Peadar P Crowley. The Handbook of International School Psychology. Editor: Shane R Jimerson, Thomas D Oakland, Peter T Farrell. Sage Publications. 2007.
Context of School Psychology
The island of Ireland is situated in northwest Europe. The total area is 84,421 square kilometres, the Republic of Ireland comprising 70,282 square kilometres and Northern Ireland 14,139 square kilometres. The greatest length of the island is 486 kilometres, and the greatest width is 275 kilometers. The information in this chapter refers to the state named in the Constitution as Eire (Ireland in the English language), described as The Republic of Ireland in the 1948 Republic of Ireland Act, and generally referred to as Ireland. Ireland achieved its independence in 1922. The Constitution of 1937 and the 1948 Republic of Ireland Act severed Ireland’s last formal links with Britain. The total population in April 2005 exceeded 4 million (Central Statistics Office, 2005a). The principal urban areas are the Greater Dublin Area (1,004,600, or 26% of the overall population of the state), Cork (186,200), Limerick (87,000), Galway (66,200), and Waterford (46,700). Although English is now the first language of the majority of the population, the Constitution names the Irish language as the first official language and English the second. Approximately 1.57 million persons aged 3 years and older were recorded as Irish speaking in 2002. According to the 2002 census, 88% of the population was Roman Catholic, 3% Church of Ireland (including Protestant), and 6% reported no religion or religion not stated. Approximately 21% of the population is aged birth to 14 years, and 16% is aged 15 to 24 years (Central Statistics Office, 2003).
Ireland is one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world; during the recent decade, the gross domestic product has nearly doubled. The gross domestic product in 2004 was US$126.4 billion, US$31,900 per capita. During the past few decades, the Irish economy has transformed from agrarian and traditional manufacturing to technology and international services based. In 2004, employment was mostly in services (66%), industry (28%), and agriculture (6%) (Economic and Social Research Institute, 2005).
Education in Ireland is compulsory from age 6 to 16 years (or until students have completed 3 years of second-level education) (Department of Education and Science, 2004a). Although there is limited provision for preschool education in Ireland, primary (first-level) schools accept children on or after their fourth birthday. The typical primary school enrols pupils by age into eight age-groups or classes, ranging from junior infants, to senior infants, to first class, and on to sixth class. The vast majority of schools are state-funded but privately owned, often by church interests. The national curriculum, set by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, is child-centred and allows flexibility in timetabling and teaching methods. The great majority of pupils transfer to post-primary (second-level) schools at about the age of 12. The post-primary sector comprises secondary, vocational, community, and comprehensive schools. These schools follow the same state curricula and prepare students for the same state public examinations. These school types differ formally in the areas of ownership, management, and historical origins.
The majority of students (about 58%) attend secondary schools, 29% attend vocational schools, and 15% attend community and comprehensive schools. Secondary schools are privately owned, mostly by religious congregations, and publicly funded. After 3 years in the post-primary junior cycle (Years 1-3), students sit the state Junior Certificate examination. There are a number of programme options within the senior cycle of post-primary education, which generally extends for 3 years, from age 15 to 18. Before embarking on the Leaving Certificate programme, many students opt for the Transition Year programme, which provides a broad educational experience with a view to enhancing personal maturity through some academic work, work experience, entrepreneurial activities, and community involvement. The 2-year Established Leaving Certificate programme (Years 5 and 6) is the main senior cycle option. The Leaving Certificate Examination, managed by the State Examinations Commission, is taken at the end of the senior cycle, typically at the age of 17 or 18. The examination and the associated highly competitive points system (for access to third-level education) occupy a prominent place in public discourse. In 2004, over 55,000 students took the Established Leaving Certificate Examination. An alternative route, the Leaving Certificate Applied, introduced in 1995, is a 2-year modular programme aimed at preparing students for adult and working life. It comprises three principal elements: vocational preparation, vocational education, and general education. About 3,500 students took the Leaving Certificate Applied in 2004 (Department of Education and Science, 2005a). Finally, the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme can be described as a Leaving Certificate with a strong vocational dimension.
