Social Justice Training in School Psychology: Applying Principles of Organizational Consultation to Facilitate Change in Graduate Programs

ABSTRACT

Scholars and professional organizations have called for an increased emphasis on social justice training in applied psychology graduate programs, including school psychology programs (SPPs). During the past decade, emerging research has identified some features of high-quality social justice education, including a clear program mission statement and relevant field-based experiences. However, relatively little literature has described how faculty can pursue comprehensive change in their graduate programs to move training toward a social justice orientation. The purpose of this article is to describe how principles of organizational consultation can be applied to cultivate a program-wide emphasis on social justice issues in school psychology training. In particular, this article reviews relevant literature on social justice education and describes an adapted 5-stage model of organizational consultation for coordinating cohesive program change. Specific recommendations for implementing high-quality social justice training are provided, and directions for future research are discussed.

Notes

¹ Gender-neutral pronouns ze and hir are used throughout this manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sally L. Grapin

Sally L. Grapin, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Montclair State University. She earned both her MEd and PhD in School Psychology from the University of Florida. Her research interests include social justice training in undergraduate and graduate education, the implementation of academic and behavioral multi-tiered systems of support, and strategies for addressing shortages in the school psychology workforce.

Note: The author reports that, to the best of her knowledge, neither she nor her affiliated institutions have financial or personal relationships or affiliations that could influence or bias the opinions, decisions, or work presented in this article.