In this episode of Expert Instruction: The Teach by Design Podcast, we continue the conversation we started in November about culturally responsive practices in PBIS implementation. We are joined by three experts to explore the role of including student, family, and community voices in your implementation.
- Dr. Jennifer Rose is a psychologist with Loyola Community and Family Services, a mental health clinic providing services for children and families in the Chicagoland area. In her advocacy work, she supports children impacted by exclusionary disciplinary policies as well as students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs). As a nationally certified school psychologist and licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Rose has provided psychological services in diverse settings including traditional k-12 buildings, juvenile corrections, alternative schools, psychiatric hospitals, and community mental health.
- Melaney Leverson is a nationally certified school psychologist and a regional technical assistance coordinator working with schools in Wisconsin to implement PBIS and culturally responsive practices. She has also collaborated with state teams looking to embed culturally responsive practices in their state-level framework.
- Kent Smith is a school social worker with 22 years of experience. He works for the Wisconsin Response to Intervention and PBIS Network. Throughout Wisconsin, he trains and supports schools implementing culturally responsive practices.
During our conversation, we talked about why including student, family, and community voices in PBIS implementation matters. We discussed the need to create spaces where folks not only share their perspectives, but also gain agency and ownership in the systems we are building. The work of including more voices in your implementation will involve questioning why your school's systems and practices are in place and what would happen if they were different. This episode has a lot of food for thought and it's sure to linger in your mind long after you finish listening.
For more information about the resources mentioned, check out the following links:
- Wisconsin Response to Intervention and PBIS Network
- Culturally Responsive Field Guide
- PBIS Forum Presentation: Beginning to Embed Culturally Responsive Practices into Your School Universal Practices
- Roundtable Discussion: Embedding Culturally Responsive Practices in Tier 1
- True Colors personality profile