The third-level sector comprises mainly publicly funded universities, institutes of technology, and colleges of education (teacher training colleges). Recent years have seen the growth of private third-level institutions. There are seven universities in the state, three in Dublin, and one each in Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Maynooth, County Kildare. The technological institutes provide education and training in areas such as business, science, engineering, and music to certificate, diploma, and degree level. The number of third-level students increased by 105% in the past decade (Central Statistics Office, 2005b).
“Further education” refers to education and training which occurs after second-level schooling but which is not part of the third-level system. This includes a wide range of Post Leaving Certificate courses, with about 29,000 students, and the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme, a second chance programme for about 5,000 unemployed persons.
In the school year 2003-2004, a total of 446,029 pupils attended 3,278 primary schools, 337,851 pupils attended 743 second-level schools, and 133,887 full-time students attended third-level institutions. Pupil-to-teacher ratios in 2003-2004 were 17 to 1 at primary level and 13.6 to 1 at second level. The average (ordinary) primary class size in the school year 2002-2003 was 24 (Department of Education and Science, 2004b).
The Irish educational system has traditionally been highly centralized, with the Department of Education and Science exercising a great deal of influence over many aspects of the system (Coolahan, 1981). In recent years, a number of statutory agencies, such as the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the State Examinations Commission, and the National Educational Welfare Board, have assumed important functions. Regional offices of the Department of Education and Science have been established.
Each year about 13,000 children and young people leave school without having sat the Leaving Certificate Examination. Of these, some 2,400 leave before the Junior Certificate Examination (National Economic and Social Forum, 2002). The percentage of students who continue to be enrolled at age 17 years is about 83%. At primary level, students are absent for an average of 11 days out of 183. At post-primary level, students are absent for an average of 15 days each out of 167. Absenteeism is significantly worse in disadvantaged areas (National Educational Welfare Board, 2005). The National Educational Welfare Board was established under the provisions of the Educational Welfare Act 2000 (Government of Ireland, 2000a). The primary function of this independent statutory organisation is to ensure that each child in the state attends a recognised school or otherwise receives an appropriate education. The Board has a policy development role in relation to school attendance, and its educational welfare officers (currently numbering 73 and focussing only on priority areas) work closely with school personnel, parents, and others to encourage regular school attendance and to reduce absenteeism. The School Completion Programme is a Department of Education and Science initiative that targets schools with the highest levels of early school leaving and provides financial support and advice in the development of an integrated plan to facilitate graduation and associated interventions.
Research on education and psychology is primarily conducted in the third-level institutions. The Educational Research Centre at St. Patrick’s Teacher Training College has had, for many years, a leading research role, especially in the fields of assessment and evaluation. A new specialist Children’s Research Centre has been established in Trinity College, Dublin. A team drawn from the Children’s Research Centre and the Economic and Social Research Institute has been appointed by the National Children’s Office to undertake the recently announced National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland.
Promoting social inclusion is a public policy priority. The extent and consequences of educational disadvantage in Ireland are well documented. For example, the children of professional workers account for 15% of new entrants to higher education, substantially greater than their share of the population, about 9%, whereas the share of new entrants accounted for by children whose fathers’ social class is “unskilled” is less than their share of the population subgroup, 3% compared with 5% (Fitzpatrick Associates & O’Connell, 2005). The Department of Education and Science has, following a review of existing measures, launched a programme titled Delivering Equality of Opportunity to Schools (Department of Education and Science, 2005b), which will integrate a number of existing programmes into a new School Support Programme. The School Support Programme will focus attention on 600 primary and 150 second-level schools with concentrated levels of educational disadvantage and will place a new emphasis on monitoring progress and the achievement of targets. Primary schools in the School Support Programme will provide enhanced access to early education and benefit from reduced class sizes.
