In the Shadow of the Desire for Orderliness: the Invisible Work of Psychologists to Resolve School Difficulties

294

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the activities of educational psychologists working in Danish schools. The discovery is that the most valuable part of the work of school psychologists is done “in between times” and “in the corridor” — in the interval between scheduled meetings, testing and other tasks “according to job descriptions”. The researchers describe the specific types of psychologists' work in difficult school situations, the conditions of their professional activities and the di-lemmas that arise when solving professional problems. The authors note that creative, research and context-oriented work aimed at organizing cooperation between various parties is in conflict with the standardized work schedule, which occupies the bulk of the psychologist's working time, while real solutions to complex problems lie in informal communication, cooperation, studying social conditions and analyzing school problems. Choosing between what should and what is needed, the psychologist finds himself in a situation of professionally significant choice and in a conflict situation with him-self, which leads to the need to constantly clarify his own situation and the conditions of his work.

General Information

Keywords: activity of a school psychologist, cooperation, social conditions, social practice, school difficulties, conflicts, “corridor work”, “work between tasks”.

Journal rubric: Axiological and Personality-Oriented Basis of Cooperation and Interaction of Educational Environment Subjects

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/bppe.2021180403

Received: 10.08.2021

Accepted:

For citation: Røn Larsen M., Højholt C. In the Shadow of the Desire for Orderliness: the Invisible Work of Psychologists to Resolve School Difficulties [Elektronnyi resurs]. Vestnik prakticheskoi psikhologii obrazovaniya = Bulletin of Practical Psychology of Education, 2021. Vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 30–44. DOI: 10.17759/bppe.2021180403. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Attard S., Mercieca D., Mercieca D.P. Educational psychologists’ report-writing: acts of justice? International Journal of inclusive education, 2016. Vol. 20, no. 9, pp. 962–974. doi:10.1080/13603116.2016.1139194
  2. Axel E. Conflictual cooperation. Nordic Psychology (Online), 2011. Vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 56–78. doi:10.1027/1901-2276/a000045
  3. Axel E., Højholt C. Subjectivity, conflictuality and generalization in social praxis. In C. Højholt, E. Schraube (eds.), Subjectivity and knowledge: Generalization in the psychological study of everyday life. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2019, pp. 23–40. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-29977-4_2
  4. Daniels H., Hedegaard M. (eds.), Vygotsky and Special Needs Education — Rethinking Support for Children and Schools. London: Continuum, 2011.
  5. Dreier O. Subjectivity and Social Practice. 2nd ed. Center for Health, Humanity, and Culture, Department of Philosophy, University of Aarhus, Denmark, 2003.
  6. Dreier O. Psychotherapy in Everyday Life. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  7. Dreier O. Intervention, evidence-based research and everyday life. In P. Stenner, J. Cromby, J. Motzkau, J. Yen, Y. Haosheng (eds.), Theoretical Psychology. Global Transformations and Challenges. Concord, Ontario: Captus Press Inc., 2011, pp. 260–269.
  8. Dreier O. Personality and the conduct of everyday life. Nordic Psychology, 2011. Vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 4–23. doi:10.1027/1901-2276/a000030
  9. Edwards A., Lunt I., Stamou E. Inter-professional work and expertise: New roles at the boundaries of schools. British Educational Research Journal, 2010. Vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 27–45. doi:10.1080/01411920902834134
  10. Farrell P. School psychologists: Making inclusion a reality for all. School Psychology International, 2004. Vol. 25, pp. 5–19.
  11. Farrell P. Developing inclusive practices among educational psychologists: Problems and possibilities. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 2006. Vol. XXI, no. 3, pp. 293–304.
