Exploring the Roles and Perceptions of School Psychologists
Presentation by: Darcie-Anne Bailey, Marley Morton
Session F | 12:10 – 12:30 | Room 203
Abstract:
One of the primary roles of school psychologists is conducting individual assessments for special education decisions (Fagan, & Wise, 2000), school psychologists in Canada reported spending 50-70% of their time doing intellectual assessments (Jordan, Hindes & Saklofske, 2009). Yet, school psychologists have training in progress monitoring, school wide practices to promote learning, consultation and collaboration, behavioural, mental health and academic interventions, crisis response, and research and program evaluation (NASP, 2014). Teaches are one of the main groups of school personnel that school psychologists have most contact with, hence it is important for teachers to be familiar with the role of a school psychologist. A major theme in the research suggests a discrepancy between what psychologists believe they should be doing, and what teachers perceive their role to be (Gilman & Gabriel, 2004; Borghese & Cole, 1994). Therefore, teachers and school psychologists may not be interpreting the daily activities and role of the school psychologist in the same way, nor placing priority on the same functions. In this presentation and subsequent discussion, the following questions will be explored: What are teachers in training attitudes and perceptions of the role of school psychologists in B.C.? What interactions have you had with school psychologists throughout your education? How can we facilitate communication between teachers and school psychologists?
