The practice of defensive school psychology

Recent legal developments promise to bring school psychologists increased threat of litigation. Therefore, it is suggested that defensive practices in school psychology are needed. A procedure for dealing with school referrals is presented as a way of possibly reducing the risk of liability for the individual school psychologist.     

建构发展性团体咨询的高校应用目标与原则

培养青年人才心理的和谐发展是高校教育重要内容之一。发展性团体咨洵作为颇受学校教育关注的一种心理辅导形式 ,其在高校的应用却如露负荷尖 ,在调查实证和理论分析的基础之上确定发展性团体咨询在高校的应用目标———通过引导互功促进人学生的白我成长与自我完善 ,提高个体心理自助水平 ,充分挖掘青年学生的内在潜能 ;并遵循科学、民主、公平、启导、保密等运用原则 ,希望促进发展性团体咨询在高校的推广。     

Comparison of individual factors in school psychology graduate students: Why do students pursue a degree in school psychology?

The purpose of this study was to investigate what factors influenced students to enter the field of school psychology. Although numerous studies have documented the thoughts and perspectives of practitioners regarding why they have chosen to become school psychologists, attempts to recruit and retain an adequate number of school psychology practitioners and researchers have shown limited success. A national sample of 307 school psychology graduate students responded to a survey designed to measure issues related to the current state of professional practice, the influence of parental education, and professional organization recruitment. Results indicated that working with children and personal experiences within the school system were highly related to participant's decisions to become school psychologists. In addition, doctoral level and nondoctoral level students present similar reasons for entering the field. This research is discussed in terms of its implications for future research and the current shortage of school psychology practitioners and faculty. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 865–872, 2007.     

团体心理辅导对增强学业不良大学生心理弹性实验研究

本文首先分析了目前心理不良学生的群体情况,指出了他们存在的心理问题。为解决该问题,我们提出了要增强这些大学生的心理弹性,接着我们使用了团体心理辅导方法对学业不良大学生的心理弹性进行了辅导。从而得出结论,团体辅导作为一种有效的心理健康教育方式,在实际的教育中,能够有效增强学业不良学生的心理弹性。     

The Blueprint I revisited: Training and practice in school psychology

In 1984, the National School Psychology Inservice Training Network (NSPITN) published School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice (Blueprint I), which recognized that America's public schools were troubled and focused on how school psychology could help with a transformation; the role of school psychologists was divided into 16 practice domains. In 1997, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) published a successor, School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice II (Blueprint II), which credits the first edition with having “driven much of the progress in school psychology.” To better understand the impact of the Blueprint I, this study analyzes responses from Nebraska and Iowa school psychologists about it, finding that doctoral-level respondents believed that they were more competently trained than subdoctoral school psychologists in the research domain; quality of training was rated higher by respondents receiving degrees after 1984 in class management, classroom organization and social structures, interpersonal communication and consultation, legal/ethical and professional issues, multicultural concerns, parental involvement, research, and systems development and planning. Analyses revealed numerous areas of congruence and dissonance between training and practice. Respondents reported a preference to decrease the amount of time spent in assessment and increase the time spent in all other domains (except basic academic skills). The relevance to the Blueprint II and the implications for school psychology training and practices are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Introduction to the special issue: an international partnership in vocational psychology and career guidance practice

This thematic issue of the International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance includes a selection of papers presented at the IAEVG-SVP-NCDA Symposium, entitled “Vocational Psychology and Career Guidance Practice: An International Partnership”. The articles in this special issue deal with topics that highlight the interconnection between vocational psychology and career guidance. The authors, because of their different geographical and cultural backgrounds, address these points from their own perspectives. The outcome of the general discussion that centred on these topics at the International Symposium is jointly published in a special issue of the Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 4.     

Private practice of school psychology: Implications from the APA specialty guidelines

A model of school psychology private practice is developed that is appropriate to the unique training and experience of school psychologists and is consistent with the professional functions outlined in the Specialty Guidelines for rhe Delivery of Services by School Psychologists developed by the American Psychological Association. Each of the six functions is examined to see how it could be conducted effectively within the parameters of private practice. Client populations and recruitment efforts are addressed briefly. A cautionary note is sounded about several potential ethical conflicts that have particular relevance to the private practice of school psychology; i.e., competence, communication of services to the public, and conflicts of interest.     

Family systems theory and school psychology: Implications for training and practice

The purpose of this article is to: (a) present an overview of family systems perspectives as they relate to the functioning of the school psychologist, (b) review briefly current available levels of family intervention, and (c) present guidelines for training school psychologists in family dynamics and family therapy. The position is taken that a family systems approach is complex and necessitates extensive coursework in family theory and therapy approaches, practica, and field supervision. As a result, while a family systems perspective is essential, family therapy will not in all probability be standard in entry level training programs, but should be a specialty level or doctoral level option.     

