An International Social Justice Agenda in School Psychology? Exploring Educational Psychologists’ Social Justice Interest and Practice in England

ABSTRACT

Social justice has been suggested as a possible global moral framework for school psychology. It is, however, culturally understood and research suggests that the engagement with “social justice” in school psychology has been largely limited to a U.S. context. This project sought to extend international understandings and practices of social justice in school psychology. A thematic analysis of nine interviews with educational psychologists based in England was conducted. Social justice was defined as complex, and participants suggested it is important to educational psychology practice in part because of current cuts to public services and educational reforms. Findings also indicated a role for social justice consultation, building relationships, and engaging with broader macrolevel work to enact a social justice agenda. We discuss these findings in relation to previous literature, concluding that our research begins to document the seeds of a broader social justice agenda in school psychology.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the England’s Department for Education (DfE) National College for Teaching and Learning (NCTL) ITEP award [2013-2015].

Notes on contributors

Laura Anne Winter

Laura Anne Winter is a HCPC Registered Counselling Psychologist and Lecturer in Education and Counselling Psychology at the University of Manchester in the UK. Her research interests focus on the inter relationships between inequality, educational experiences and outcomes and emotional well-being