The continuum of special educational provisions for students with disabilities ranges from placement in mainstream schools with additional supports to special class placement in mainstream schools to specialist support in special schools. This principle of a continuum of provision was first formally proposed in an Irish context in the Report of the Special Education Review Committee (Government of Ireland, 1993). The beginnings of special education in Ireland can be traced back to the mid 19th century when special services for persons with visual and auditory disabilities were set up by religious orders. In 1950, just one special school for pupils with “mental handicaps” had been given official recognition. The main growth of special schools took place in the 1960s and early 1970s. By 1993, about 0.9% of all primary and post-primary pupils were receiving their education in 114 special schools, 64 of which provided for pupils with mental handicaps. This figure of 0.9% for pupils segregated in special schools was low by the prevailing European standards. Many of these special schools were established by religious orders and community organisations, and these organisations, in turn, developed local psychological services. In the absence of mainstream school psychological services, these largely publicly funded “voluntary” services also provided psychological assessment services to mainstream pupils.
In October 1998, the government introduced an “automatic response” for children with special educational needs in primary schools, effectively implementing a policy of inclusion. For the first time, children with special educational needs were entitled to be automatically allocated resources (e.g., resource teaching, special needs assistants, and special equipment) in mainstream schools on the basis of assessed need. This announcement followed the publication in September 1998 of the blueprint for the National Educational Psychological Service (Government of Ireland, 1998b), and the new policy had a significant and unanticipated influence on the operation of the new psychological service.
Important Department of Education and Science reports on dyslexia (Government of Ireland, 2001b) and on autism (Government of Ireland, 2001a) were published in 2001. The National Council for Special Education was established in December 2003 to improve the delivery of services to children with disabilities. This independent statutory body has the following functions: to coordinate the provision of education and related support services with health boards, schools, and other relevant bodies; to provide a range of services at local and national levels in order that the educational needs of children with disabilities are identified and provided for; and to carry out research and provide expert advice to the minister for education and science on the educational needs of children with disabilities and on related services. The council currently operates through a national network of 80 special educational needs organisers who are the key contact persons for parents, schools, health authorities, and other agencies. Additional special educational needs organisers are envisaged.
Teaching resources in mainstream primary schools for students with special educational needs are allocated on the basis of a working estimate of 10% of students being in need of learning support and 6% in need of resource teaching (i.e., having special educational needs). Students with “high incidence” disabilities, including borderline mild general disabilities (intelligence quotient 70-79), mild general learning disabilities (intelligence quotient 50-69), and specific learning disabilities (principally dyslexia) are provided with teaching resources on a general allocation model. This model allocates to schools additional teaching resources that are then deployed within schools at the discretion of school authorities. Students with “low incidence” special educational needs, arising from physical or sensory impairment, emotional or behavioural disturbance, autism, specific speech and language disorder, and moderate/severe/profound learning disability are allocated teaching resources on an individual basis, following appropriate professional assessment (Department of Education and Science, 2005c).
Origin, History, and Current Status of School Psychology
The 1960s in Ireland was a period of rapid change, including in education. Following the publication of the Government White Paper on Economic Expansion in 1958, there was an emphasis on education as an economic investment rather than a consumer service. An expanding economy needs and facilitates a growing educational sector. Headline reforms, following the publication of the Investment in Education Report (Department of Education, 1966), included the introduction of a school transport scheme and a free education scheme at second level.
The first school psychological services for mainstream schools in the state were established in 1960 by the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee. Vocational education committees are public bodies that are responsible for vocational schools, community colleges (both second-level school types), and certain further education institutions and services. There are 33 vocational education committees throughout the state. The City of Dublin Vocational Education Psychological Service now consists of 10 psychologists providing services, on a time allocation basis, to 12 vocational schools, as well as colleges, and (since 1998) 22 education and training centres within the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee area. A range of services is offered, including consultation with school staff, group and individual work with students (including counselling/therapy), liaison with other agencies, and supervision and training of certain professional staff. The biggest proportion of psychologists’ time is devoted to working with pupils individually or in groups, followed closely by work with teachers, chiefly special needs teams and guidance counsellors. A growing involvement for the service is working with nonnationals. Psychologists in this service engage in ongoing professional development. Specific projects in which the service has engaged in recent years include a language development programme for adolescents and a research project in conjunction with the Crisis Pregnancy Agency.
