Education

School psychological services in international schools

Document Type

Book Chapter

Abstract

International schools refer to a category of educational institutions for students in preschool/kindergarten to high school that vary from the normative schooling provided in a country's educational system. International schools typically vary with regard to their specific mission and educational philosophy, curriculum, key school community members, and the influences of the geographical context of their location on what transpires in these school communities. The rich multicultural mixture of students, families, and staff in an international school community adds a level of complexity for the personal growth of the individual community members and for their intercultural interactions with each other. To optimize their professional effectiveness when working in international school communities, school psychologists should intentionally focus on the international and intercultural context of their work setting and provide valuable culturally responsive expertise as they engage in their traditional professional roles of consultation, assessment, intervention development and implementation, mental health services, and organizational development. To do so effectively, school psychologists should strive to develop the multicultural and intercultural competencies to deliver culturally focused and responsive services to the members of the international school community where they work. Intentionality in gaining this expertise will be pivotal to the ultimate cultural and intercultural competencies developed by individual school psychologists. Addressed in this chapter are descriptions of the cultural contexts and dynamics of international schools and the related key cultural attitudes, knowledge, and competencies that school psychologists would benefit from acquiring to provide valuable and effective cultural and diversity components in the roles they perform. Recommendations for intercultural training and research are provided in the concluding pages of this chapter. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. All rights reserved.

Publication Title

Handbook of School Psychology in the Global Context: Transnational Approaches to Support Children, Families and School Communities

Publication Date

11-2024

First Page

455

Last Page

476

ISBN

9783031695414

DOI

10.1007/978-3-031-69541-4_27

Keywords

competencies, cultural attitudes, cultural contexts, intercultural, international schools, multicultural, third culture

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