Thomas Szulevicz

Inclusion and budget cuts – The contours of educational psychology in the marketplace

The aim of this paper was to investigate the economic contours of present day educational psychology in the light of movements towards consultative and inclusive practices. At a time of economic crisis, public budget cuts and changing educational policies are creating new conditions for educational psychology practice. This paper deals with the extent to which economic considerations implicitly and explicitly regulate the practice of educational psychologists. Within the work of educational psychologists, school-based consultation has become increasingly popular and widespread. Over the past 10–15 years, consultation has been put forward as an alternative approach to traditional work based on IQ assessments and special educational evaluations. Concurrent with the implementation of the consultative approach in educational psychology practice, inclusion of children with special needs has become a predominant feature in educational policy and practice. Based on a small-scale empirical project in a Danish educational psychology service centre, this paper analyses the implications of recent budget cuts in educational funding for (1) the implementation of the consultative approach and (2) for the role of educational psychologists in facilitating inclusive learning environments in schools. It is argued that inclusion is a complex notion, but that the budget cuts could paradoxically foster a rethinking of established inclusion practices. The paper concludes with a discussion of whether educational psychology can still legitimize itself as a relevant profession in relation to the facilitation of inclusive learning environments in schools.

Psychologists in (Neoliberal) Schools – What Kind of Marriage?

The paper aims to discuss how school psychology broadly is influenced by neoliberalism. Neoliberalism has attracted great attention among sociologists and economist, but less so among psychologists. This is a paradox since the psychological reach of neoliberalism is massive. The paper analyzes how new (neoliberal) school reforms place new professional demands on schools and therefore also new kinds of professional demands on school psychologists. Among other things, it is discussed whether the notion of resilience can act as a future guiding principle for school psychologists. The paper concludes with three suggestions as to how school psychologists can cope with some of the challenges imposed by neoliberalism. I suggest that school psychologists; 1) have to start asking educational questions to educational matters, 2) that they have to be aware of the political aspects of school psychology and 3) that they start acting against the corrosion of professional identity.

When disruptive behavior meets outcome-based education

Disruptive behavior is a major concern for most educational systems. Schools often respond to disruptive students with exclusionary and punitive approaches that have limited effect or value. Moreover, recent neoliberal trends with increased focus on student learning outcome change the attitudes towards disruptive student behavior and also narrow down and homogenize the range of what is considered as “acceptable student behavior”. In this article we discuss the interrelationship between an outcome-based, neoliberal school approach and notions of disruptive behavior. We claim that the outcome-based and neoliberal approach to education basically promotes an un-educational way of thinking about education that also has a huge influence on perceptions of and tolerance towards all kinds of disruptions in schools - whether they come from students, parents, teachers or researchers.

The grip on the handball – a qualitative analysis of the influence of materiality on creativity in sport

This article investigates ‘the material biography of the leather handball’ by focusing on the impact the ball’s material nature has for elite player’s ways of creatively expressing themselves in a game of handball. The theoretical basis of the article is a materialised understanding of creativity, where it is assumed that creativity is distributed between the players and the material objects used in handball. Inspired by a number of methodological and ontological considerations within an Actor-Network-Theory perspective, three non-human objects are selected – the ball, the resin and the playing surface – to achieve a greater degree of analytical sensitivity, in terms of how these agents play an active part in creating the conditions and opportunities that the players make use of during handball matches. In a qualitative analysis of an imaginary dialogue between two handballs, it is pointed out how balls made of synthetic polyurethane contribute to a better grip on the ball, which has led to new possibilities for attacking players in handball. The conclusion is that the leather handball is a mediating object, which co-creates the possibilities that the players have in expressing themselves creatively in handball games when they improvise in co-productive and counter-productive relationships. It is thus a general point that we must think about how the design of material objects influences creativity in a social practice if we are to create better opportunities for people to realise their potential(s).

Innovative and Creative Forms of PPC Practice

We have repeatedly underlined the fact that the field of educational psychology and its practice are undergoing a transformation. Changes have in part been brought about by the need to accommodate new types of task; but they are also the result of the dialogue between educational psychology practice and its users. What does it mean to be in transition and at the same time to incorporate innovation and creation into one’s work and organisation of tasks? How does one manage creative change processes and what should one pay attention to, both as an employee and a manager? This chapter will pinpoint some reasons why creativity and innovation are important in educational psychology practice and explain why psychology work is in itself a creative practice, irrespective of the changing influences and trends in the field.

What Is Educational Psychology Practice

This book has been written with educational psychologists in particular in mind and with a specific wish to elucidate ways in which expertise in psychology and new methods and skills can be relevant to the changing world of educational psychology practice. A brief definition of educational psychology is as a sub-discipline of psychology with a particular focus on the meaning of psychological aspects in pedagogical practices as these are undertaken both within and outside the education system (Nielsen, K, Tanggard L, Paedagogisk psykologi – en grundbog. Samfundslitteratur, Frederiksberg, 2011, 12). Educational psychology is thus neither pure psychology nor pure pedagogics, but rather a branch of psychology concerned with psychological aspects in and around pedagogical practice.

Educational Psychology Practice – A Divided Field

These statements come from a PPC psychologist and a PPC manager respectively. In the first, the PPC psychologist reflects how as part of decentralisation, she is spending more fixed hours per week in the schools she is connected to. In the second statement, the PPC manager expresses concern that the heightened requirements for more practice-oriented educational psychology guidance could result in the advice provided by PPC psychologists relating in too many cases to questions of teaching.

A Pragmatic Consultation Approach

Over the last 20 years, the wish has been broadly and clearly expressed that educational psychology practice become more consultation-based. As we have seen in several of the previous chapters however, considerable problems arise in connection with the transition to more consultative practice forms. In general, educational psychologists have been admonished for being too slow and conservative in adopting more consultation and more cultural and context-sensitive work methods, so that educational psychology practice has often been on the receiving end of extremely harsh criticism. And it is interesting to note that some of this criticism concerns the attempts to work with consultation. For example, one teacher remarked in an interview on his experience of consultation with psychologists,

Concluding Thoughts on the Past, Present and Future of Educational Psychology

In this book, we have examined some of the central challenges of educational psychology work with children and young people at day care institutions and schools.

Educational Psychology – Background Factors

In the previous chapter, we saw how the work on inclusion has become central to educational psychology practice. If educational psychologists do not acquire the skills to deliver inclusion services they risk, in the most extreme scenario, having their existence threatened; other professional groups will be engaged to handle the challenges that face schools and day care centres. From a historical point of view, there have in general been significant challenges in creating a more inclusive education system; and educational psychologists at the same time have been challenged with respect to helping teachers address the challenges of inclusion. Moreover, many educational psychology service centres, as described before, have had certain difficulties implementing forms of practice that use more consultation. Overall, several interesting things have evolved concurrently: (1) Educational psychologists have been hard put to deliver the consultation services to the degree that had been ideally hoped for, and (2) educational policy visions for a more inclusive education system have proven difficult to bring about.