Relevance of SRV

SRV Themes that I previously connected to my project were:

The Importance of Interpersonal Identification Between Valued and
Devalued People Interpersonal identification means that one person
sees another as being like him or herself, as having things in common
(Wolfensberger, 147). This theme is relevant to Maya because she is at
such a high risk of being viewed as the other and is coming into her
new class with an already devalued role (having had to come down a
grade). Part of my role will be helping Maya to obtain the concept of
adaptive identity to help her socially mesh better with her peers and
also to understand social expectations and limits with her peers.
When I set out for this project this theme connected to our goal
of wanting to help Maya socially integrate with her new classmates. We
wanted her to create meaningful friendships that were authentic and
reciprocal. When thinking my plan through, I thought that I would be a
good adaptive identity for Maya because I am good at diffusing
situations, I know how to make friends and how to be a good friend. As
we went through the process, I began to realize that Maya needed a
peer with an adaptive identity to ultimately help support her in this
area. This was where we were being challenged, as we didnt want to
force a friendship. Where it began to unfold in a really nice way was
when Maya joined the volleyball team. This gave her some common
ground with her peers and Wolfensberger supports this by stating, the
more people identify with each other, the more they are likely to want
good things to happen to each other, and the more they are likely to
do or provide good things to each other (p. 147). Maya was having
exciting things to talk about, she had a weekend get together to watch

Denmarks national team play with some of her teammates, and she
had a great hobby for after school. It is really incredible to witness the
value in sport and how it can help to give children a place in their
world.
The Importance of Personal Social Integration and Valued Social
Participation, Especially for People at Risk of Social Devaluation.
For Maya, it will be important to help her socially integrate with
her new classmates and to also participate appropriately. We also want
to be very aware of when she is being pulled out of the classroom and
if there is a way for her to be supported within the classroom space.
We want to ensure all staff is on the same page with strategies and
integration values.
This was the second theme my project connected to. This was
something that the classroom teacher and I had to be very aware of
and to try and control. Maya disliked having to leave to do some extra
reading or any sort of work outside the classroom. She also disliked,
completing this work in the classroom because she was embarrassed
of the books she was reading, or the work she needed help with. This
created a tricky situation as we tried to avoid our inclusive efforts of
being not social role-valorizing integration (Wolfensberger, 152). A
solution that gave us some support and time was a homework help
period after school. After school care is something that all students
attend at OIS, and students also finish each day at varying times. On
Thursdays, Maya finished school at 1:05 and had break until 1:20. The
principal added a homework help period to her schedule which ended
at 2:05. Maya normally stays at school until 3:00 or 4:00pm each day

so it was not inconveniencing her schedule. This gave us some 1 on 1

time that was not taking her away from her peers, or socially isolating
her. Because of where Maya was at with her reading and writing levels
for her age, she did require some in depth one on one time. I thought
this was a positive start, as she was able to spend more time in the
classroom and myself and the classroom teacher were able to support
her in that environment.

For Maya, in many ways she was already coming into the
classroom devalued in many ways. She was coming down a grade,
which creates a stigma and she also had created a reputation for
herself socially. Maya is not shy, so when she began in the classroom
she was continuing her behaviors of shouting gout, interrupting, being
bossy, all characteristics that most children dont respond to. This
reminded me of Woldfensbergers words around wounds stressing the
importance to, deeply familiarize oneself with the wounds of a
particular party AS issue, including the problematic patterns of
responding to the world that a person may have developed because of
these wounds (p. 107). The classroom teacher and I knew that we had
to take time to get to know Maya and understand where these
behaviors were coming from. Maya comes from a big family with many

siblings and cousins. Her Father works out of town and her Mother is
busy taking care of cooking and the home, so we discovered that Maya
was looking for attention and looking for someone to talk to and to be
listened to. When Maya was shouting out or interrupting, she explained
it as trying to be funny. She explained that kids like funny people, so
she was trying to be likeable. Ultimately, Maya viewed the societal role
of a comedian or class clown as a role that she valued and inferred
would make her likeable and popular. Race reiterates this theory
stating, that people in all societies become identified, and are given
degrees of social status, by the roles they fill, and that this process
operates at the societal and sub-societal level (p. 89). How she was
acting in her mind was helping her on her way to the good things in
life. In reality Maya was frustrating the people around her and it was
not making her socially desirable as a friend. This was a challenging
aspect to work with because we didnt want to dull her sparkle, but
Maya also needed to learn the behaviors of the classroom. Mayas
table group were students she was really able to connect with and they
supported her by telling her when to be quiet and the classroom
teacher worked really hard to value her comments, and to also provide
direction with classroom behaviors. There were noticeable
improvements over my period of time, and Im sure she will continue to
grow and work on managing herself.

To help support Mayas transition in the classroom Social Role

Valorization theory helped to attach meaning and purpose to my
project. Wolfensberger expresses that people have a capacity for
growth and change; and that this capacity is much greater than most
people realize (page. 134). I think this is such a hopeful and beautiful
sentiment. Children are so resilient and yet impressionable, and they
are forgiving. Maya has had a challenging year, moving to a new
country, starting in a new school, changing grades, and starting in a
second class. Her schooling was very different in Egypt, so she is
adjusting and learning how she needs to adapt to be successful. I think
that although she is at the beginning of her journey, she is making
changes and making steps in the right direction.