Applying educational psychology in a changing World: Some lessons from Mongolia

This article describes the evaluation of a project designed to provide in-service training for teachers in rural schools in Outer Mongolia in techniques of independent and co-operative learning. Difficulties faced by Mongolian teachers in implementing a new national standards based curriculum were identified by the Mongolian State Education University responsible for teacher training. In conjunction with an EU funded UK team of educators, a Master’s degree course was established based upon principles of reflective practice and action research. Sixty-eight teachers from two Mongolian rural provinces completed the course, which mainly took place at intensive summer workshops supported by interim visits to schools by the Mongolian and UK tutors. The project was evaluated by means of a form of illuminative evaluation utilizing the SPARE wheel model of Burden and Williams (1996). This is based upon a socio-cultural view of learning which emphasizes in particular the importance of relating educational interventions to the social and historical context in which they occur. It is argued that applied educational/school psychology would benefit from more large-scale involvement of this nature in global educational systems.

Content analysis of School Psychology International, 1990–2011: An analysis of trends and compatibility with the NASP Practice Model

Formal analysis of research publications serves as one indicator of the current status of a profession or a journal. Content analyses provide both practitioners and academicians with information on the status of research in the profession. These types of analyses can also provide information on the concordance between published research and what professional organizations consider key areas of practice. The current study examined articles published in one journal, School Psychology International, for a 22-year period from 1990 through 2011 ( n = 671 articles). All articles were coded for demographics of the author, including country of origin and level of international content, and the content matching categories found in the NASP Model for Comprehensive and Integrated School Psychological Services. Results indicated that the journal is very much international with authors coming from 57 countries. With regard to gender, a trend was noticed for increased participation by women. Finally, the analysis of content found a pattern that was not highly consistent with the categories identified by NASP. Factors contributing to the lack of consistency between research and areas of practice are discussed.

Facilitating long-term recovery from natural disasters: Psychosocial programming for tsunami-affected schools of Sri Lanka

This article reports the findings of a school-based intervention project conducted in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka 15 to 18 months after the December 2004 Tsunami. The work responds to the need for culturally relevant programming to address long-term psychosocial recovery of children and adolescents affected by large scale disasters. Program developers used a participatory action research process to adapt and implement a school-based program previously tested with the general population of Sri Lankan students. Qualitative analysis of student products (e.g. ecomaps, stories, text) was used to determine whether the program provided a context to address both tsunami-specific stressors and non-tsunami (but developmentally and contextually relevant) stressors for students in grades 5, 7, and 9. Findings indicated that program activities differentially elicited identification and discussion of stressors related to tsunami experiences and to ‘normal’ culturally-relevant developmental challenges. The feasibility of combining a recovery focus with universal school-based mental health programming thus holds promise for extending crisis intervention and disaster response models to include long-term psychosocial recovery and for the role of school-based mental health professionals in these efforts.

Underlying Agreements Between Quantitative and Qualitative Research

A review of the methodological literature describing mixed-methods and quantitative and qualitative research paradigms suggest that though many have rejected the so-called paradigm wars there remains much focus on what is different about each research tradition. This has borne out in practice where professional organizations often have subgroups dedicated to the study of one tradition or another. Indeed, Human Resources Development Review has issued calls for manuscripts that explore this topic. This article examines the idea that there can be times when it is best to think of research as a monolithic paradigm rather than a distinct set of subparadigms. The reason for this is there are a number of common research scenarios where it is best to apply perspectives that might typically be characterized as qualitative as well as ones that are considered to be qualitative in orientation (e.g., using contextual information to make judgments about practical significance). There are other scenarios where the underlying goal of a procedure from, say the quantitative paradigm is similar to that from the qualitative realm (e.g., exploratory factor analyses and thematic analyses). There are of course real differences among the paradigms, but overemphasis on division might obfuscate how to conduct rigorous research. The article closes by encouraging readers to let their research questions dictate methodological approach, in the context of the purpose, rather than building questions around techniques that tend to align with different subparadigms.

Exploring perceptions of the mental health of youth in Mexico: A qualitative study

Limited information is available regarding the mental health of children and adolescents in Mexico (Paula, Duarte, & Bordin, 2007). The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to examine the construct of mental health of children and adolescents from the emic perspective of key informants in Mexico. Utilizing qualitative methods of inquiry and analysis, this study yielded a coding hierarchy representing key informants, descriptions of the valued mental health outcomes, socialization influences, stressors, and the resources available for supporting the mental health of children and adolescents in Mexico. The results of these efforts may inform the future development and evaluation of culture-specific definitions and interventions regarding the construct of mental health. Unique contributions to the literature included: (a) the focus on the mental health of youth in Mexico; (b) examining how educational outcomes for youth in Mexico was influenced by their mental health; and (c) the use of qualitative methods of inquiry compared to previous research use of quantitative measures to examine mental health in Mexico (e.g. surveys, self-report questionnaires). Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The study of externalizing and internalizing behaviours in Greek, Russian, Indian, and Chinese children using the Fairy Tale Test

The present study investigated externalizing and internalizing behaviours in Greek ( n = 599), Russian ( n = 596), Indian ( n = 571), and Chinese ( n = 376) 7- to-12-year-old children. The Fairy Tale Test was used to measure impulsive and motivated aggression, fear of aggression, anxiety, and depression. The results indicated culture-specific patterns of the aforementioned behaviours. Greek children demonstrated the highest levels of impulsive and motivated aggression, while Russian children had the highest fear of aggression. Chinese children appeared to be most anxious among other cultural groups. Both Russian and Indian children were more depressed than their Greek and Chinese counterparts. Gender and age difference were obtained only for impulsive aggression. Regardless of culture, boys scored higher compared to girls; and 7- to 8-year-old children demonstrated higher level of impulsive aggression than older children. The obtained results are interpreted in light of contextual differences in child socialization in four cultures; suggestions for school psychology practices are offered.

An international exploratory investigation of students’ perceptions of stressful life events: Results from Greece, Cyprus, and the United States

The present exploratory study examined student perceptions of the stressfulness and incidence of life events across three countries—Greece, Cyprus and the United States. The participants include 378 6th-grade elementary school students. Students in the United States completed the ‘What Do You Think?’ questionnaire and its translated Greek form ‘Esy Ti Pistevis?’ in Greece and Cyprus to share their perceptions of stressful life events. Marked cross-cultural similarities were revealed regarding the life events students reported as most stressful. Events reported as most stressful included those that signified personal and irreversible loss, such as losing a parent, going blind, and academic retention. In addition, events characterized as socially taboo (e.g. being caught in theft, wetting in class), and poor academic performance (e.g. getting a poor report card) were also stressful for most children cross-culturally. These same events were the least common experienced among the students surveyed in the study. The results and limitations of this study are discussed.

Implications of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) for Test Development and Use

Implications of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) on the development and use of tests in school settings are enumerated. We predict increased demand for behavioural assessments that consider a person’s activities, participation and person-environment interactions, including measures that: (a) address contextual features; (b) rely on third-party respondents; (c) depend on observational approaches; (d) comprise batteries of tests developed simultaneously or co-normed and (e) emphasize process and progress monitoring. We review some tests from the United States that respond to each emerging demand and describe the international implications of these demands. We close by describing the implications of the ICF model and its associated changes in testing practices for service delivery and student outcomes.