School Psychology International

This article describes mental health consultation in school systems from a developmental perspective. The author observes, based on his experiences as a psychological consultant to a number of suburban school systems, that the type of consultative services requested may vary as a function of the relationship between the consultant and the system. As this relationship develops in depth and complexity, the consultation contract expands from case consultation to programme consultation and finally to organizational consultation. Prerequisite conditions necessary for successful consultation by an independent consultant are described.

The challenge of overseas consulting is viewed from the perspective of a novice. These challenges are viewed within the context of pre-entry issues, entry, relationship building, problem identification/solutions, and termination stages of consultation. A case history of brief school psychological consultation to an American school in the Middle East illustrates some of the unique challenges of overseas consultation. It is concluded that logistical and cultural challenges provide serious obstacles and poignant opportunities for overseas consulting.

Many school psychologists today are looking beyond the individual crisis-centred approach. Instead, by seeking to 'prevent' rather than 'cure' problems, they aim to enhance the learning experiences of children in a school as a whole. There is now considerable evidence that pupil behaviour can be influenced by the use of rewards and punishments in school, and that a reorganization of school sanctions can improve the educational experiences of both pupils and teachers. In the present study, views on the effectiveness of rewards and punishments in English secondary schools were gathered by means of a specially designed questionnaire, supplemented by written comments and information from discussions with pupils. Five-hundred-and-ten pupils and ninety-nine teachers from four mixed comprehensive schools participated in the final study. Pupils and teachers differed in their opinions of some of the strategies yet agreed about the effectiveness of (some) others. Despite evident individual differences, the study showed sufficient agreement between pupils and teachers to take into account when deciding general school policy. The majority of respondents felt that involving parents is of fundamental importance and that many traditional punishments serve little useful purpose.

A holarchic theory of personality has been developed by the author to be used in the training of school-based psychologists. The theory focuses on an interpretation of motivational elements that places heavy emphasis on the affective evaluation of perceptual and cognitive processes. The Behaviour Adjustment Paradigm (BAP) was developed in conjunction with the holarchic theory for the purpose of providing a visual model of the relationship between behaviour and adjustment. It is designed for use in establishing treatment strategies in therapy, behaviour management techniques for the inculcation of effective discipline programmes, and as a planning model for preventive mental health programming in educational and other social institutions.

This article presents an overview of significant issues pertaining to the psychoeducational assessment of visually impaired children. These issues include: incidence and definition of visual impairment, screening for visual problems, variables affecting vision, effects of visual handicaps on psychological development, pre-assessment preparation, testing conditions, use and adaptation of tests, and interpretation of results.

Many allegations have been made in sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic literature about tests used with bilingual children. When testing such children, it is important to gain an appreciation of cultural factors which may affect the assessment. In the present study information about Home Language Behaviour was obtained for 2487 preschool children. From this sample, 497 were examined: Home Language Behaviour was (1) unilingual French, (2) equally French and Alsacian or (3) mostly or uniquely Alsacian. The data obtained demonstrated that bilingual Alsacian children did not perform as well as French unilinguals in routine verbal tests. Significant differences persisted even when other relevant factors, such as educational level of the parents, had been taken into account. Such a disadvantage was not prevented by giving the children the opportunity to use their dialect and to switch from one language to another throughout the test session.

Sixty-four kindergarteners at an international school were screened with DIAL-R (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of LearningRevised). Genetic variables (sex, race), environmental variables (years in host country, parental educational level, birth order and size of family, bilingualism of child and parents, birthplace, primary language of child and parents), and the interaction of race and primary language of the child were analysed to ascertain their effect on the four DIAL-R scores. Significant differences are discussed and the conclusion is drawn that when using an American normed test with a heterogeneous population, local norms are advisable for correctly interpreting and meeting the needs of young children.

