Careers

Position Title: Teacher Well-Being Circle and Workshop Facilitator

Location/structure: Part-time, hybrid role that requires travel to schools in NY, NJ, and MA as needed

About

At Healing Schools Project we provide equity-focused, healing-centered solutions for the teacher turnover issue. We bring together research and practice to address the problem at the root: shifting school culture and bringing healing to educators. 

Healing Schools Project works with schools, school districts, and charter networks predominantly serving students of color, as they typically have the lowest teacher retention. To date, our programming has reached over 400 educators and school leaders, and preliminary data suggest that participants are overwhelmingly satisfied and that our model demonstrates efficacy for building collective efficacy and improving teacher retention in schools. 

Now we are working to scale our efforts within the Northeastern United States, particularly in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, to reach 90 schools and 4,500 teachers by 2025. While Healing Schools Project is based in New York City, our interventions have been effective at a distance when conducted over Zoom and other online platforms. Our mix of in-person and online interventions will enable us to scale to more schools and communities at a fraction of the cost required for a program that relies entirely on in-person support.

One of the ways we do this is by facilitating healing circles with leadership teams and educators. A healing circle is peer-to-peer mental health intervention rooted in Indigenous practices. We also facilitate workshops on Building a Culture of Community Care that engage schools in building collective efficacy around how they shift their school culture to facilitate community care.   

What you’ll be responsible for: 

• Engaging in our pre-facilitation training program and on-going training
• Leading in-person and virtual healing circles and workshops using our healing 
• Preparing for each session by reviewing content (facilitator guides, materials and additional resources) pertaining to the circles and workshops
• Setting the tone for space that permits participants to engage in restorative conversations
• Administering surveys at the end of each session 
• Attending debrief meetings with the team to share takeaways, next steps, and data collected so that we can support schools with culture shift work
• Conduct up to two virtual community circles per quarter
• Other responsibilities as assigned

About You:

You must be committed to building a nonprofit organization that supports mental health, wellbeing, and equity in schools. Mission and values alignment is critical for our founding team’s success. In addition, the ideal candidate demonstrates: 

• Experience working in schools that serve students of color  
• Strong knowledge and understanding of trauma-informed care and healing-centered engagement
• 2+ years experience in group facilitation (in-person and virtual); Training in restorative practices preferred; Strong and confident presence when facilitating 
• Organized, self-directed, and able to work remotely, and often independently
• Creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial
• Able to take action in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity
• Openness to feedback, curiosity, and growth
• Biased towards authenticity over perfectionism and willing to self-reflect 
• Commitment to anti-racism and systems change
• Have US work authorization 
• Reside in the NYC/NJ Metro Area and ability to travel to schools in NY, NJ, and MA as needed.

Compensation & Details

Healing Schools Project is a non-profit fiscally sponsored by Counseling in Schools. This is a part-time, hybrid position for the 2022-23 school year with the possibility for renewal. We are looking to build a long term working relationship with the right people. Compensation is commensurate with experience with coverage for travel to schools in NY, NJ, and MA, when applicable.

Apply Here

Overview

Healing Schools Project (HSP) provides space and tools for educators to heal so they can heal their students.  We use an equity focused, healing centered approach that acknowledges the role of teacher healing in shifting culture in schools. We partner with schools to improve teacher retention by addressing the root causes: burnout and working conditions. 

The practicum student will support the growing Healing Schools Project team in the design and implementation of our organizational evaluation strategy. The student will work with the Head of Evaluation to design and refine HSP’s evaluation strategy, support the creation of data collection tools, and contribute to the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The student will also support summarizing and communicating data to a variety of audiences in a variety of formats. As a valued collaborator on a small but mighty team, the student should be comfortable with iteration, feedback, and adaptability as the business grows and changes over time.

Responsibilities

• Conduct literature reviews on topics related to HSP’s work, e.g., healing circles, trauma-informed practices, and collective efficacy.
• Collaborate with website manager to ensure the evidence and literature section stays up to date
• Support collection and analysis of data, including:
• Designing and refining surveys and focus group guides
• Programming surveys into survey platform
• Conducting interviews/focus groups
• Cleaning and analyzing survey data in Excel or R
• Analyzing qualitative data
• Summarize data in basic reports, visuals, and content for social media
• Contribute to evaluation design and planning for the 23-24 school year
• Opportunity to contribute to other aspects of evaluation and program design, depending on interest and need

Qualifications

• Current student in a masters-level program in public health, education, social work, or related field
• Prior experience working on research or evaluation projects
• Familiarity with principles of survey methodology and program evaluation
• Experience conducting basic data cleaning and analysis, both quantitative (e.g., Excel, R) and qualitative (e.g., Dedoose)
• Clear communicator who is comfortable communicating in a variety of formats – e.g., email, Slack, phone calls & Zoom meetings
• An independent, critical thinker who is able to take direction, takes initiative, and asks for support when needed
• A collaborative, team-player who can receive, value, and incorporate feedback into their work
• Commitment to HSP’s values (intentional design, joy, equity, interconnectedness, curiosity)
• Experience creating infographics or data visualizations a plus
• Familiarity with healing circles, trauma-informed practices, anti-racist practices, collective efficacy, educator well-being, and retention a plus
• Familiarity with equitable evaluation practices a plus

Application

To be considered, applicants should fill out this form, including a resume and a cover letter that thoughtfully answers the following three questions:

• Why are you interested in working for Healing Schools Project?
• Why are you interested in working in research and evaluation?
• What will you need to be successful in this position?

Healing Schools Project deeply values the lived experiences of BIPOC individuals, as HSP centers the experiences of BIPOC educators in its work. We strongly encourage these individuals to apply. We also acknowledge that the qualifications listed above are a wish list, and we do not expect everyone to have all of these skills. If the work of HSP speaks to you, please consider applying.

This is a mostly remote practicum for 20 hours/week, 10-12 weeks (late May to early August 2023). We have a preference for folks in the NYC/NJ area, as there will likely be in-person opportunities for data collection and a team meeting/retreat. Small stipend available.

Apply Here