I recognized that this is another important strategy that anyone in the helping professions like Social Work can employ to stay healthy.  Preventing or mitigating the problem of burn out and compassion fatigue in social work is a huge professional challenge and becoming a "Reflective Practitioner" is a valuable practice to maintain professional mental health.  Michele credits an article What is Reflective Practice?  (pdf) by Joy Amulya of the Center for Reflective Community Practice at MIT for the main principles in her posting and was extremely helpful for me as I think about what I hope this blog is all about and my ongoing quest to be a compassionate and effective social work educator.  

Check out Michele's blog and let me know how you have been inspired to be a reflective practitioner!  

P.S.  I copied this cool t-shirt image from Michele's website http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/tools_and_resource/index.html   

Staying Connected and Healthy

What keeps us going in social work? How do we reduce or avoid the impact of compassion fatigue and burn out? In my professional life, membership in the National Association of Social Workers has become a key piece of my support for professional mental health.

What is NASW? NASW is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with 150,000 members. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies.

Because I am actively involved in our state and branch activities, I have met other social workers who I wouldn't met in the course of my day-to-day work at TCU, teaching students, grading papers, working with field instructors, going to faculty meetings..... etc. This opportunity for professional networking would only happen at NASW Texas conferences or other professional conferences that only happen once a year. By volunteering to serve as the Tarrant Branch NLIC (national leadership identification committee) representative, I have joined a great group of local social work leaders who work to give our members a place and opportunity for professional development, networking, and support. I am re-energized for my work at TCU because of my professional network!!

When I talk with students about NASW, I tell them that their dues are worth every hard earned penny because they can meet and connect with other social work professioanals at the local, state, and national level. A hallmark of an effective and competent social worker can be measured by the extent and depth of their professional relationships with other social workers. As newly developing professionals, my students often ask, "How can I get a good start in a job after graduation?" My first answer is always, get involved with NASW. The informal networking that happens at NASW events provides a better opportunity to hear about job opportunities.

Being a member of NASW means that I get up-to-date information about local, state, and national issues that impact my work at TCU. I receive emails with announcements of job opportunities, continuing education workshops, legislative updates and more that I often can immediatley use either in a class I am teaching or in advising a student.

Finally, I see a clear link to the importance of networking to the value of the importance of human relationships as stated in the NASW Code of Ethics.

Ethical Principle: Social workers recognize the central importance of human relationships.

Clearly, this principle applies to our work with clients, but it also applies to our relationship to our colleagues and our profession. Doesn't it make sense that if we are to be healthy, competent, effective professionals, we have ways to take care of ourselves? Networking is one of many strategies I use to insure my professional health and protects or reduces the impact of compassion fatigue in my work as a social work professor and NASW is a big part of it all.

To join NASW, go to https://www.socialworkers.org/nasw/join/default.asp. Will you let me know if you have decided to become a member of NASW?