School Psychology International

This article was given as a keynote address at the ISPA Colloquium in Istanbul, July 1992. It is presented here in an abbreviated form as a lead-in to several other articles devoted to the issue of children's rights. It begins by identifying the need for school psychologists to be prepared for the demands of a rapidly changing world and offers some possible directions for future training and practice. In particular, the preparation of young people to think for themselves and thus become empowered to identify and speak on behalf of their own rights is seen as a priority. An important implication of taking this perspective is that school psychologists should be seeking to involve children at every opportunity in their own assessments and providing their own viewpoints on decisions that are made by others on their behalf. Some examples are given from the author's own recent experience of ways in which this process is being encouraged.

South Africa is experiencing a process of political and social transformation unprecedented in its history. Underpinning this process is the tension inherent in grappling with radically different definitions of reality, not least of which is the formulation of democratic principles for a new constitutional framework in South Africa. Given the legacy of apartheid and its concomitant damage to the fabric of South African society, the position of mental health workers and educationalists is central to this transformation. Based upon the contention that the creation of a functional democratic society must be embedded in the development of democratic values and attitudes, this paper, through refiectingupon a workshop on democratic living, raises some thoughts and issues pertaining to the role of the educational psychologist in facilitating the transition to democratic living in South Africa. (A 30-minute videotape was produced and is available for purchase.)

The use of school-based consultation, as a method of delivering educational psychology services to schools through collaborative problem-solving, is illustrated by an instance of assisting a physically handicapped school in Hong Kong to develop a 'school-focused' view on meeting children's needs. Information gathered during the consultation process showed that physically handicapped children's visible physical impairments were perceived by the staff to be embedded in contexts. This was contrary to the children's learning, social, language and communication behaviourwhichthe staffperceivedas disembedded from contexts and as 'child-focused'. The consultation process enabled the staff to reflect on their attitudes and current practices, leading to positive changes in the school, initiated by the staff members themselves.

While most school systems engage in some type of kindergarten screening in order to identify students at risk ofearly school and learning problems, the predictive accuracy ofsuch screening programs has been inadequate. Many young students designated at risk of encountering school difficulties, for example, actually go on to realize satisfactory school achievement. The variables that interact with risk status to result in satisfactory versus unsatisfactory student achievement, consequently, require exploration. A sample of at-risk kindergarten students was identified and profiled in terms of a wide range of descriptive characteristics. The following September, the receiving first-grade teachers of these at-risk students were identified and profiled in terms of their interpretation ofthe educational relevance of the same descriptive items. Arithmetic comparison ofteacher-student profile dyads resulted in measures ofTeacher-Student (T-S) Discordance, conceptualized as the incompatibility between teacher and student. It was found that at-risk students who received negative teacher recommendations were characterized by more T-S Discordance than at-risk students who received neutral or positive teacher recommendations.

Approximately 1200 children aged 8-14 in Ireland were tested for general intelligence and for ability in Irish learned as a second language. There were minimal differences in intelligence but a large female superiority of 0.52 of a standard deviation in ability in Irish. Female superiority is present among 9-year-olds and does not increase over the age range tested.