- integral part of the school file, principal’s book, guidance and counselling
portfolio.
Psychological knowledge is a difficult and complex process requiring specific
competences and aptitudes for an objective evaluation. Both school specialists
(educational counsellors, psychologists) and those who directly work with children and
adolescents: teachers, tutors, teacher counsellors etc. focus on the following aspects when
filling out a school record:
- data gathering to identify the pupil;
- observing behaviour, skills, cognitive particularities, as apparent along the
entire educational process and not sporadically (except for some significant
situations); - investigating one’s personal experience / style: What do they think? What do
they feel? How do they behave? What difficulties do they encounter? What
do they like best? How do they relate to the others? What do they want to
change? What are the most important objectives? What is the network of
significant persons in their life? How do they perceive their own family?
What strengths do they consider themselves to have? etc.; - making a synthesis of the data meant to support pupils in their decisions in
school / professional realm.
Counsellors are required to give a practical proof of competence in identifying the
obstacles of psychological assessment that is necessary in such a method: lack of
standardized instruments for the target population, lack of experience in using them, non-
existence of basic training programmes (e.g. elements of psycho-diagnostic, methodology
of psychological assessment, methods of personality assessment, projective tests,
psychological statistics, etc.), the oscillating trust in the counsellor, and last but not least
unavailability of license or copyright of tests and questionnaires for assessment in
accordance to the Law no. 213 of 2004 regarding the practice of free-lanced
psychologists, founding, organization and functioning of the College of Psychologists in
Romania. (www.apsi.ro, http://www.copsi.ro )
Method presentation
Known under various names (e.g. psycho-pedagogical characterization, pedagogical
record, psychological record, educational and vocational guidance record, observation
chart, etc.), and already established in the vocabulary of people engaged in education, we
have concluded that student record :