Duties of a School Psychologist are deals with the diagnosis and management of behavioral and learning problems in children by applying principles of clinical psychology and educational psychology to help the child succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. School psychologists are trained to carry out psychological and psychoeducational assessments, counseling, and consultations, and collaborate with teachers and parents to create a safe and supportive learning environment for the child.
School psychologists must be state certified and are educated in psychology, learning theories, education, child and adolescent development, child and adolescent psychopathology, family and parenting practices, and personality theories. A school psychologist works in such places:
- public schools
- private schools
- mental health centers and
- private practice
Duties of a School Psychologist
Normally, people who specialize in school psychology work in academic and educational settings. Their major task is to facilitate the students and to enhance their learning curve for the better. At the same time, they also get into a one to one communication with the parents and teachers in order to help them any problems they come to encounter while dealing with children. Solving learning and personal problems of the students and teacher is all a part of their daily routine. In addition, the school psychologist also performs a number of other functions that might include designing the study curriculum, method of teaching and scheduling the course in general. To further elucidate the duties of the school psychologist look at the following list.
Regular meetings: Regular meetings with the parents in order to discuss any mental or physical problem that the students might suffer. In addition, they also provide coping strategies for the parents in order to facilitate them in dealing with the children and their personal relationships.
Research: Doing a continual research on the educational programs and at the same time introducing new and innovative study designs and techniques for the students.
Counseling: Providing counseling to the staff members and guiding them so that may be better able to understand the psyche and the mindset of the children. It is quite imperative for developing a healthy relationship with the students.
Case studies: In-depth case studies of the problematic students and how they can be dealt with. Now another very important duty here is to deal the students with endurance and patience, as there have been some cases in which the student’s conditions were worsened due to ineffective therapies delivered from the side of the school psychologist.
What You Need To Do For Being a School Psychologist
All you need do is to apply for a graduation program, but before entering the graduate school you will be required to take some prerequisite courses in order to opt for the major in psychology. For doing the M.S and so on, you will be required to have a graduation degree in school psychology. In order to excel in the field, it is imperative that you do a P.HD and always remain focused on what you want from it.
The Top 10 Schools of Psychology
Now here, by schools, it does not mean “The schools of thought in Psychology”. In fact, it means the best and most prestigious educational institutions that offer a degree in psychology. Surely, the field of psychology is nowadays witnessing the “Boom Time”. This fact can be better understood by looking at the students who are now focusing their attention on having a degree in psychology.
Technically, psychology is an art of controlling as well as changing the human behavior for the best. Clearly, not everyone can become a good psychologist, as it requires more than just harnessing your abilities and skills. Excelling in psychology demands a passion and an unbiased love for the field which everyone cannot develop no matter how much hard they try.
In the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of psychologists who are either engaged in private practice or offering their services in colleges and universities. Till the past few years, the number of men and women psychologists in America, were almost equal. But it was also said that soon the female psychologists would outnumber the male psychologists. So, without any further ado, lets us take a look at the top 10 schools of psychology.
- Yale University: The university specializes in cognitive, neuroscience, clinical and developmental psychology.
- University of Pennsylvania: The oldest psychology department of North America is a part of this prestigious university.
- University of Minnesota: Although the department of psychology in this university is not very old in comparison to other universities, still it has made its mark among the top universities in the world.
- University of Michigan: This university is marked by the degree programs, specializations, and lectures. All around the year, the university hosts a number of seminars which are attended by some of the top psychologists in the world.
- The University of Illinois: This school specializes in developmental, industrial, clinical and biological psychology.
- University of California-San Diego: The most famous course offered at this school is the experimental psychology program.
- University of California-Berkeley: This university is not famous for its psychology program, but also for a number of other degrees.
- University of California-Los Angeles: At number 3 we have yet another wing of the university located in Los Angeles.
- Stanford University: Some of the most prestigious and founders of psychology have been a part of this university which is now the 2nd best university in America.
- Harvard University: At number 1 we have the oldest educational institution and the best in the world, Harvard University. It is known for offering the best graduate-level programs in the world.
Psychology is not just a science, but it is more like the rare art of changing mental behaviors. Since the times of its inception, this field has always been on its boom. No matter what the critics say, psychology is indeed one of the most difficult sciences in the world.
The prime reason behind the complexity of this field is the fact that each human thinks differently and behaves differently. Each person has his or her own patterns of interactions and cognition. These days all the psychologists can trace out jobs in limitless spheres of life. One of the most popular domains in psychology these days is School Psychology. There are many who are showing a great deal of interest in this field. Like clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, the school psychologists have their own separate settings and area of focus.