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Peer Reviewed Publications by Gerald Wurf
Educational Psychology Review, 2021
A student’s sense of school belonging is critical to school success, yet internationally, a large... more A student’s sense of school belonging is critical to school success, yet internationally, a large proportion of secondary students do not feel that they belong to their school. However, little is understood about how schools can address this issue, nor what evidence-based interventions are available to increase belonging among secondary school students. The aim of this study is to identify and critically review the evidence on school-based interventions that increase a sense of school belonging in adolescents. Seven electronic databases and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from 1999 to February 2021 using ‘school belonging’ and ‘intervention’ amongst the key search terms. A total of 22 controlled trials were identified with 14 studies reporting effective school-based interventions for enhancing a sense of adolescent school belonging. Successful interventions targeted students’ strengths and promoted positive interactions between students and between school staff and students. Overall, this review found a paucity of interventions that intentionally aimed to develop adolescent school belonging. Inconsistencies in terminology use and definitions describing school belonging were identified even when similar measurement tools were utilised. Findings of this review have important practice implications and provide information to support schools to select evidence-based interventions to improve students’ sense of school belonging.
School Psychology, 2021
This exploratory study aimed to identify the ways psychologists working in schools supported stud... more This exploratory study aimed to identify the ways psychologists working in schools supported students' mental health during school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was developed to determine (a) how psychologists working in schools across the United States, Canada, Germany, and Australia supported students' mental health during COVID-19, (b) how their services changed during COVID-19, and (c) potential differences between countries concerning difficulties supporting students' mental health during this time. The survey was based on previous research and was subsequently piloted. Using convenience and snowball sampling, 938 participants (U.S. n = 665; Canada n = 48; Germany n = 140; Australia n = 85) completed the online survey. Overall, school psychology services across these four countries pivoted from psychoeducational assessments to virtual counseling, consultation, and the development/posting of online support directly to children or parents to use with their children. There was some variation between countries; during the pandemic, significantly more psychologists in Germany and Australia provided telehealth/telecounseling than those in the United States and Canada, and psychologists in Germany provided significantly more hardcopy material to support children than psychologists in other countries. There is a need to ensure psychologists have the appropriate technological skills to support school communities during periods of school closure, including, but not limited to, virtual counseling and the administration of psychoeducational assessments. Impact and Implications This study provides insight into the practices of psychology practitioners working in schools across the United States, Canada, Germany, and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a broad shift from the provision of psychoeducational assessments to virtual counseling, consultation and the development/posting of online interventions and resources. It is critical that psychologists working in schools have the appropriate technological skills to support students, parents, and school staff during periods of school closure.
Papers by Gerald Wurf
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Journal of Loss and Trauma
Children
Young people have emerged as one of the most impacted groups from the COVID-19 pandemic and relat... more Young people have emerged as one of the most impacted groups from the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions to daily activities, with disruptions to schooling, social interactions, and connections. Simultaneously, students’ access to school mental health professionals were restricted or modified. The aim of this paper was to identify how school mental health professionals supported and addressed the mental health needs of young people during COVID-19 restrictions in Australia. School mental health professionals were surveyed during the 2020 lockdowns using a questionnaire designed by researchers in the United States of America. The innovations school mental health staff adopted to support students during lockdowns and remote learning were presented, including telehealth services, digital resources, and the online training and support they received/provided. The barriers and facilitators to providing counselling and assessment services during lockdowns were identified, including...
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
School Mental Health
Despite a strong body of evidence demonstrating the importance of school belonging across multipl... more Despite a strong body of evidence demonstrating the importance of school belonging across multiple measures of wellbeing and academic outcomes, many students still do not feel a sense of belonging to their school. Moreover, school closures caused by COVID-19 lockdowns have exacerbated challenges for developing a student’s sense of school belonging. The current study used closed- and open-ended survey questions to explore student perspectives of practices influencing belonging in a sample of 184 Australian secondary school students. Thematic analysis of student responses to open-ended survey questions yielded four themes related to teacher-level practices influencing student belonging: emotional support, support for learning, social connection, and respect, inclusion and diversity. The implications of these findings are discussed, and strategies are suggested for implementing these student-identified practices.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
How to be an Educational and Developmental Psychologist
Title from title page (viewed Jan. 25, 2005) Text (Electronic book) Mode of access: World wide We... more Title from title page (viewed Jan. 25, 2005) Text (Electronic book) Mode of access: World wide Web. Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-83)
Middle Management in Action, 2002
Sustainable development goals series, Nov 11, 2022
Educational Psychology Review, 2021
A student’s sense of school belonging is critical to school success, yet internationally, a large... more A student’s sense of school belonging is critical to school success, yet internationally, a large proportion of secondary students do not feel that they belong to their school. However, little is understood about how schools can address this issue, nor what evidence-based interventions are available to increase belonging among secondary school students. The aim of this study is to identify and critically review the evidence on school-based interventions that increase a sense of school belonging in adolescents. Seven electronic databases and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched from 1999 to February 2021 using ‘school belonging’ and ‘intervention’ amongst the key search terms. A total of 22 controlled trials were identified with 14 studies reporting effective school-based interventions for enhancing a sense of adolescent school belonging. Successful interventions targeted students’ strengths and promoted positive interactions between students and between school staff and students. Overall, this review found a paucity of interventions that intentionally aimed to develop adolescent school belonging. Inconsistencies in terminology use and definitions describing school belonging were identified even when similar measurement tools were utilised. Findings of this review have important practice implications and provide information to support schools to select evidence-based interventions to improve students’ sense of school belonging.
