QUESTIONNAIRE ON SCHOOL/EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
TRAINING AND PRACTICE
Germany
Question 2: Approximately how many school/educational psychologists work in your country? Number of educational Psychologists
N.B. Numbers below are mostly estimates.
Answer:
1050
Question 3: What is the ratio of school/educational Psychologists in your country?
N.B. Numbers below are estimates
Answer:
15000
Question 4: Who are the main employers of school/educational Psychologists?
Answer:
States (Lander), responsible local authorities
Question 5: Are school/educational psychologists represented by any general or specific association or union in your country?
Answer:
Section Psychology Section of BDP (Berufsverband Deutscher Psychologen)
N.B. There are also state organisations of school psychologists (not part of BDP)
Question 6: How do school/educational psychologists become trained?
Include details of length of the training period, the additional qualifications and professional experience which are required (e.g. teaching), whether and how your training courses link with other courses of training in professional psychology.
Answer:
no special requirements for school psychologists; neither are there post-graduate programmes
(Section School Psychology has developed a special curriculum, for interested colleagues)
Question 7: How many universities provide this training for school/educational psychologists?
Answer:
all universities that teach psychology teach – among other subjects – Educational Psychology
Question 8: What are the employment prospect for newly trained school/educational psychologists?
Answer:
prospects are bleak (but many middle-aged psychologists)
Question 9: How many school/educational psychologists are currently unemployed in your country?
Answer:
no response
Question 10: What are the key tasks that are undertaken by school/educational psychologists?
(e.g. assessment, recommending special provision for children, consultation, counselling…)
Answer:
all kinds to tasks from individual counselling and organization development to teacher training
Question 11: Are school /educational psychologists licensed? Is this a legal rquirement?
Answer:
legal requirements only as regards the general title of psychologist
Question 12: What are the current issues facing school / educational psychologists at the present?
Answer:
- how to convince employers of our value for creating ‘better schools’?
- how to convince the school psychologist to be active for ‘better schools’?
- how to convince universities and employers about the necessity for better qualifications for school psychologists?
N.B. German education system is supposed to be outdated and sub-optimal