Faculty Professional Development
Our passion is helping school communities (institutions) assess gaps between their institutional behavior and their espoused values, allowing them to make informed and ultimately healthier decisions for those they serve. Our focus is on “re-humanizing” organizations/schools by enabling leaders to engage their stakeholders in partnerships or co-creative efforts and together create wiser solutions that work. Our means include process design and process hosting, using a large range of social technologies, large-scale conversations and group processes to enable the emergence of the collective intelligence necessary to create change and wise action in schools and communities.
Adolescents’ risky behavior (alcohol, drugs, self-harm, suicide, depression, eating disorders) are real issues, and ones we cannot wish away. School culture influences how people think, feel, and act; culture is a key determinant of staff focus, morale, commitment, motivation, and productivity. Elements of culture: norms, heroes and heroines; rituals, traditions, and ceremonies; “the way we do things around here” need to be examined in the light of a contemporary alcohol and other drug education strategy.
In the review of literature on the efficacy of drug prevention programs, the training of school faculty clearly enhanced the impact of school-based intervention. One cannot underestimate the importance of a consistent and coordinated adult strategy to guide students’ positive behaviors and intervene early on behavioral problems either informally or with formal systems.
“I have been a teacher for almost twenty years and started at my school the same year Jeff began coming to our school. To say our school was in a transitional period at that time would be like saying the BP disaster in the Gulf was only a little leak. Jeff has visited our school annually for the past seven years. His wealth of knowledge about high-risk behavior, professionalism, and his understanding about the complexity of working with students is second to none. He carries with him genuine compassion for others, an honest humility of himself, and the tenacity to engage even the most difficult to reach person in a unique way while creating a safe open environment to discuss the issues at hand. He is also extremely aware of the pressure that continues to grow exponentially affecting everyone in a school’s community and provides a sobering look at the changing landscape by providing advice and support of healthy choices.
Over the summer, I was talking with a student of mine who graduated many years ago and has since recently graduated college. In our conversation she asked if the “Drug Guy “ still comes? This is the impression he leaves with students in his open conversations and discussions about reducing high-risk behaviors. If you are interested in adding an element that will impact your environment and provide a catalyst that can be carried into many discussions and activities on a variety of levels, then I highly recommend Jeff. If you believe that your school does not have an issue with high-risk behavior, or that you already know “those kids”, then it is even more important that you meet Jeff. It can be said that recognizing a problem can be the hardest part in promoting growth. I disagree. Listening to someone who meets with your students for a week from outside your community, and then discusses the issues that you may or not be aware of, and advises you on how to create a healthy environment is. It’s not a good time to be an ostrich!
Mark, Educator, Cape Cod, MA
Faculty education and training is essential in helping a school community prevent and delay underage drinking, alcohol misuse, other drug use, and address mental health issues in teens before they become catastrophic. An important element of any prevention strategy is “many messengers sending the same message”.
Faculty Orientation Meeting
- An introduction to alcohol and drug prevention theory and practice. What works? What doesn’t?
- Myths and misdirections in preventing underage drinking and other drug use in teens
- Discussing the role of faculty in identifying a student with substance abuse issues and how to intervene effectively
- Non-threatening techniques for faculty to address alcohol and other drug issues in students
- Providing up-to-date information about current drug and alcohol use trends
- How schools can encourage and validate the non-using student community
- The role of advisory in prevention and health promotion
Our Faculty Presentations Are Ideal For:
- Regional and National Conference Professional Development Opportunities
- Back to School Professional Development Day (August)
- Community & County Substance Abuse Coalition Professional Development
- Faculty or Board Retreats
Strategic Planning
A comprehensive approach to drug education prevention depends on engaging in a process. Each campus is unique, with its own variety of alcohol and other drug issues. Some secondary school and college prevention efforts have rushed to select drug education prevention activities before engaging in a thorough process to ensure they are appropriate, science-based, and will result in outcomes that will solve their specific problems. A sounder approach first determines the desired outcomes and then identifies activities that are likely to achieve them. The research literature suggests that prevention programs are most effective when they are designed to achieve realistic goals (Do you have any?), have clear and focused objectives, are comprehensive in scope, and are adapted to fit the specific community and social context.
Strategic planning is a systematic process involving problem identification and analysis, identifying goals and objectives, selecting evidence-based strategies, and then selecting and defining activities based on the readiness of a campus to move forward with prevention programming and policies. A readiness assessment will determine the willingness and commitment of the community to create change around identified problems. Underlying the strategic planning process is evaluation, the cornerstone to strong prevention planning, analysis, and improvement. Engaging in these steps will ensure that efforts are targeted to meet a campus’s needs and problems as documented by local data, and are evidence-based, drawing on research literature and theory.
The issues facing communities and schools are complex… which is all the more reason not to face them alone. We develop, implement and facilitate strategic planning sessions that include the formation or reformation of visions, operating values and principles, mission statements, and long and short term goals.
