Abstract
The role of school psychologists has been debated and contested nationally and internationally for many decades, with an emphasis on the need for a paradigm shift in professional roles. Psychologists may be employed in the private sector, in nongovernmental organisations, in higher education institutions, and by the state. Those employed by the state within the Department of Basic Education are referred to as school psychologists, and are tasked with providing psychological services to public schools. In the Western Cape, the context of this study, school psychologists are assigned to circuit teams, where they are expected to work collaboratively with other professionals to provide support to schools. This paper is focused on school psychologists’ perceptions of the challenges that emerge when working with other sectors to facilitate school development. Eight focus group discussions were conducted with 47 school psychologists. The data collected resulted in the generation of five categories of challenges facing school psychologists when they collaborate with other sectors to facilitate school development. These were: diverse discourses and worldviews; roles and boundaries; personal and interpersonal factors; training needs; and organisational challenges. This research contributes towards the deepening of school psychology practice, and to providing important insights towards the enhancement of intersectoral collaboration and school development as aspects of the provision of support to schools in South Africa. Key words : collaboration; educational psychologists; inter-professional; intersectoral collaboration; school development; school psychologists; school psychology
Highlights
School development is a key focus of the work of many individuals and organisations within state departments and in the non-government sector in South Africa (Bertram, 1999; Christie, Butler & Potterton, 2007; De Jong, 1996; Westraad, 2006)
Research Aim and Questions In this study, we investigated the challenges that emerge when school psychologists work with other sectors to facilitate school development, highlighting school psychologists’ perceptions of the struggles of practice
School psychologists have emphasised the importance of clarifying concepts and terminology, and the way in which these should be operationalised in collaborative initiatives between different sectors
Summary
School development is a key focus of the work of many individuals and organisations within state departments and in the non-government sector in South Africa (Bertram, 1999; Christie, Butler & Potterton, 2007; De Jong, 1996; Westraad, 2006) It has become crucial for different sectors to network and to form partnerships, so that school development can be co-ordinated and facilitated collaboratively to enhance effectiveness and maximise opportunities for exploiting resources and expertise in various sectors. This is a necessity in the South African context, which reflects the realities of what is both a middle- and low-income developing country. Education White Paper 6 stresses the importance of interdisciplinary work (Department of Education, 2001), while research on the application of systems thinking in school development reveals that practitioners working within schools need to “move away from functioning as individuals in competition with one another [and] ... should rather collaborate more often, because [...] problems cannot be solved in isolation” (Moloi, 2005:66)
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