  12. Fleer M., Hedegaard M. Children’s development as participation in everyday practices across institutions. Mind, Culture and Activity, 2010. Vol. 17, pp. 149–168. doi:10.1080/10749030903222760
  13. Hamre B. F., Morin A., Ydesen C. Optimizing the educational subject between testing and inclusion in an era of neoliberalism: Musings on a research agenda and its future perspectives. In B. Hamre, A. Morin, C. Ydesen (eds.), Testing and Inclusive Schooling: International Challenges and Opportunities. London: Routledge. Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education, 2018, pp. 254–261.
  14. Hedegaard M., Chaiklin S., Jensen U. J. Activity theory and social practice: An introduction. In M. Hedegaard, S. Chaiklin, U. J. Jensen (eds.), Activity Theory and Social Practice. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1999, pp. 12–30
  15. Holzkamp K. Psychology: Social self-understanding on the reasons for action in the conduct of everyday life. In E. Schraube, U. Osterkamp (eds.), Psychology from the Standpoint of the Subject: Selected Writings of Klaus Holzkamp. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, pp. 233–341.
  16. Højholt C. Cooperation between professionals in educational psychology: children’s specific problems are connected to general problems in relation to taking part. In H. Daniels, M. Hedegaard (eds.), Vygotsky and Special Needs Education: Rethinking Support for Children and Schools. London: Continuum Press, 2011, pp. 67–86.
  17. Højholt C. Children's perspectives and learning communities. In M. Hedegaard, K. Aronsson, C. Højholt, O. Skær Ulvik (eds.), Children, Childhood, and Everyday Life: Children's Perspectives. 2nd ed. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing, 2018, pp. 93–111.
  18. Højholt C., Kousholt D. Participant observation of children’s communities: Exploring subjective aspects of social practice. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2014. Vol. 11, pp. 1–19. doi:10.1080/14780887.2014.908989
  19. Højholt C., Kousholt D. Children participating and developing agency in and across various social practices. In M. Fleer, B. van Oers (eds.), International Handbook of Early Childhood Education. 2nd ed. Dordrecht: Springer. Springer International Handbooks of Education Series, 2018, pp. 1581–1597. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-0927-7_82
  20. Højholt C., Kousholt D. Contradictions and conflicts: Researching school as conflictual social practice. Theory & Psychology, 2020. Vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 36–55. doi:10.1177/0959354319884129
  21. Højholt C., Røn Larsen M. Sociale interventioner og konflikter i skolelivet = Social interventions and conflicts in school life. In J. Krøjer, K. Dupret (eds.), Social Intervention: Meningsfuld indgriben i menneskers liv = Social Intervention: Meaningful Intervention in People's Lives. Frederiksberg: Frydenlund Academic. Menneskelig udvikling, deltagelse og social forandring, 2016, no. 1.
  22. Hjörne E. Excluding for Inclusion? Negotiating School Careers and Identities in Pupil Welfare Settings in the Swedish School. Gothenburg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 2004.
  23. Kousholt D. Collaborative research with children — Exploring contradictory conditions of conduct of everyday life. In E. Schraube, C. Højholt (eds.), Psychology and the Conduct of Everyday life. New York: Routledge, 2016, pp. 242–258.
  24. Lave J. Changing practice. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 2012. Vol. 19, pp. 156–171. doi:10.1080/10749039.2012.666317
  25. Lave J. Learning and Everyday life: Access, Participation, and Changing Practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
  26. Leontjev A.N. Activity, Consciousness and Personality. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1978.
  27. Mardahl-Hansen T. Et hverdagsperspektiv på folkeskolelæreres arbejde med at skabe betingelser for børns deltagelse og læring i folkeskolen = An everyday life perspective on teachers’ work with conditions for participation and learning in school. Dissertation. Roskilde: Roskilde University, 2018.
  28. McDermott R., Goldman S., Varenne H. The cultural work of a learning disability. Educational Researcher, 2006. Vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 12–17. doi:10.3102/0013189X035006012
  29. McDermott R. & Varenne H. Successful Failure: The School America Builds. Oxford: Westview Press, 1998.
