Abstract
In the international literature it is frequently reported that school psychologists would like to reduce their involvement in evaluation and assessment activities in favor of an increase in other services and roles. The present study examines the perceptions of teachers and school psychologists regarding the roles of school psychologists on the island of Crete, Greece. For this purpose, an online questionnaire about the current and preferred roles of the school psychologist was distributed. Two hundred and seventy-nine (279) teachers and fifty-seven (57) school psychologists participated in this research study. The analysis and comparison of the participants’ responses revealed significant differences in their beliefs about the current and preferred roles of the psychologist. Emphasis was placed by psychologists on systematic interventions such as consultation and by teachers on counseling for their personal problems. Overall, respondents in this study recognized the usefulness of the school psychologist in the educational sector. A unified framework of reference for the range of the schools’ psychological services would enhance common understanding and facilitate the professional role of school psychologists and effective student referral to the related professional services.
Highlights
The increased occurrence of learning difficulties and low academic performance [1], children’s behavioral problems [2], mental health problems, and new social conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic [3,4,5] have led to an understanding of the need to tackle the problems directly and the need to turn to the science of psychology for help
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the perceptions of teachers and professional psychologists in relation to: (i) the real/current roles undertaken by school psychologists, (ii) the ideal/desired roles and responsibilities they must assume, and (iii) the usefulness of the work of the psychologist in the school context
A Principal Component Analysis and the varimax rotation method with Kaiser normalization were applied to the 21 items related to the preferred roles for the school psychologists in order to reduce the number of variables in our data to a smaller set
Summary
Schools represent the most common entry point for young people to access mental health support, as it has been observed that they are twenty-one times more likely to visit a school-based psychological support service than a community-based mental health care clinic, and students are more likely to ask for help, if available, at school [6]. In this light, school psychological services offer a security framework in which young people learn that seeking help and support, when needed, is normal and accepted, and they can receive continuous support, e.g., through academic interventions, mental health services, etc. School psychological services offer a security framework in which young people learn that seeking help and support, when needed, is normal and accepted, and they can receive continuous support, e.g., through academic interventions, mental health services, etc. [7]
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