The Psychological Service of the then Department (Ministry) of Education was established in 1965 with a brief to provide a guidance service to the newly established comprehensive schools, to develop standardised tests, and to conduct research. Psychological Service support was gradually extended to all second-level schools, but psychologist-to-pupil ratios were very high, in some cases exceeding 1 to 20,000.
From 1960 until 1990, mainstream school psychological services were almost exclusively directed to second-level schools. There were many calls over the years, by the Psychological Society of Ireland (Psychological Society of Ireland, 1974) and others (Swan, 1981), for the establishment of comprehensive school psychological services. In the absence of school psychological services, assessment services for children attending mainstream schools were generally provided by clinical psychologists employed by the regional health boards (now reorganised into the Health Service Executive) and voluntary services, which are primarily publicly funded services for persons with special educational needs.
In 1990, a Pilot Project to Primary Schools was established by the Department of Education Psychological Service in two designated areas, one urban and one rural. The aim of the Pilot Project was to explore models for psychological services to primary schools. It developed a balanced model of casework, project work, the involvement of parents, and liaison with other agencies. It recommended enhanced psychologist-to-pupil ratios and team-based integrated (primary and post-primary) services. Services to primary schools developed from the mid 1990s.
In 1992, the County Dublin Vocational Educational Committee established its Psychological Support Service. The Psychological Support Service employs five permanent psychologists and two to three contract psychologists. Two of the permanent psychologists are employed to provide services to 22 second-level schools, and two are employed to work with other education and training centres. The Psychological Support Service also operates a High Support Learning Programme for students with complex special educational needs not attending mainstream schools and has allocated a psychologist and a learning support teacher to this project. Although the contract psychologists’ work arises from self-financing projects, the entire service operates as a single team so that the specific skills of each psychologist are available, in principle, to all service recipients. As well as providing a consultation and advice service, the Psychological Support Service works with parents and students individually and in groups. The service emphasises training work with teachers and collaboration with other agencies. It operates a programme of further professional development for its staff and engages in a range of research and development activities. The Health Service Executive employs educational psychologists within its area community care programmes. Health service-funded learning disability services also employ educational psychologists.
The National Educational Psychological Service was established in 1999 and largely subsumed the Department of Education and Science Psychological Service. Development was initially rapid (National Educational Psychological Service, 2003a). The National Educational Psychological Service, which remains within the Department (Ministry) of Education and Science, is structured nationally into 10 regions (Department of Education and Science, 2005d). Within these regions, area teams of psychologists, led by senior psychologists, provide services to primary and post-primary schools.
The blueprint for the development of the National Educational Psychological Service (Government of Ireland, 1998b) envisaged 200 educational psychologists in the school system by 2004, 184 of whom would be in the National Educational Psychological Service. This report set out certain principles to govern the operation of the service. These include the need to achieve a balance between individual casework and more systemic support and development work. A general ratio of 1 psychologist to 5,000 students was envisaged. Currently about half of all primary schools in the state are on service from the National Educational Psychological Service, as are three quarters of post-primary schools. There is, however, considerable variation in coverage between counties. In relation to primary schools, this ranges from a low of 20% in receipt of a service from the National Educational Psychological Service to a high of 69%, while post-primary school coverage ranges from 13% to 100%. Broadly speaking, coverage is best in urban and disadvantaged areas and worst in rural areas.
In its Strategy Statement 2001-2004, titled Working Together to Make a Difference for Children, the National Educational Psychological Service (2001) describes its mission as “to support the personal, social and educational development of all children through the application of psychological theory and practice in education, having particular regard for children with special educational needs.” As of 2005, the National Educational Psychological Service had 128 psychologists, of whom 76% were female. Once probated, psychologists in the National Educational Psychological Service become permanent civil servants. Salaries for psychologists employed in public service, including educational psychologists and Health Service Executive-employed clinical psychologists, are on a common scale from €47,877 to €75,515 for main grade psychologists (December 2004). The teachers’ common basic salary scale (December 2004 without allowances) ranges from €27,164 to €52,796.
