Global Consultation Processes: Lessons Learned from Refugee Teacher Consultation Research in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The process of global consultation has received little attention despite its potential for promoting international mutual understanding with marginalized communities. This article details theory, entry, implementation, and evaluation processes for global consultation research, including lessons learned from our refugee teacher intervention. The first half of the article addresses the entry process, culture-specific strengths, and challenges that can be faced in global consultation, including our experience with a lack of formal regulatory oversight of refugee education. The second half of the article details feedback collected from consultants, peer trainers, and peer trainees indicating which training content was most valuable; how some Burmese refugee teachers strive for a more student-centered, “free” classroom for their refugee students; and, finally, the toll that intense refugee teacher consultation took on the consultants.     

Teacher Consultation to Enhance Implementation of School-Based Restorative Justice

ABSTRACT

Restorative justice (RJ) is an alternative approach to school discipline that has been gaining recognition in the public and academic spheres as a way to engage students who misbehave in school. RJ has promise to address racial/ethnic, gender, and disability disproportionality in school discipline. One aspect of school-based RJ that has received almost no attention in the literature is the professional development and ongoing support of teachers in schools using RJ. This article provides a review of extant literature on school-based RJ, teacher training, and consultation methods. Integrating the empirical literature on school consultation and teacher professional development, we argue that schools should implement a multitiered model of professional development to build teacher competency in RJ, specifically including the use of targeted teacher consultation. The proposed model is complementary to an RJ framework, systematic, and capable of evaluation; future research is needed to evaluate its effectiveness in practice.     

Consultee-Centered Consultation: Contemporary Perspectives and a Framework for the Future

ABSTRACT

Consultee-centered consultation (CCC) is a familiar, but historically understudied, model of consultation. This Special Issue of the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation summarizes, supplements, and updates the CCC research base; considers the role of CCC in contemporary school and community settings; and calls for and helps guide future CCC research and practice. This introduction to the Special Issue begins with a definition of CCC, individuates the model from its historical roots in mental health consultation, and provides a timeline of significant events in the evolution of the CCC model. Next, each article in the Special Issue is previewed in order to highlight unique contributions made to the CCC literature. Collectively, these articles provide a summary of the current state of CCC, multicultural frameworks for CCC training and practice, and multiple directions for future research.     

Intellectual Humility and Morality as Consultee-Centered Consultation Epistemologies

ABSTRACT

Little research examines how epistemological constructs affect the consultation process in schools. We consider how the epistemological constructs of (a) intellectual humility and (b) moral foundations may moderate the effectiveness of consultee-centered consultation. We define the constructs and provide examples of their potential influences on consultee-centered consultation. Then we provide four areas of investigation for future research on the epistemologies of school-based consultation.     

Providing Consultation About Boundary Dilemmas to Paraprofessional Staff Working With People With Severe Psychiatric Disabilities

ABSTRACT

Social justice has been suggested as a possible global moral framework for school psychology. It is, however, culturally understood and research suggests that the engagement with “social justice” in school psychology has been largely limited to a U.S. context. This project sought to extend international understandings and practices of social justice in school psychology. A thematic analysis of nine interviews with educational psychologists based in England was conducted. Social justice was defined as complex, and participants suggested it is important to educational psychology practice in part because of current cuts to public services and educational reforms. Findings also indicated a role for social justice consultation, building relationships, and engaging with broader macrolevel work to enact a social justice agenda. We discuss these findings in relation to previous literature, concluding that our research begins to document the seeds of a broader social justice agenda in school psychology.     

A Qualitative Metasynthesis of Consultation Process Research: What We Know and Where to Go

ABSTRACT

Qualitative metasynthesis (QM) is a research methodology that permits the meaningful integration and interpretation of qualitative research. This study applies a QM approach combined with constructivist grounded theory methods, bolstered by several features of research credibility, to examine the state of consultee-centered consultation (CCC) and related relational, process-oriented school consultation research. A systematic search and retrieval process including two rounds of appraisal resulted in a final sample of 38 relevant studies from 1995 to 2014. Data analyses included two stages of coding/theme development. Integrated themes suggest a number of considerations regarding consultation implementation including: system-level factors; consultation structure; consultee voice, social-emotional support, and learning; ecological orientation and cultural responsiveness; and consultation training. Future research priorities stemming from these themes are identified and elaborated upon, as are future applications for QM in educational research.     

An Introduction to the Special Issue: Consultation to Increase Educational Access and Improve Conditions for LGBTQ Youth

ABSTRACT

This article is the introduction for a theme issue of Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation entitled “Consultation to Increase Educational Access and Improve Conditions for LGBTQ Youth.” First, we discuss the need for consultation to support LGBTQ youth, the current state of consultation research related to LGBTQ youth, and the unique considerations and challenges for conducting research related to LGBTQ youth. Next, we introduce the articles in this special issue. Finally, we address notable gaps and future directions while encouraging researchers and journal editors to embrace the messiness associated with this type of research.     

