Social representations of the educational psychologist in high school vocational students from Cundinamarca (Colombia). Representaciones sociales del psicólogo educativo en estudiantes de educación media vocacional de Cundinamarca (Colombia).

Abstract

The herein study has as objective to describe the social representations that youth in two educational contexts as traditional place of the psychologist practice in Colombia might have. In the research there were 48 participants, 24 females, and 24 males from two private educational institutions, one rural and the other one urban in the Department of Cundinamarca. A qualitative narrative topic investigation design was implemented, and focus group and field diary were used as methodological strategies. The categories built for the analysis were: knowledge, attitudes, practices, gender and experiences. The results showed the presence of three figurative nucleus organizers of the meanings around the psychologist in both contexts. The results are discussed in relation to the social discourse that supports the youths’ meanings and the practices of the psychology professionals that reproduce them in the everyday school context.