The educational philosophy of the program parallels both the university’s "student-centered, practice-oriented, and urban" mission and the ecological model of psychological theory. This model guides the program in its continuing development and in its education of students in theory, research, and practice. The ecological model, as articulated by Bronfenbrenner (1979), suggests a theoretical structure for the training of practitioner/scientists who understand and are able to practice psychology in a socio-cultural context. The ecological model draws heavily from the concepts of Lewin's field theory, as developed by Barker (1978) and others in community psychology (e.g., Orford, 1992; Duffy & Wong, 1996); they emphasized that, in addition to intra-psychic factors, there are many environmental factors that shape individuals.    

The ecological model allows for the conceptualization of relationships among various aspects of the individual (i.e., biological, cultural, and relational), in numerous forms of social organizations (i.e., families, schools, neighborhoods, communities, vocational settings), and through multiple structural influences (i.e., socioeconomic factors, social policy, reward systems). Traditionally, the discipline and practice of psychology have focused more upon the individual and internal influences and less upon the context and environment of the person. The ecological model takes a multi-leveled perspective by including the influences of the social context and the environment in relation to the individual. The model also requires consideration of structural forces operating on individuals and promotes continued evaluation of current constructs and standards for theory, research, and practice.

The merging of the school and counseling tracks in the combined program offers students opportunities to broaden their understanding of the dynamics of change and of changing roles over the life span. For example, a school psychologist, looking at a child in a classroom, will recognize that the child's situation and functioning are affected by a convergence of influences, many of which stem from outside the classroom. In addition to family, peer group, and other interpersonal contacts, the ecological model recognizes that part of the convergence impacting the child include economic, political, cultural, gender, and environmental issues. Further, the child and his/her family may or may not be able to speak about other factors, such as bureaucratic processes, high costs, and the limited availability of resources that reduce access to services. Thus, the ecological perspective encourages practicing and studying psychology within a broad perspective and viewing intervention as involving an array of possibilities. These possibilities can go beyond what is done in the clinical setting by engaging and influencing the client's environment and how it is perceived.

References

Barker, R. (1978). Ecological psychology: Concepts and methods for studying the environment of human behavior. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and

design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Duffy, K. G., & Wong, F. Y. (1996). Community psychology. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.