The Cart Before the Horse: The Challenge and Promise of Restorative Justice Consultation in Schools

ABSTRACT

Restorative justice (RJ) in schools is an increasingly popular approach to responding to discipline issues including bullying and aggressive behaviors. However, RJ research in schools is dramatically lagging behind its practice. Specifically, there is a large void within the school consultation literature that examines the use of RJ and the role of the consulting school psychologist. To help address this gap, this article reviews contextual and definitional issues of RJ, introduces the special issue articles within the RJ literature, and provides recommendations for future research, training, and practice in RJ. Notably, this is the first special issue that brings together RJ scholarship and research in schools under a consultation framework.     

Introduction: Refugee Teacher Consultation in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This is the introductory article to a journal theme issue on Refugee Teacher Collaboration in Malaysia. The origins of this issue are described, as well as the Editor’s hope that these articles will inspire additional consultation research using participatory approaches. A brief synopsis of the issue is provided.     

Competent Consultation: Developing Self-Efficacy for Process and Problem Aspects of Consultation

ABSTRACT

Using samples of novice and advanced consultants in training (CITs), this study explored the development of consultation self-efficacy (CSE) for both process-oriented and problem-oriented aspects of consultation. Regardless of experience level, self-efficacy in both domains increased with training. However, significantly greater gains were made by novice CITs as compared to their advanced counterparts. In addition, feedback collected from consultees was generally favorable, and consultants received high ratings on items that reflected both process- and problem-focused skills. Implications for consultation training are discussed.     

Partners in School: An Innovative Parent-Teacher Consultation Model for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ABSTRACT

Little research examines the best ways to improve communication between parents and teachers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its effect on child outcomes. The present study tests an innovative parent-teacher consultation model, entitled Partners in School. The goal of Partners in School is to improve parent-teacher communication about evidence-based practices (EBPs) and, subsequently, outcomes for children with ASD. Participants were 26 teachers and 49 parents of children with ASD from a large urban public school district. Parents and teachers completed measures of their communication and child outcomes prior to and after receiving consultation through Partners in School. Results indicated that parents and teachers perceived improvements in child outcomes after participation in Partners in School. Changes in parent-teacher communication also were associated with changes in some child outcomes. Discussion highlights the important role of communication in consultations targeting family–school partnerships for children with ASD.     

Culturally Responsive Consultation Among Practicing School Psychologists

ABSTRACT

School-based consultation has garnered increasing attention relevant to culturally responsive practice in school psychology. Although prior research has investigated school psychologists’ experiences with supporting culturally diverse youth through school-based consultation, few studies have utilized an established framework to understand school psychologists’ experiences. We utilized specific components of Ingraham’s Multicultural School Consultation framework to examine fifteen school psychologists’ experiences with providing culturally responsive consultation. Constant comparative analysis revealed the various strategies used by practitioners to support culturally diverse students throughout the consultation process (e.g., involving multiple people in decision-making, using non-confrontational approaches to educate school personnel about cultural dynamics, providing messages of support and encouragement to diverse students and families) and the socio-contextual barriers to their practice (e.g., cultural minimization, lack of administrative support). Implications for research, training, and school-based practice are discussed.     

Encounters in the third space: constructing the researcher’s role in collaborative action research

ABSTRACT

Action research is a methodology that has been increasing in educational studies in recent years. Previous studies have revealed that action research affects practitioners more than traditional methods, since the practitioners are not only participants but also researchers themselves. One branch of action research is collaborative action research (CAR), whereby practitioners and the researcher collaborate through the action research process. This study builds on material from CAR in one Icelandic preschool that lasted over 24 months. The focus of this article is on the role of the researcher in the action research project and how it was constructed through the process. The research material consists of the researcher’s self-narratives, practitioners’ diaries, interviews, and recordings from meetings. The findings show that the researcher’s role was constructed in a so-called third space where the researcher and practitioners collaborated. The researcher went through an emotional landscape while constructing her role and her position was something in between an insider and an outsider. Finally, she faced different kinds of tension concerning her role as a researcher in the CAR. The study contributes to the limited number of studies on the researcher’s role in CAR and how it is constructed during the process.     

Systematic Review of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Implications for Improving Preschool Discipline Disproportionality

ABSTRACT

Early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) is a framework that continues to expand as students’ social-emotional needs emerge at younger ages. The present systematic review examines the extant literature surrounding the use of ECMHC and behavioral consultation in addressing mental health concerns and challenging behaviors in preschool students. Findings associated with this systematic review suggest that ECMHC could be a promising practice for targeting internalizing and externalizing behavioral concerns in prekindergarten students across a variety of settings. However, more research is needed in the areas of mental health/behavioral consultation and disciplinary disproportionality, as well as on the impact of such practices on preschool children of color. Implications for school psychologists are discussed, as are disciplinary practices when providing ECMHC and behavioral consultation services with students of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.     

