Prospective teachers' perceptions of the school psychologist's role

Abstract

Acknowledging the importance of teachers’ implicit theories for the determination of school psychologist’s role, this study aims to elicit prospective teachers’ personal theories for the role of school psychologist. By using metaphoric pictures, 59 pre-service teachers described their perceptions of the school psychologist’s role in relation to other members of the school community, the expectations of both teachers and the school psychologist in relation to the role of the school psychologist, the variability of conditions in which the school psychologist’s role is undertaken as well as their feelings about the school psychologist’s role. Content analysis of data indicated that prospective teachers perceived the school psychologist’s role as being carried out within the school setting and as being prominent in relation to the teachers’ role. The school psychologist aims to help students and teachers to achieve their goals, while teachers perceive the school psychologist as a consultant. The school psychologist’s task is undertaken under continually changing conditions, depending mainly on the variability of people’s needs. Finally, prospective teachers described a variety of emotional responses in relation to the school psychologist’s role. These findings are discussed in terms of the expansion of the school psychologist’s role, teachers’ professional identity and the training programmes of both school psychologists and teachers.