Undertaking the role of a school psychologist challenges practitioners to maintain considerable breadth in their competence and knowledge. The Handbook of Australian School Psychology: Integrating International Research, Practice, and Policy, edited by Monica Thielking and Mark D. Terjesen, contains 40 chapters written by over 120 contributing authors and is testament to the scope of client presentations and school-based issues that Australian school psychologists are tasked to respond to. Although only 54 of the 120 contributing authors were sourced within Australia, all except three chapters have at least one Australian author, thus ensuring local relevance but also international connectivity.
The framing introductory and concluding chapters from the Editors explore the landscape of school psychology, providing an international perspective on research, practice, and policy, as well as insight into potential future directions of school psychology in Australia. Campbell and Glasheen's chapter on the history of school psychology in Australia is a complementary inclusion to the introductory chapter. The remaining chapters are not divided into formal sections, which for organisational purposes may have been helpful for a handbook of this size. To summarise the content here, chapters are grouped into five themes: working effectively with specific student populations (e.g., socio-economically disadvantaged, gifted, GLBTIQ, vision impaired, deaf); mental health and social emotional functioning (e.g., anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, addiction); professional practice/policy (e.g., school psychologist self-care, cultural competence); assessment and intervention in learning and developmental issues (e.g., dyscalculia, specific learning disability, writing problems, autism); working systemically in schools (e.g., school-wide approaches to systems change, working collaboratively, promotion of leadership and advocacy, responding to bullying).
This publication is an exciting release for educational and developmental psychologists, many of whom are employed as school psychologists. Unfortunately, the price point is likely prohibitive to an important audience — the practitioners — who rarely have access to academic libraries; thus, this handbook is more likely to be accessible to those connected to academic or research institutions. Despite this point, the content is relevant for both psychologists in postgraduate training who are seeking a comprehensive overview of school psychology, in addition to experienced practitioners who seek to update and expand their knowledge on best practice for a range of common client presentations and systemic issues.
The quality of content is pleasing overall, with Edwards and Colleagues’ chapter on Indigenous students in remote schools making a particularly noteworthy contribution to best practice. Handbooks by nature can be at risk of concentrating too heavily on theory; however, authors in this offering have overcome this shortcoming by providing rich opportunities for active learning. For example, each chapter includes a Test Yourself Quiz, which may be useful in university contexts and peer supervision, or for personal reflection. This handbook aims and delivers guidance for achieving best practice in school psychology, by integrating international research, policy, and practice in the context of the Australian educational landscape. It makes an important contribution to the area of school psychology, making this handbook a worthwhile investment.
