System Work in the Norwegian Educational Psychological Service (EPS): Competencies, Legitimacy and Working Methods

The Educational-Psychological Service (EPS) has the task of helping schools to develop so that the educational offer is the best possible for the students. The EPS is also tasked with preparing expert assessments of students' needs for special education. Within the framework of this two-part mandate, development of the school system has been linked to strengthening the general pedagogical offer, while expert assessment work has been linked to assessment of students' individual learning difficulties. Such an individually-based expert assessment practice can, in the worst case and detached from a system-based understanding in the school, be used to legitimize the segregation of students in special measures. The focus of this study is based on the idea that students with the greatest needs can be better taken care of by integrating the system work with the expert assessment work - in one comprehensive work task. This comprehensive task is referred to as a system-based expert assessment practice. The aim of the study was to uncover challenges related to the realization of such a comprehensive system-based expert assessment practice. Exploring employees in EPS and the school's experiences with a system-based expert assessment practice in a first study gave direction to in-depth investigations of collaboration challenges in a second study. The first two studies provided justification for the development of a working model. While the second study gave direction to the research focus, testing of the working model gave data to the third study. In the first study, school and EPS employees' experiences with a system-based approach to expert assessment work were explored. The results showed that the informants experienced that the EPS advisers approached the school either via the teacher or the principal, and that a small degree of collaboration was linked to the development of knowledge about the student's needs. The student's experience of the school situation was emphasized the least. The informants' experiences revealed a traditional EPS role, focusing on uncovering students learning difficulties and where the work process was largely about the written expert assessment. The results clarified the need to strengthen the student's understanding of the main actor in the expert assessment work and of collaboration as a key factor for realizing a system-based approach to the expert assessment work. In the second study, EPS advisers' experiences of collaboration challenges related to a system-based expert assessment practice were explored. The results revealed challenges related to capturing the student's "voice", gaining legitimacy from teachers, involving principals and being parents spokesperson. In addition, the EPS advisers experienced the ambiguity of the double mandate as a challenge. Conflicting expectations of EPS advisers task and the dual role of school staff, as a professional partner and user of the EPS service's help services, challenged trust in the collaboration. The results further gave indications that mistrust in the collaboration between EPS and school led to mistrust in the relationship between EPS and parents. Conflicting expectations and role confusion gave, all in all, a lack of focus on mobilizing the collaboration partners' knowledge of the student's needs. In the third part of the study, EPS advisers, principals and teachers' experiences of testing the working model were explored. The results showed that EPS advisers and school staff at two out of three schools valued the system-based expert assessment practice highly. The EPS advisers at two of the schools experienced that the way of working legitimized an intuitive practice, that the capacity assessment was difficult, but also the most exciting and innovative element. The principals of the same two schools experienced a sparring partner in the EPS adviser, while the teachers experienced a dialogue-based and student-focused way of working. However, school staff in the third school, who needed the most help, valued the way of working the least. The principal of this school experienced having to wait and push for the expert assessment, while the teacher experienced the EPS adviser's way of working as diffuse. A recurring theme was that the guidelines for the use of the working model as "a mental work model" for EPS advisers were perceived as a limiting factor. The results made it clear that all the parties at the two schools who previously experienced trust in the collaboration, experienced the working model as a further improvement. For the school where the trust already seemed to be lacking, the results indicate, however, that the EPS adviser's use of the working model as "a mental work model" for the EPS adviser was not sufficient to create this trust. Challenges for realization of a system-based approach to expert assessment work are discussed in the dissertation.

Prosjektet har produsert forskning på et område det finnes lite forskning fra før. Prosjektet har satt fokus på hvordan PP-tjenesten kan bidra til inkludering av elever med de største vanskene i skolen, ved å kople det sakkyndige vurderingsarbeidet med utvikling av skoleorganisasjonen. Forskningsarbeidet har gitt retning til en samarbeidskompetanse i skole-PPT partnerskapet for å klare dette. Betydningen/nytteverdien av prosjektet i samfunnet for øvrig koples til at endring i måten å jobbe på kan bidra til at flere sårbare elever opplever at de fungerende i skole/barnehage, noe som trolig vil spare samfunnet for utgifter på lengre sikt.

Systemarbeid er blitt et sentralt begrep i så vel politikk som i pedagogisk-psykologisk tjeneste (PP-tjenesten) sin egen bevissthet omkring egne oppgaver og arbeidsmåter. Systemretting av PP-tjenestens sakkyndighetsarbeid forstås i dette prosjektet som systemarbeid integrert i- og som en del av sakkyndighetsarbeidet. Selv om PP-tjenesten har kunnskaper og legitimitet fra lovverket, er det behov for mer kunnskap om hvordan PP-tjenesten kan være til hjelp for skolene gjennom å systemrette det sakkyndige vurderingsarbeidet. Det finnes imidlertid ingen felles retningslinjer, planer, føringer eller felles forståelse for hvordan PP-rådgivere skal utøve denne systemrettede rådgiverrollen. Denne studien vil forsøke å svare på dette kunnskapsbehovet ved både å undersøke opplevde utfordringer knyttet til systemretting av sakkyndighetsarbeidet og å studere utprøving og implementering av en forskningsbasert arbeidsmodell som utgangspunkt for en mer systematisk og standardisert systemrettet sakkyndighetspraksis. Studien har en tredelt oppbygging: 1) Undersøkelse av PP-rådgiveres, skolelederes og læreres opplevelse av utfordringer ved systemretting av det sakkyndige vurderingsarbeidet. 2) Undersøkelse av utfordringer knyttet til utvikling og utprøving av en arbeidsmodell for bruk i PP-tjenestens systemrettede sakkyndighetsarbeid. 3) Undersøkelse av utfordringer knyttet til implementering av justert arbeidsmodell ved noen PP-kontor. Resultater fra studiens del 1 gir empirisk begrunnelse for utvikling av arbeidsmodell i studiens del 2. Resultater fra utprøving av arbeidsmodellen i studiens del 2 legges så til grunn for undersøkelse av implementering i studiens del 3. Teori om implementering av utdanningspolitiske vedtak vil sammen med systemperspektiver på ledelse og pedagogisk arbeid representere det teoretiske rammeverket. Studien vil ha en eksplorerende design og benytte både kvalitative intervju og q-metodologi. Det planlegges 3 artikler i fagfellevurderte tidsskrift.