In 2001, the Department of Education and Science established a Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments to provide a limited assessment service to schools without access to a comprehensive psychological service. This scheme, administered by the National Educational Psychological Service, permits schools to commission two assessments per 100 students per annum from psychologists in private practice. This panel, which may be regarded as an indicator of the number of psychologists in private practice available to the educational system, currently lists 158 psychologists.
Infrastructure of School Psychology
The term educational psychologist or psychologist (rather than school psychologist) is widely used in Ireland to refer to psychologists who work primarily in educational settings. As noted elsewhere, the title “psychologist” does not yet have statutory protection. The Psychological Society of Ireland is the professional body for psychology in Ireland. Established in 1970, the society now has over 2,000 graduate members. The Psychological Society of Ireland includes divisions of Counselling Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Health Psychology, Work and Organisational Psychology, and a newly established (in 2005) Division of Educational Psychology numbering 82 members. The Society publishes the Irish Journal of Psychology and the monthly Irish Psychologist. In the absence of a statute to regulate psychology, the Society established, in 1998, a nonstatutory register to promote high standards of behaviour, competence, and practice within the profession. A formal system of continuing professional development ensures that members continue to regularly update their knowledge and skills. The Psychological Society of Ireland’s Code of Ethics is supported by its Board of Professional Conduct.
In addition to the Irish Journal of Psychology, educational psychologists rely primarily on publications from the United Kingdom, such as Support for Learning, Educational Psychology in Practice, The British Journal of Educational Psychology, and The Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology. Proposals to introduce statutory registration for psychologists (and certain other professions) are at an advanced stage, and the legislation is likely to be enacted in 2005. The Health and Social Care Professionals Bill (Government of Ireland, 2004a) provides for the establishment of a registration council and profession-specific committees. This mechanism will control entitlement to use the title “psychologist” and will deal with complaints relating to practitioner competence. There is diversity in the professional credentials required by different employing bodies. This is partially because postgraduate professional training in educational psychology was not available in Ireland before the 1990s. The Psychological Society of Ireland policy is that educational psychologists employed in the health service must have postgraduate training in educational psychology. The requirements of the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee and County Dublin Vocational Education Committee are consistent with this policy. Entry requirements for the National Educational Psychological Service have varied. The most recent recruitment criteria included eligibility for graduate membership of the Psychological Society of Ireland and a recognised postgraduate qualification in educational psychology, or 3 years experience working as a psychologist, or in special circumstances, a recognised teaching qualification, and 3 years teaching experience. It is likely that as the supply of educational psychologists improves, and with the advent of statutory registration, all newly recruited educational psychologists will have postgraduate professional training in educational psychology.
In addition to several recent statutes that impinge in a general way on the work of educational psychologists, namely the Data Protection Act (Government of Ireland, 1988), the Freedom of Information Act (Government of Ireland, 1997), the Equal Status Act (Government of Ireland, 2000b), and the Educational Welfare Act (Government of Ireland, 2000a), two statutes in particular directly influence the work of educational psychologists.
The Education Act (Government of Ireland, 1998a) was a major piece of legislation that consolidated certain rights and duties and put many existing educational functions and general provisions on a statutory basis. The Act requires that the minister for education and science ensure that all residents in the state, including persons with disabilities or other special educational needs, have access to support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to meeting their needs and abilities. Furthermore, the minister is responsible for the planning and coordination of such support services. Under the Act, it is the responsibility of each school to ensure that the educational needs of all students, including those with disabilities or other special educational needs, are identified and provided for. The Education for Persons With Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (Government of Ireland, 2004b) makes provision for the education of people with special educational needs and establishes the National Council for Special Education. The Act provides for the education of children with special educational needs in an inclusive environment, unless that is inconsistent with the best interests of the child or the children with whom the child is to be educated. The Act provides for the arrangement of assessments by schools, health authorities, or the National Council for Special Education and sets a timescale for such assessments. The school principal is required by the Act to have an education plan prepared for the appropriate education of the student, subsequent to the assessment. The National Council for Special Education may require a psychologist employed by the minister for education and science to join a team to prepare an education plan on behalf of the Council. The school principal, being supplied with necessary monies and support services, is required to implement the education plan.