The relationship among the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), the British Ability Scales (BAS), and the StanfordBinet Intelligence Test (4th edn) (S-B, 4th) was investigated for thirty-eight gifted children. Composite or overall scale scores among the three tests were significantly related; coefficients ranged from 0.40 to 0.66. Also, when meandifferences on a common scale were analysed, the WISC-R FSIQ mean was significantly higher than the means from the BAS and S-B composite scores, which were not significantly different from each other. The BAS and the S-B seem to be more related to each other than either are to the WISC-R, although the reduced relationship between the WISC-R and the other two tests may be due in part to statistical and procedural artifacts. The high degree of similarity among the three tests, and particularly between the BAS and S-B (4th), indicates that similar constructs are being assessed to a similar extent by instruments designed for two different cultures. Apparently the essence of intelligence is described in a similar way in the United States and in the British Isles.

This empirical Israeli study compared the explanatory capabilities of three interpretations for school violence: (a) violence as an input of the wider society to the school system; (b) violence at school as a response to frustration and alienation; and (c) school violence as a consequence of already existing violence at school. It appears that violence in Israel's schools is mainly a result of exposure to violent behaviour either at school, or in the general society. Frustration and alienation and expression of youth subculture seem to have very little effect.

Job satisfaction has been associated with a variety of personal, social and work related variables, all of which have potential implications for practising school psychologists. The present study utilized a modified form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire and a demographic data form to investigate overall levels of job satisfaction among practising school psychologists in the State of Virginia (USA), the degree of satisfaction expressed with each of twenty subfactors of job satisfaction, and the relationship between job satisfaction scores and selected demographic variables. A response rate of 87.36 percent was achieved, and responses from 267 practitioners were analysed. Results indicated that 84.27 percent of the respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. Of the twenty job subfactors measured, school psychologists expressed dissatisfaction wit1} only two: school system policies and practices, and advancement opportunities. Three significant predictors of job satisfaction emerged: membership in the Virginia Association of School Psychologists (positively related), membership in the National Education Association (negatively related), and contract length (negatively related). Four other variables were found to be significant correlates of job satisfaction: tendency to remain in current position (positively related), tendency to remain in the profession of school psychology (positively related), membership in the Virginia Education Association (negatively related), and membership in the National Association of School Psychologists (positively related).

The central theme of this paper is that the area of pastoral care provision in schools affords a prime opportunity for educational psychologists to change their role. Rather than being allocated the casualties of the education system to work with, educational psychologists can play a key role in assisting schools to analyse their pastoral systems, develop whole school policies, and improve teachers' skills and understanding. An example of educational psychologists providing a consultancy service to schools in pastoral care is provided from a recent Western Australian Education Department initiative.

The School Psychological Service in Yugoslavia has been organized since 1958. In the beginning the School Psychological Service was organized only in elementary schools in big cities, but later it broadened to smaller cities and even to some villages, as well as to the other kinds of educational institutions (high schools, schools for handicapped children and pre-school institutions). Now the School Psychological Service varies quite a bit from one part of the country to another. At first, school psychologists dealt almost exclusively with problems of clinical psychology in the school (behaviour disorders, misfits, etc.). After a few years, when these problems were ameliorated, the school psychologists shifted their attention to the psychological aspects of educational problems. This shift is in line with the development of educational and school psychology throughout the world. Some school psychologists take part in research projects organized by psychological and educational institutes and university departments, and many of them also do some applied research of their own. Psychologists, including school psychologists, are educated at eight universities in Yugoslavia. The university psychology course lasts four years. At the university of Belgrade a biennial postgraduate specialization for school psychology has also been organized. At the end of the specialization each candidate writes a thesis based upon research into a psychological problem in school work.

This article describes an attempt by a Nigerian university to develop a personnel preparation programme to meet a national need for guidance and counselling professionals. The contemporary model is criticized, yet the present system is deemed appropriate to meet the existing needs.

Understanding of international issues of comparative psychology requires a dynamic view of historical trends and current developments. Such analysis usually requires consideration of political, ideological, sociological and educational realities...

This opening is very commendable but the paper hardly justifies these claims. Further I would want to add a note of caution that direct international comparison can be misleading even when the cultural and socio-cultural contexts are superficially similar. One would hardly claim the USSR and USA systems to be similar.