A self-reflective framework for culturally responsive educational psychology practice

ABSTRACT

The United Kingdom’s response to growing multiculturalism is subject to debate over how to respond, accommodate, and promote cultural diversity. This impacts on the role of educational psychologists (EPs) who work with children and young people (CYP), their families, and professionals from a variety of cultural backgrounds. EPs are responsible for engaging in, and developing, culturally responsive practice (CRP), an ongoing process which is both intrapersonal and interpersonal. Despite the pertinent influence of culture on educational psychology practice, there is a paucity of research exploring how EPs take culture into account in their work. A two-round Delphi method was used to explore how EPs can develop CRP, by reviewing literature pertaining to culture within school psychology practice, and more broadly within the psychological professions. A deductive thematic analysis was used to identify statements associated with CRP which were presented to EPs (n = 23) in round one, asking them to rate their perceived importance for their practice. In round two, EPs were invited to evaluate their response to statements which had not met consensus in round one (n = 18). 82 statements met consensus as key features of CRP for EPs, which are presented within a guiding self-reflective framework for practice.

KEYWORDS:

• culturally responsive practice
• cultural responsiveness
• educational psychology
• school psychology
• self-reflective framework

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge inclusion within this paper of some aspects of her doctoral thesis (Sakata, 2021), as licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).