What is it about?
Social justice focuses on using advocacy to challenge unjust institutions and promote more equitable outcomes. School psychologists have an ethical and professional responsibility to engage in social justice work. However, little is known about what influences school psychologists to engage in social justice work. This paper examines the influence of multicultural competence and personal characteristics (gender, race, sexual orientation, political ideology) on school psychology students' social justice values.
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Why is it important?
Most social justice research in school psychology uses qualitative methods. This study makes a unique contribution to social justice research in school psychology by using a quantitative approach. We used survey methodology to measure perceived social justice values and multicultural competence while also controlling for socially desirable responding. Using this quantitative approach allowed us to statistically test and substantiate findings from previous qualitative explorations of social justice in school psychology.
Perspectives
I hope this article helps educators understand that 1) social justice and multicultural competence are two separate constructs and 2) developing students' social justice dispositions is as important as teaching knowledge and skills. I look forward to future researchers expanding upon these findings so we can better understand how school psychologists develop as social justice advocates.
Celeste Malone
Howard University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Correlates of social justice values in school psychology graduate students., School Psychology, August 2023, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/spq0000572.
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