  30. Mehan H. Beneath the skin and between the ears: A case study in the politics of representation. In S. Chaiklin, J. Lave (eds.), Understanding Practice: Perspectives on Activity and Context. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993, pp. 241–269.
  31. Mehan H., Hertweck A., Miehls J.L. Handicapping the Handicapped. Decision Making in Student Careers. Stanford University Press, 1986.
  32. Morin A. Learning together — a child perspective on educational arrangements of special education. ARECE — Australian Research in Early Childhood Education. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia, 2008, pp. 27–38.
  33. Pedersen L.T., Szulevicz T. Concluding thoughts on the past, present and future of educational psychology. In T. Szulevicz, L. Tanggaard (eds.), Educational psychology practice: A New Theoretical Framework (Cultural Psychology of Education, Book 4). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International, 2017, pp. 141–147.
  34. Røn Larsen M. “May I please tell you a little anecdote?”: Inter-professional decision-making about inclusion in the borderland between normal and special schooling. The International Journal on School Disaffection, 2016. Vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 65–84. doi:10.18546/IJSD.12.1.04
  35. Røn Larsen M. Paradoxes of inclusion: administrative procedures and children’s everyday lives. In M. Hedegaard, K. Aronsson, C. Højholt, O. S. Ulvik (eds.), Children, Childhood, and Everyday Life: Children’s perspectives. 2nd ed. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing, 2018, pp. 129–148.
  36. Røn Larsen M. Interdisciplinary collaboration and conflict concerning children in difficulties: conditions, procedures and politics of everyday life in school. Annual Review of Critical Psychology (Online). 2019. Vol. 16, pp. 832–848. doi:10.1080/19012276.2015.1062254
  37. Røn Larsen M., Jørgensen S. Retlige og institutionelle betingelser for det tværfaglige samarbejde i skolen = Legal and nstitutional conditions for the interdisciplinary collaboration in the school. In C. Højholt, D. Kousholt (eds.), Konflikter om børns skoleliv = Conflicts over Children's School Life. København: Dansk Psykologisk Forlag, 2018, pp. 254–285.
  38. Schraube E. Why theory matters: Analytical strategies of critical psychology. Estudos de Psicologia Campinas, 2015, Vol. 32, pp. 533–545. doi:10.1590/0103-166X2015000300018
  39. Schraube E., Højholt C. (eds.), Psychology and the Conduct of Everyday Life. London, New York: Routledge, 2016.
  40. Schwartz I. Problemers sociale udviklingshistorie — elevperspektiver på inklusion = The social history of problem development — Pupils’ perspectives on inclusion. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift = Pedagogical Psychological Journal, 2019, Vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 85–101.
  41. Skidmore D. Inclusion: The Dynamic of School Development. Maidenhead. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press, 2004.
  42. Stetsenko A. From relational ontology to transformative activist stance on development and learning: Expanding Vygotsky’s (CHAT) project. Cultural Studies of Science and Education, 2008. Vol. 3, pp. 471–491.
  43. Szulevicz T. Psychologists in (neoliberal) schools: What kind of marriage? Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 2018, Vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 366–376.
  44. Szulevicz T., Tanggaard L. (eds.), Educational psychology practice: A new theoretical framework (Cultural Psychology of Education, Book 4). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International, 2017. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-44266-2
  45. Vygotsky L.S. Thinking and speech. In R. Rieber, D. Robinson (eds.), Essential Vygotsky. New York etc.: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2004, pp. 33–148.

Information About the Authors

Maja Røn Larsen, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Department “People and Technology”, Roskilde University, Denmark, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-6059, e-mail: mrl@ruc.dk

Charlotte Højholt, PhD in Psychology, Professor, Department “People and Technology”, Roskilde University, Denmark, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0601-0456, e-mail: charh@ruc.dk

Metrics

Views

Total: 541
Previous month: 5
Current month: 8

Downloads

Total: 294
Previous month: 5
Current month: 17