Compassion: the legacy of the pandemic in rural schools and communities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how rural schools and communities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through compassionate care. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides “compassion narratives” (Frost et al., 2006, p. 851) from five educators (i.e. the authors) working and/or living in rural communities. Each narrative describes how compassion was witnessed and experienced from various professional positions (which include classroom teacher; building-level leader; district-level leader; special services director and school psychologist; and assistant professor of educational leadership). Findings The compassion narratives described in this paper demonstrate how various organizations and communities responded to COVID-19 through compassionate care. They also provide a lens for considering how rural schools and communities might sustain compassion in a post-pandemic world. Originality/value This paper extends disciplinary knowledge by considering the healing, transformative power of compassion within rural schools and communities – not just in response to COVID-19 but in response to all future adversities.

Zoom fatigue wśród nastolatków

The aim of this study is to analyze a new social phenomenon that appeared during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, i.e. zoom fatigue. Zoom fatigue is the result of fatigue from long-term conferences, which can also be related to long-term school lessons during distance learning. The main considerations will focus on teenagers, namely on the impact of zoom fatigue on teenagers in Polish schools and on observation of students from technical secondary schools by a school psychologist. This paper, based on the results of research conducted at Stanford University and by Social Changes, is also an attempt to answer the questions: what risks may arise from the phenomenon of zoom fatigue and the threat posed by distance learning for teenagers in the era of Covid-19. It will also attempt to answer the question of how to help students cope with the fatigue of long distance school activities and find ways to help teens deal with isolation and the negative effects of zoom fatigue and find ways to overcome zoom fatigue.

involvED: Applying a Scientific Approach to Education Technology Innovation for Promoting Family Engagement in the Schools

Parent involvement is a reverently studied, crucial concept that impacts overall student achievement. An educational technology tool, involvED, was developed by a School Psychologist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker using principles of behavioral change research and grounded in family systems theory. Incorporating a scientific approach for targeted, meaningful intervention in regards to family involvement allows for addressment of equity gaps by educating underprivileged families on vital skills, including academic readiness, social emotional learning and trauma informed practices and responses, all while providing incentives for various levels of engagement. The researchers hypothesized that by educating families in an efficient, convenient and consistent manner, as well as providing user- selected incentives for engagement, it would not only increase parent attendance at school events, but also increase the academic, social and emotional skills of the child. Positive statistically significant effects were found amongst users of the tool on both dependent variables, event attendance and the academic, social and emotional ratings of the targeted students by the classroom teacher via the SAEBRS. By addressing potential parental skill deficits and incentivizing prosocial behaviors, student outcomes are positively affected, influencing a breadth of stakeholders.

Effect of explicit and implicit components of psychologists’ mental experience on their parental competence

The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of various components of psychologists’ mental experience (ME) on their parental competence (PC) when dealing with children of primary school age. We have distinguished three factors – professional attitude, professional competence and professional learning, dividing each into a number of components relating to explicit and implicit experience. For instance, explicit representation of professional attitude in terms of communication with children is a psychologist’s self-assessment scale, and implicit representation is a degree of openness of cognitive position as willingness to solve problems. Explicit representation of psychologist’s professional competence is his/her work experience in his/her major (school psychologist), and implicit representation is reflexivity of cognitive style built by competent professionals. Professional learning for psychologists takes two forms: explicit learning, which is a conscious acquisition of knowledge and skills through trainings and seminars, and implicit learning, which is undirected, for example, through research and writing articles. It has turned out that explicit and implicit components of mental experience have a different effect on such parameters of psychologists’ parental competence as feedback efficiency, level of feedback detail and predictability of feedback usefulness. In other words, we have established that professional mental experience of psychologists may shape up their parental competence, making it both high and low. It is important to know that implicit (and often unconscious) components of mental experience have as much effect as its explicit components. We believe that study of implicit components of professional learning may contribute to improvement of psychologists’ professional training and development of a professional’s mature personality.

Pedagogical management of resolving conflict situations in educational institution

The pedagogical process in an educational institution is determined by the interaction of individuals. Therefore, the decisive factor in the professional development of a teacher is the ability to act as a subject of pedagogical activity and build dialogical interaction with other subjects. Dialogical interpersonal interaction is a prerequisite for the efficient pedagogical activity in an educational institution. In the process of mastering dialogical skills, the professional development of a teacher is ensured. A significant part of the teacher’s professional competencies is associated with interpersonal communications, which focus our attention on the role of dialogical interaction in the professional development of a teacher. Pedagogical competencies are aimed at the implementation of professional activities and the ability to build competent dialogical interaction in the educational process. The optimal result of dialogical interactions is the mastering by the teacher of a certain set of knowledge, professional skills, and personal characteristics, which, in our opinion, could be considered as the criteria of professional growth. We believe that optimization of dialogical interaction between participants in educational relations requires special attention. In the educational institution, it is necessary to pay more attention to the implementation of the communicative potential of the individual, creating a comfortable educational environment for two-way communication. The communicative mobility of all subjects of interaction should be developed at pedagogical councils, training sessions, and parent-teacher meetings with the participation of a school psychologist.

Roles of the School Psychologist–Current versus Preferred Roles in the Greek Schools: A Case Study from the Island of Crete

In the international literature it is frequently reported that school psychologists would like to reduce their involvement in evaluation and assessment activities in favor of an increase in other services and roles. The present study examines the perceptions of teachers and school psychologists regarding the roles of school psychologists on the island of Crete, Greece. For this purpose, an online questionnaire about the current and preferred roles of the school psychologist was distributed. Two hundred and seventy-nine (279) teachers and fifty-seven (57) school psychologists participated in this research study. The analysis and comparison of the participants’ responses revealed significant differences in their beliefs about the current and preferred roles of the psychologist. Emphasis was placed by psychologists on systematic interventions such as consultation and by teachers on counseling for their personal problems. Overall, respondents in this study recognized the usefulness of the school psychologist in the educational sector. A unified framework of reference for the range of the schools’ psychological services would enhance common understanding and facilitate the professional role of school psychologists and effective student referral to the related professional services.

School Psychology Practice in Nova Scotia: An Update and Implications for Role Diversification

A survey of school psychology practice in Nova Scotia was conducted to update and extend previous work. Thirty-one school psychologists completed a survey about their practice across the six areas of competency identified by the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) and their current versus preferred time in various areas of psychology practice. Results indicated that most participants currently practice across all areas of competency to some degree but spend most of their time engaged in assessment and evaluation. Findings suggest that the role of the school psychologist in Nova Scotia has changed very little since the previous work was completed and that school psychologists would like to diversify their practice to include more intervention and professional development. With appropriate training and supervision, the time is right to expand school psychology services to provide much-needed mental health services to a broader range of children and families. Recommendations for training and role diversification are discussed.