Abstract
School psychology services and the functions of school psychologists providing assessment, consultation, and intervention for children and their families are still greatly underdeveloped in the Pacific Rim countries, particularly those with a Chinese heritage culture. For the most part, school psychology services are provided by educational psychologists, school counsellors, and/or teacher-counsellors with varying levels of training and expertise, while the development of school psychology as a profession has been slow in coming. Nonetheless, Asian countries are gradually accepting the notion that children should be in school and there are efforts to provide psychological services within schools to prevent and solve mental health problems unique to these countries. With an obvious need for systematic mental health services, particularly for children and youth and their families, there is also a critical need to develop programmes that would lead to graduate level training in school psychology while simultaneously acknowledging the diversity of these Asian cultures in the Pacific Rim countries. Given the large populations of these countries, it is essential that we work to develop school psychology programmes in the very near future. If the Asian countries were to develop to their fullest potential, school psychologists would be needed as a critical component in all school systems.
The focus of this journal issue is on serving children and families in school-related settings in Asian countries. School psychology, although an important area in applied psychology, does not have a strong base in Asia, mostly because of economic and political histories that have forced psychology to develop along different lines to those of Western countries. For the most part, the development of psychology and school psychology in particular in Asia have been delayed by, as Ding, Kuo, and Van Dyke (2008, p. 592) noted, ‘causal pathways linking culture, social economy, professional perspectives and political ideas to the practice of school psychology’. Adversity to help-seeking behaviour amongst Asian peoples is a clear roadblock, and a colonial past that saw education in general progressing along different lines has further hampered the development of psychology and school psychology in Asian countries.
Nonetheless, with the opening of Asia to global initiatives and concerted efforts by governments in educational development, we see a significant move towards reforms and the rights of all children to have schooling and appropriate education relevant to their specific learning needs. Asian countries are gradually accepting the notion that children should be in schools and not be commandeered to work in support of their family livelihoods. Alongside these reforms, there are also efforts to provide psychological services to children and their families within schools and to prevent and solve mental health problems unique to these countries. However, recent reforms still do not adequately serve children who have special education needs, partly because of constraints acknowledging and/or denying existence of these children’s educational needs. Thus, many children with special educational needs are sent to sub-par residential treatment facilities where they become warehoused instead of provided with adequate psychological support. Furthermore, most Asian countries adhere to an ideology of maintaining or saving ‘face’, particularly when the child’s educational aptitude, achievement and school-related conduct could lead to stigmatization or losing face for the family (Sun, 2008; Van Schalkwyk, 2011; Yabuuchi, 2004). For example, parents’ fear of being seen as bad, ineffective, or even cursed prohibit families from acknowledging their child’s special education needs. Thus, the school psychologists’ role and functions of assessment, consultation, and intervention for all children from birth to 21 years are still underdeveloped in most Pacific Rim countries, particularly those with a Chinese heritage culture (Bray & Kehle, 2011; D’Amato, Zafiris, McConnell, & Dean, 2011).
The articles in this issue provide an overview of the development and current practices of school-related services for learners and their families in various Asian and Southeast Asian countries. In all of these countries, school psychology is not yet a fully recognized professional service. As the authors report, school psychological services to children, adolescents, and youth are provided by educational psychologists, school counsellors, and/or teacher-counsellors with varying levels of training and expertise. In Asian countries, educational psychologists provide most psycho-educational services, some of whom operate within schools or school-related settings. Whereas the USA distinguishes between the roles that school and educational psychologists offer in schools, and to children and their families, such a distinction is not made in the United Kingdom (UK) and in countries with a colonial past such as Hong Kong and Singapore. On the other hand, school counsellors and teacher-counsellors are more prevalent in most Asian countries, although they usually have limited training in the scope of practices and functions expected from either a school psychologist or an educational psychologist. A well trained individual may have a few school psychology courses at best.
Mainland (People’s Republic of) China
In the opening article in this journal issue, D’Amato, Van Schalkwyk, Zhao, and Hu (2013) have considered the development of school psychology in Mainland China. They explore the historical advancement of psychology, and compare the status quo of school psychological practices in Mainland China with that in the USA. It seems that despite the endeavours by the Chinese Psychological Society to recognize school psychology in the Division of School Psychology (Lin, 1995), there still is a lack of coherent and consistent professional services amongst those practicing as so-called school psychologists in Mainland China. At present, psychological services are offered as part of China’s mental health education, dealing predominantly with children in the mainstream school system, with little or no opportunity to assist those with learning disabilities or other problems, and hampered by ideological and political constraints. The authors conclude by explicating the need to appropriately train and accredit school psychologists in Mainland China, and the hope that China will set as a priority the development of school psychology to meet the needs of all Chinese children, youths, and families. Such services could also provide an analysis of the needs of gifted children, and set the trend for providing school psychological services and school-based child and family interventions rooted within the Chinese culture.
Taiwan
School psychology in Taiwan is explored by Wang and D’Amato (2013). The authors provide an in-depth analysis of the factors contributing to the development of counselling and school psychology in Taiwan, claiming that several landmark events, such as the compulsory education system, and a free-market economy, all contributed to the current status and limited progress of school-based child and family interventions in this region. Developing a more indigenous psychology service in Taiwan certainly impacted on the profession of school psychology although it was still largely integrated in school guidance and counselling programmes—which has, in turn, hampered the provision of comprehensive mental health school services. Wang and D’Amato conclude that school psychologists in Taiwan needed to respect the cultural characteristics of children, schools and parents, and ‘must remain committed to supporting those in need in all counties around the world’ (p. xx [Payal to insert]), a theme that resonates with others’ writings about the need for psychological services that are responsive and respectful of indigenous culture (e.g., Akin-Little & Little, 2013).