Group counseling in the schools: Legal,ethical, and treatment issues in school practice

School psychologists are interested in providing effective and efficient direct services to children. With a wide spectrum of psychological problems impacting children, group counseling represents one viable and valuable intervention. Given the complexity of group counseling, many schools and school psychologists are interested in legal and ethical issues impacting group interventions. From the attainment of appropriate consents for counseling to ethical dilemmas, the challenges involved in direct services are large. This article reviews mental health issues transforming children's mental health, considers differing group counseling models and stages of group development, and examines contemporary legal and ethical dilemmas inherent in school practice. Uniquely, a question‐and‐answer format is used to highlight legal issues for practice. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Trends in school psychology as demonstrated by content analysis of school psychology textbooks

This investigation was undertaken to determine if there were general and specific trends within school psychology between the years 1960 and 1975 as reflected by both the content presented and the chaning amount of emphasis given to specific topics within school psychology texttooh. Content analysis was chosen as the method of analysis. Seventeen school psychology textbooks separated into three consecutive time periods of five years each, were used in the research. The data indicated that trends in publication emphasis were present. While the types of content presented remained relatively constant, the overall trend was toward decreasing publication of text type materials. Assessment had remained consistently the highest emphasized category of content, whereas clinical issues and personality have shown clear trends toward decreasing emphasis. Both special education and therapy issues maintained high and stable levels of emphasis. Neither consulting activities nor community activities demonstrated trends toward increasing emphasis. Ethics and legal issues were discussed in less than half the textbooks examined. Group assessment, curriculum development, sex education, teaching psychology, and group therapy received very little content emphasis. Behavior modification future trens, and remediation activities demonstrated clear trends toward increased emphasis, whereas areas of administration and organization, research issues, and working with special populations demonstrated clear trends toward decreasing emphasis.     

Developing healthcare practice through action learning: individual and group journeys

Action Learning is now a well established strategy for reflective inquiry in healthcare. Whilst a great deal is know about action learning there has been inadequate research on the process of learning that takes place, and the impact that this holds for individuals, groups or organisations. This article reports on the findings of 15-month action learning program based in a special care nursery. A realistic evaluation of the program uncovered individual and group journeys and provide evidence that action learning is an effective strategy in practice development.     

The lack of representation of educational psychology and school psychology in introductory psychology textbooks

The first goal of this study was to look at the representation of educational and school psychology in introductory psychology textbooks. Research into the representation of other sub‐fields of psychology has been conducted but no research has looked specifically at educational or school psychology. The second goal was to compare the representation of educational and school psychology in introductory psychology textbooks to see if one or the other is receiving more coverage. Third, the textbooks with the most coverage were listed in order to aid educational and school psychologists teaching introductory psychology courses in selecting textbooks that adequately cover material from their sub‐fields. A total of 57 introductory psychology textbooks were content analyzed: 65% of the introductory psychology textbooks had educational psychology material and 65% had school psychology material. However, in the textbooks containing this material the educational and school psychology material made up only .29% and .19% of the textbooks’ total content.     

Marrying theory building and the improvement of school practice: a permanent challenge for instructional psychology

Recent research on learning and instruction has substantially advanced our understanding of the processes of knowledge and skill acquisition. However, school practices have not been innovated and improved in ways that reflect this progress in the development of a theory of learning from instruction.It is argued in this article that to be successful in making psychological theory and research applicable to education one should develop a strategy that combines the following basic characteristics:

• •good communication with practitioners which means that the relevant outcomes are translated in such a way that they become palatable, accessible, and usable for the teachers;
• •an orientation toward a fundamental change of teachers' belief systems about the goals of education and about good teaching and productive learning;
• •a holistic (as opposed to a partial) approach to the teaching–learning environment, i.e. all relevant components of the learning environment should be addressed.

Taking this into account a successful approach for bridging the theory–practice gap is presented. This approach consists in carrying out design experiments involving the creation and evaluation in real classrooms of complex instructional interventions that embody our present understanding of effective learning processes and powerful learning environments. In order to make a reasonable chance to be successful, such attempts at fundamentally changing the classroom environment and culture should be undertaken in partnership between researchers and reflective practitioners. Such partnership is essential to promote mutual good communication, but also in view of modifying and reshaping teachers' beliefs about education, learning, and teaching. This intervention approach which is illustrated with a recent research example, has a twofold goal: it intends to advance theory building, while at the same time contributing to the optimisation of classroom practices.     

Including fathers in school psychology literature: A review of four school psychology journals

It is well documented that fathers have a significant influence on their children's success in school. To examine the ways in which fathers have been represented in school psychology literature, the authors searched over 1,000 recent articles published in four leading U.S. school psychology journals (Psychology in the Schools, School Psychology Review, School Psychology Quarterly, and the Journal of School Psychology) for content on fathers. Fathers were included substantially in nine articles and were the primary focus of only one other article. Reasons for the lack of information on fathers and suggestions for increasing the focus on fathers in school psychology literature are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 575–580, 2004.