A Solution-Focused Consultee-Centered Consultation Model to Dismantle White Privilege: Applications in a Teacher Education Program

ABSTRACT

Our increasingly diverse society has resulted in concomitant pressure on teacher education programs to prepare graduates to work with PK-12 students who may differ from them on important sociocultural dimensions such as race and ethnicity. The purpose of this article is to advance the use of a conceptual model, the solution-focused consultee-centered model of consultation. This model has been used by a school psychologist with teacher education faculty to dismantle white privilege in primarily white students who will teach students of color in urban, low-income settings. This article describes the consultation model, addresses the factors that impinge upon the functioning of consultants and consultees from entry to termination, explicates facilitating factors and barriers to success, and concludes with a case scenario that highlights applications of the model in one teacher education program.     

Educating Consultants for Multicultural Practice of Consultee-Centered Consultation

ABSTRACT

Literature about educating consultants with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work effectively within culturally and linguistically diverse schools is scarce. Research suggests that additional attention is needed on the preparation of consultants to practice with multicultural competence. This article reviews theories and research and presents four educational strategies for preparing consultants for multicultural practice of consultee-centered consultation (CCC). Specific attention is given to ways that educators can teach and supervise learners of CCC by integrating issues of worldview, culture, and different perspectives, thereby scaffolding learning toward the development of multicultural competence in consultation.     

School Consultation to Counter Stereotype Threat

ABSTRACT

Perceptions teachers have regarding their students are associated with their students’ school performance. Similarly, students’ psychoeducational and psychosocial functioning are partly shaped by their beliefs about teachers’ opinions of them. Psychoeducational performance and psychosocial interactions are linked with perceived stereotype threats. Stereotype threat refers to how a person’s fear or anxiety about confirming a negative stereotype associated with being a member of a stigmatized group undermines their performance in evaluative contexts. This work offers a theoretical and practical prevention and intervention teaching and learning framework to ameliorate stereotype threat. We describe the stereotype threat interruption model (STIM) as a consultation model that delineates stereotype threat and provides teacher-focused, student-centered, and environment-applied consultation strategies to abrogate its effects. STIM is applicable in graduate training and in the professional environment. It highlights a prevention science teaching and learning framework that proactively encourages healthy student development and efficient consultation services.     

Toward a Grounded Theory of the Conceptual Change Process in Consultee-Centered Consultation

This article argues that a grounded-theory research methodology is a useful and fruitful tool to explore important questions in consultation and to generate new conceptualizations and theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The grounded-theory approach is described and illustrated with examples from Hylander's research on consultee-centered consultation as practiced in Sweden. The result is a substantive theory about change processes. The theoretical research approach presented in this article makes it possible to further explore processes of consultation that have not been previously examined.     

Effects of Consultation on Professional Learning Communities

ABSTRACT

School psychologists can impact student outcomes by consulting with teams around data. The current study investigated the effects of consultation with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) teacher teams. The study included four teacher teams, observing their PLC practices and providing consultation. Each team was observed with a PLC-implementation rubric using a multiple baseline design, including baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases. The specific areas of observation on the PLC Implementation Rubric were “How Effective Teams Work,” “What Students Need to Know and Do,” and “Assessment for/of Learning.” The data were visually analyzed and a nonoverlap of all pairs effect size was computed. During the intervention phase, each team chose an item to focus on from the same observation strand. Therefore, the data were analyzed on the single strand and the three strands taken together. The results from the study indicated a change in PLC implementation occurred when consultation was added, and the change was maintained after consultation ended. However, the improvements for each team during the intervention and maintenance phases were small in comparison to the baseline phase. In addition, teams displayed greater improvements in implementation fidelity on the single strand in comparison to the three strands taken together. Future research is needed to determine the impact of consultation with PLCs on student outcomes. Implications for research and practice, limitations, and future directions are discussed.     

Bridging the Research-to-Practice Gap in School-Based Consultation: An Example Using Case Studies

Intervention integrity or adherence describes qualities of carrying out an intervention plan and in research is fundamentally linked to experimental validity questions addressed by measurement of independent and dependent variables. Integrity has been well described in conceptual writing but has been a continuing thorny subject in research and practice with some possibility of misunderstandings. In consultation practice, in contrast to research, adherence questions may be best viewed as a triage situation in that teams examine risks and costs of decisions and plan for sufficient intervention implementation checks accordingly. Furthermore, in consultation practice the measurement of intervention adherence is not necessarily needed for internal validity arguments if internal validity evidence is a key characteristic of prior research used in problem solving. However, adherence estimates remain critical for many aspects of decision making. As much thought and resources may be dedicated to the measurement of intervention adherence as are dedicated to the measurement of dependent variables or outcome measures for both consultation practice and research depending on the decision purpose.