Macao Special Administrative Region, China
Van Schalkwyk and Sit (2013) illustrate that Macao, despite its long history acting as bridge between the East and West, still has no formal school psychology professionals serving children and their families in school-related settings. There are limited or no training directed at the profession of school psychology while the need for appropriate school-based child and family interventions has grown rapidly. In this Special Administration Region (SAR) of China, and as part of Mainland China since 1999, Macao currently employs inexperienced school counsellors/psychologists with little or no specific training in psychological assessment, school consultation, and intervention. Special needs education has been addressed by non-government organizations and/or sub-par residential treatment facilities, often with limited resources and few if any school psychological services. Nonetheless, these authors conclude that the government, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ), local universities, and the school counsellors working in Macao, are aware of the needs for and development of an integrated and holistic system that would benefit all people in society.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
In many respects, Hong Kong can be seen as a pioneer in the development of school psychology in Asia (Ding et al., 2008). With a colonial past under British rule for almost 150 years, Hong Kong had a well-developed educational psychology (school psychology) component in their higher education system with research and graduate-level training. For example, they offer degrees at the graduate level as well as regulation and licensing for those professionals working in school or school-related settings. The article by Luk-Fong (2013) in this issue discusses the collaboration between educators, researchers, and schools for developing school-based child and family interventions, describing a parent education program presented at a primary school in Hong Kong. With her experience of developing such a programme, Luk-Fong provides valuable advice for the future development of school/educational psychology, including context-specific training and professional practice requirements.
Singapore
Singapore has more developed system for providing psychological services to school-aged children through advanced-level training in educational psychology. Chong, Lee, Tan, Wong, and Yeo (2013) provide an overview of school psychology in Singapore and explain the preventive framework within which systematic school-wide and student-focused interventions are set in place to support diverse student learning needs—including special education needs—within the mainstream school system. The authors discuss the ways in which the Singaporean framework adopted Response to Intervention techniques and aimed at providing interventions and learning, and emotional and behavioural support for all children within the educational settings. Although still lagging behind developments in the USA, and offered under the auspices of educational psychology, Singapore has a well-developed framework for school psychology professionals to execute their expected roles and functions. Furthermore, they offer registration (licensure) as well as graduate level training programmes.
Malaysia
Low, Kok, and Lee (2013) report on school-based counselling and guidance services in Malaysia, and the absence of school psychology in the Malaysian school system. In their qualitative study regarding the multi-faceted role of school counsellors, the authors conclude that the Malaysian education system fails to provide sufficient, appropriate and comprehensive psychological services to children and their families within schools or in school-related settings. As an initial attempt towards providing more comprehensive psychological services the authors propose an holistic approach towards the integration of school, family, local community, and government in a model for mental health services for children, adolescents, and youth in Malaysia. The country would also certainly benefit greatly from collaboration between Asian countries in the development and establishment of the school psychology.
Philippines
In another qualitative study, Tarroja and Fernando (2013) comment on the psychological services provided by counsellors in the Philippines. The Filipino situation poses unique challenges to mental health professionals who have to develop more structured and systemic school programmes that can address the psychosocial issues faced by children of migrant parents—that is, the children of Overseas Filipino Workers—and the absence of parental support to assist their children’s learning needs. The authors conclude that there is a unmet need for school psychology professionals and training programmes that acknowledges the particular cultural needs of the Philippines, and can provide appropriate and adequate mental health services.
Thailand
In the final article, Tangdhanakanond, Archwamety, McFarland, and Beckman (2013) note that school psychology is slowly on the rise in Thailand but that most psychological services are still provided by guidance teachers whose major responsibility is vocational counselling rather than the provision of mental health services. School psychologists and special education teachers are not trained or employed within the regular Thai educational system, and classroom teachers are assigned duties to carry out intervention practices for children with learning disabilities at different grade levels. The authors examine the perceptions of these school educators regarding current practices of psychological services provided to preschool and elementary school children, and their view of the need for early intervention. The authors conclude that there is a need for immediate intervention training for teachers, particularly in the early school years; they also note the necessity for developing and establishing school psychology as a profession in Thailand.
Conclusion
In sum, although researchers and educators in selected Pacific Rim countries seem aware of the urgent need for school-based mental health services for children and their families, it appears that the development and establishment of school psychology as a profession has been slow in coming. Asian countries increasingly accept their responsibility for providing schooling to all children, but the needs of students with disabilities are still far from being met. There is an obvious and significant need for school psychologists who can systematically provide mental health services that will help children and youth develop to their fullest potential. There is also a critical need to develop programmes that would lead to the development of graduate level training in school psychology while simultaneously acknowledging the diversity of these Asian cultures. The most significant finding in this issue may be an acknowledgment of the lack of training programmes in Asia, as well as a dearth of trained school psychologists available to meet the mental health needs of children, youth, school personnel, and families. Cultural changes clearly appear to be needed to enable help-seeking behaviour and to encourage students, teachers, and families to consult with a school psychologist. If Asian countries are to develop to their fullest potential, school psychologists will be needed as a critical component in all school systems.