Promoting Change in Schools

Abstract

The central purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that a primary role of the consultant is to serve as a change agent in the school. By “change,” we are referring to the purposeful alteration of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of children, adolescents, and adults who are part of the school setting. Given our definition of consultation presented in Chapter 1, the psychologist acts in a direct, face-to-face manner to change the beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors of the adults who are consultees. In turn, consultees work with students, intervening directly in classroom-based problems. To serve as an effective change agent, the consultant needs to understand issues of social power and interpersonal influence and how both relate to the consultant/consultee relationship.