School Psychology, 2021
This exploratory study aimed to identify the ways psychologists working in schools supported stud... more This exploratory study aimed to identify the ways psychologists working in schools supported students' mental health during school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was developed to determine (a) how psychologists working in schools across the United States, Canada, Germany, and Australia supported students' mental health during COVID-19, (b) how their services changed during COVID-19, and (c) potential differences between countries concerning difficulties supporting students' mental health during this time. The survey was based on previous research and was subsequently piloted. Using convenience and snowball sampling, 938 participants (U.S. n = 665; Canada n = 48; Germany n = 140; Australia n = 85) completed the online survey. Overall, school psychology services across these four countries pivoted from psychoeducational assessments to virtual counseling, consultation, and the development/posting of online support directly to children or parents to use with their children. There was some variation between countries; during the pandemic, significantly more psychologists in Germany and Australia provided telehealth/telecounseling than those in the United States and Canada, and psychologists in Germany provided significantly more hardcopy material to support children than psychologists in other countries. There is a need to ensure psychologists have the appropriate technological skills to support school communities during periods of school closure, including, but not limited to, virtual counseling and the administration of psychoeducational assessments. Impact and Implications This study provides insight into the practices of psychology practitioners working in schools across the United States, Canada, Germany, and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a broad shift from the provision of psychoeducational assessments to virtual counseling, consultation and the development/posting of online interventions and resources. It is critical that psychologists working in schools have the appropriate technological skills to support students, parents, and school staff during periods of school closure.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Journal of Loss and Trauma
Children
Young people have emerged as one of the most impacted groups from the COVID-19 pandemic and relat... more Young people have emerged as one of the most impacted groups from the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions to daily activities, with disruptions to schooling, social interactions, and connections. Simultaneously, students’ access to school mental health professionals were restricted or modified. The aim of this paper was to identify how school mental health professionals supported and addressed the mental health needs of young people during COVID-19 restrictions in Australia. School mental health professionals were surveyed during the 2020 lockdowns using a questionnaire designed by researchers in the United States of America. The innovations school mental health staff adopted to support students during lockdowns and remote learning were presented, including telehealth services, digital resources, and the online training and support they received/provided. The barriers and facilitators to providing counselling and assessment services during lockdowns were identified, including...
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
School Mental Health
Despite a strong body of evidence demonstrating the importance of school belonging across multipl... more Despite a strong body of evidence demonstrating the importance of school belonging across multiple measures of wellbeing and academic outcomes, many students still do not feel a sense of belonging to their school. Moreover, school closures caused by COVID-19 lockdowns have exacerbated challenges for developing a student’s sense of school belonging. The current study used closed- and open-ended survey questions to explore student perspectives of practices influencing belonging in a sample of 184 Australian secondary school students. Thematic analysis of student responses to open-ended survey questions yielded four themes related to teacher-level practices influencing student belonging: emotional support, support for learning, social connection, and respect, inclusion and diversity. The implications of these findings are discussed, and strategies are suggested for implementing these student-identified practices.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
Routledge eBooks, Apr 28, 2023
How to be an Educational and Developmental Psychologist
Title from title page (viewed Jan. 25, 2005) Text (Electronic book) Mode of access: World wide We... more Title from title page (viewed Jan. 25, 2005) Text (Electronic book) Mode of access: World wide Web. Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1994. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-83)
Middle Management in Action, 2002
Sustainable development goals series, Nov 11, 2022
School Psychology International
COVID-19 presented a range of challenges to the delivery of school psychology services in countri... more COVID-19 presented a range of challenges to the delivery of school psychology services in countries around the world. The current study aimed to investigate the practices of school psychologists from the United States of America, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, including changes to practice and exploration of the factors that supported the delivery of school psychology services during the pandemic. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 1,030 school psychologists and analyzed using a mixed methods, multiple case study design. Differing impacts of the pandemic on the working hours of school psychologists were reported across countries. Participants in all countries reported a shift to online working, with an increased focus on consultation and intervention and a reduction in psychoeducational assessments. School psychologists from all nations emphazised the importance of self-care strategies, social connections and physical activity and the role of ...