School Stakeholders Do Not "Just Leave Their Religious Beliefs at Home": An Exploratory Study of School Psychologists' Professional Experiences

• Published in: International journal of school & educational psychology Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 88 - 100
• Main Authors: Parker, Janise S, Hanson, Patricia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 02-01-2021
• Subjects: Competence; Consultation Programs; Psychological Services; Religious Factors; School Psychologists; School Psychology
• ISSN: 2168-3603
• DOI: 10.1080/21683603.2019.1666441

Psychology scholars developed sixteen religious/spiritual practice competencies to guide psychologists' professional endeavors. Though school psychology is a relatively unique subfield of practice, scholars have not examined the practical application of the competencies within school psychological service delivery. We explored how the practice competencies were reflected in school psychologists' professional experiences by examining archival data from a larger qualitative study. Fifteen school psychologists were interviewed for the larger study. However, we analyzed the experiences of the ten school psychologists who referenced religion/spirituality during their individual interviews using secondary data analysis. Given that the original study was centered on school-based consultation, we also used elements of the Multicultural School Consultation framework to understand aspects of the participants' professional experiences that were not aligned with the sixteen religious/spiritual competencies. Findings show that several competencies were reflected in the participants' descriptions of their interactions with spiritual/religious students, whereas some of their experiences (e.g., consulting with religious teachers) were less connected to the established competencies and more connected to Ingraham's MSC framework. Hence, we discuss the utility of the current competencies in the field of school psychology and provide directions for future research.