Professional role, status and identity of the school psychologist in Serbia

Abstract

School psychologists have been present in Serbian primary and secondary schools for more than half a century, but the latest educational guidelines announce restrictions in their numbers. The question raised is who and where would psychologically treat students and other participants of the educational process regarding the increasing needs for that type of intervention. In this paper, the professional role, status and identity of psychologists employed in schools are considered in order to gain deeper understanding of the obstacles they are facing in their work, and to create an environment for their more efficient work in the future. For these purposes, education policy, experiences from school practice, and findings of relevant research studies were analyzed. According to the education policy, a school psychologist has to participate in the improvement of the educational process using the results of his/her investigations on the students’ psychological characteristics and teaching and learning problems. Research findings showed that psychologists were seen as the experts who were needed in schools and who were expected to practice clinical approach. Also, it was found that psychologists had the same expectations from themselves. Perspectives of the development of the psychologist professional identity in the context of contemporary changes in the Serbian society and changes in the educational system are discussed. The conclusions of the study have broader implications due to the fact that school psychologists are in a similar way present in schools in other Balkan countries.