Preparation of School Psychologists
There are two postgraduate training programmes in educational psychology in Ireland. The Psychological Society of Ireland offers a Diploma in Professional Psychology (Educational) on the basis of independent study. This programme, currently under review, is being undertaken by 14 trainees and is typically completed in 3 to 4 years. Since its inception in 1991, the diploma has been awarded to 14 psychologists. In order to successfully complete the programme, candidates must satisfactorily undertake 120 days placement in psychological services, complete a dissertation, pass four examinations, and submit several reports on casework and interventions with a range of client groups. Candidates without teaching qualifications or experience must complete a school placement. The diploma curriculum specifies both necessary knowledge and skills. The core curriculum areas are as follows: (1) knowledge areas, including (a) cognitive development and learning, (b) physical, emotional, and social development, (c) education systems, professional and interprofessional issues, and (d) education for special needs; and (2) skill areas, including (a) teaching and school experience, (b) assessment and reporting, (c) skills and strategies for intervention, (d) consultation and training, and (e) research and evaluation.
University College Dublin has, since 1995, offered a master of arts in educational psychology. This 2-year programme (direct entry to Year 2 is possible for qualified teachers) is accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland; currently, 12 students graduate per annum. Based within the education department, training is delivered mainly through lectures, seminars, and training placements. Following its recent accreditation (2005) by the Psychological Society of Ireland, the University College Dublin Master of Arts in Educational Psychology will become a 2-year programme for all participants. The domains of knowledge addressed are as follows: (a) foundation studies, which include educational psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, social policy, special educational needs provision and legislation, occupational psychology, and counselling psychology; (b) knowledge of special educational needs/disabilities, which includes special educational needs and disabilities, aetiology assessment, and intervention; (c) nature of psychological interventions, which includes individualized planning, systemic and consultative interventions; (d) requisite skills for psychological interventions, which include psychometric assessment, report writing, counselling and communication skills, and professional and ethical issues; and (e) research, which includes research methodologies and statistical analysis. Students are required to complete 80 days of professional training placement and to submit a dissertation.
The duration of journeys to employment as an educational psychologist vary because of differing entry requirements and differing training programmes. (Notably, neither training programme in educational psychology requires prior teaching qualifications and experience.) Illustrative examples are (a) 3 years teacher training, 3 years teaching experience, 2 years postgraduate diploma in psychology, and a 1-year master of arts in educational psychology, totaling 9 years of study; (b) 3 years primary degree in psychology, 1 year teacher training, 3 years teaching experience, 1 year master of arts in educational psychology, totaling 8 years of study; or (c) 3 years primary degree in Psychology, 1 year postgraduate training in counselling psychology, 3 years working as a psychologist, totaling 7 years. It is likely that the impending developments in the training of educational psychologists in the United Kingdom (moving in 2006 to 3-year doctoral training without the requirement of teaching experience) will have an influence on training models in Ireland. A number of the educational psychologists working in Ireland have trained outside the country, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Roles, Functions, and Responsibilities of School Psychologists
Educational psychologists typically provide a range of services to schools, including consultation and advice, training, and working with individual students. The National Educational Psychological Service model of service is one where consultation provides an overarching framework for service delivery. This model strikes a balance between consultation and casework about individual children, support and development work that involves systems-level consultation, and work of a preventative and developmental nature. In this service, a psychologist will typically provide service to about 20 schools, both primary and post-primary, but this number will vary according to the size and profile of the schools. Following an initial annual planning and review meeting in each school, a programme of work for the year will be initiated. Support and development work with schools may address topics such as screening programmes, organisation and delivery of learning support and resource teaching services, promotion of mental health, and prevention of behavioural difficulties. Support and development work will often arise from individual casework.
