DEVELOPING MULTICULTURAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE COMPETENCIES IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

Abstract

Leaders of the social justice research movement in school psychology argue that since the inception the profession, school psychology has had social justice as a key agenda item. A closer look at the representation of diverse backgrounds in researchers and practitioners and observations of the impact the profession has had on the education of marginalized groups, one could argue that school psychology has contributed to the oppression of said groups. In recent efforts, social justice has been made a focus (i.e. social justice task forces within National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), efforts of individual school districts and graduate training programs to recruit more trainees and practitioners of color, etc.). However, there is still more to be done when training future and current school psychologist who practice, those who train graduate students, and those who do research. The goal of this study is to inquire if the multi-cultural competence and social justice intervention, the Temple Social Justice Project, impacts self-perception of professional performance with social justice matters including multicultural competence using quantitative research methods. Evidence from the current study indicates that more frequent experiences working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities is a significant predictor of higher self-report ratings of social justice orientation. While self-reflection and learning social justice principles may have helped TSJP intervention participants to conceptualize their roles in schools as allies, increased time spent in practicum experiences working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities appears to be effective at predicting higher multicultural competence and social justice orientations as measured by self-report ratings. Findings align with intergroup contact theory which states that intergroup contact reduces prejudice (Pettigrew et. al., 2011). While coursework and professional development/training opportunities are essential for the purposes of prioritizing social justice and multicultural competence and providing individuals with safe spaces to process their social experiences and come to terms with inequality, the data suggests that efforts to diversify our spaces is one of our strongest tools in improving multicultural competence and social justice.