The Practice of School Psychology in Mexico

Lizardi, P. S. (Patricia)¹, Harris, B. (Bryn)², Jimerson, S. (Shane)^3
1Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico
²University of Colorado Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
³University of California-Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Room 118, 12-07-2019, 14:00 - 15:30

Keywords

practice, school psychology, Mexico

Summary

Little information exists regarding the structure of school psychology in Mexico. Therefore, the purpose of the present work is to understand the practice of school psychology in Mexico and how it is alike to the U.S. In order to do so, we (1) reviewed official educational documents to explore how school psychology is conceptualized within the educational system; (2) obtained information about training programs in school and educational psychology in Higher Education databases; and (3) explored the requirements to obtain a license to practice in the schools. Our findings indicate that, within the Mexican educational system, school psychologists are members of multidisciplinary itinerant teams, but do not have a well-defined role nor specific qualifications. In terms of training, programs varied in content and focus, with no clear unifying description of qualifications. Furthermore, there is not a specific school psychology profession that aligns to traditional roles of the school psychologist in the United States. We focus our discussion on understanding cultural expectations and awareness of practices among the U.S. and Mexico given the large number of individuals of Mexican origin currently living in the U.S. Nonetheless, we expect that practitioners from other countries identify similarities with their own experiences.

 

Auteurs