In relation to individual casework, the National Educational Psychological Service Model of Service (National Educational Psychological Service, 2003c) envisages a three-stage process involving possible consultation and advice for class teachers and specialist teachers at Stages 1 and 2 and direct involvement at Stage 3. The educational psychologist will typically meet with parents and teachers prior to seeing a student. Direct involvement may involve observation of the student, consultation with parents and teachers, an assessment of the student’s achievements, abilities, and needs, and the formulation of advice on interventions. The main psychometric instruments in use include the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the British Ability Scales, and the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-United Kingdom. Dynamic assessment approaches are also employed. In the domain of social-emotional-behavioural functioning, the most commonly used assessment instruments are the Conners Rating Scales and the Child Behaviour Checklist. Guidelines on a continuum of support that will assist schools and psychologists in implementing provision for students with special educational needs, in a staged manner and corresponding to the model of service, are being developed.
Because National Educational Psychological Service psychologists are employees of the Department of Education and Science, they also provide certain services which arise from that status, for example, the provision of advice to the minister of education and science and to her department. Psychologists also furnish the State Examination Commission with recommendations on applications for reasonable accommodations in certificate examination for persons with specific learning disabilities. An important role for educational psychologists is the provision of support and advice to schools in relation to critical incidents that affect the school community. The National Educational Psychological Service has provided each school in the country with an information pack on responding to critical incidents (National Educational Psychological Service, 2003b). The National Educational Psychological Service also advises the National Council for Special Education on a range of issues.
In their work with schools, educational psychologists work collaboratively with principal teachers, class teachers, and specialist teachers, including learning support teachers, resource teachers, and guidance counsellors, as well as resource teachers for travellers, home school liaison teachers, visiting teachers for students with visual and auditory disabilities, and special needs assistants. Learning support teachers (formerly described as remedial teachers) work in both primary schools and post-primary schools. The learning support guidelines (Government of Ireland, 2000c) focus the attention of learning support teachers especially on those pupils who are performing at or below the 10th percentile on nationally standardised tests of English reading, mathematics, or both.
In mainstream schools, the role of resource teachers is primarily to support students with special educational needs. In the recent Department of Education and Science (2005c) guidance to schools, it is envisaged that both the learning support teacher and the resource teacher will work with students who have learning difficulties and those who have high incidence special educational needs under the general allocation model. Resource teachers are envisaged as providing support to students with low incidence special educational needs who have a specific allocation of resource teaching hours.
Guidance counsellors, located in the vast majority of second-level schools, are qualified teachers who successfully complete the Higher Diploma in Guidance and Counselling, a 1-year full-time university-based programme. The role of the guidance counsellor includes a number of related functions. In collaboration with other school staff, the guidance counsellor delivers educational and career guidance services. This role includes the provision of information, the promotion of career development, and engagement in group and individual educational and career counselling. Guidance counsellors employ a range of assessment tools, including the Differential Aptitude Tests and occupational interest tests and inventories (Darbey, 2003). In addition to their role in the area of career guidance, guidance counsellors also promote personal social development and provide individual and group counselling in both developmental and problem-solving contexts. The Institute of Guidance Counsellors is the relevant professional body, and the National Centre for Guidance in Education provides an information and advisory service.
Current Issues Impacting School Psychology
Emerging trends in Irish education that present challenges to school psychology services include the policy of inclusion and the needs of students for whom English is an additional language. There is also a clear need to improve the links between the many services for children. In light of the increasing number of support services to schools, there is a need to further clarify what are the most appropriate roles for educational psychologists in the educational system. The delineation of the most effective roles for educational psychologists should be followed by the active promotion of such roles. Operational challenges to school psychology services are to maintain a focus on providing services to all students while meeting the requirements of students with special needs. Few special schools and units are in receipt of a comprehensive school psychology service. Issues that are increasing in priority in Irish schools are the promotion of mental health, including the reduction of challenging behaviour and the prevention of suicide. Improving literacy skills is also a key objective. The capacity of psychological services to provide appropriate levels of service to all schools and other education centres is a matter that requires review.