No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the author.
Editorial: The Psychologist in International Education
Abstract
Some years ago, as the chief psychologist of a large county in Britain, I carried out research to assess what teachers and schools required most from psychologists. The work was entitled 'A study of the needs of the School Psychological Service in one county, assumed by Head Teachers', and was later published in the Bulletin of the British Psychological Society (1970). The survey considered four basic questions in the form of a letter sent to over 400 headteachers. A similar study has been carried out among teachers in international education to obtain their views and a paper concerning this study appears in this issue. The editorial below considers my earlier study among teachers in one local authority and what they felt they required from psychologists. The psychologist's role in fostering international relations and developing international thinking is also considered, and finally, there are examples and a discussion on the psychologist's role in dealing with the universal problems that bridge national boundaries.
The research activities included in the programme will be described under five headings: those concerned with the development of a common language; those concerned with specific clinical, biological and social characteristics of wide-spread mental and neurological disorders and psychosocial problems; those concerned with the development of methods of treatment and prevention; those concerned with the provision of care; those concerned with the psychosocial aspects of general health care and with groups at increased risk for mental disorders.
The hypothesis that participants in multicultural educational programs develop an internationally minded orientation, was studied unobtrusively. The focal Ss were 90 alumni of an explicitly structured multicultural program; their controls were 90 alumni of an institution with an implicit multicultural ambience. Ss were sent a questionnaire on a topic with an international perspective. The dependent variables were the return rate of completed questionnaires, and willingness to participate in further research. Although the hypothesis was confirmed—i.e. a greater proportion of focal than control Ss responded—the effect of training was confounded with prior residence abroad, and underlines a basic problem in evaluating the impact of multicultural learning programs, since participants tend to be recruited and selected partly on the basis of previous cross-cultural experience.
Discusses evaluation as an area in which psychologists have played and continue to play an active part and cites instances in which the evaluation of specific programs was carried out by psychologists and other social scientists in close cooperation with administrators responsible for the conduct of the programs. This combined activity of investigators and practitioners offers the greatest likelihood of success in the application of psychology to the evaluation and improvement of projects (e.g., race relations) designed to contribute to the public interest. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)