Hello!
For my second-ever entry here on this blog, I thought I'd write about something I get asked frequently by a variety of people, when they learn both my field of study and what my graduate assistantship is.
First, I am in the school psychology program here at William and Mary. School psychology isn't school counseling, but that's kind of close. It is a student service, but more instructional/academic/I won't be using a couch and Freudian techniques (not that school counselors do that, of course). Real quick, school psychologists pretty much tackle everything in schools, primarily educational and cognitive testing, behavior plans, classroom placement, academic interventions, special education interventions etc. The profession itself can vary from county to county, school to school.
So, the question I get asked a lot is "What is a (future) school psychologist doing working in an art museum?"
The quick answer: pretty much anything and everything.
While art, art history and museum were brand new to me when I came to graduate school, I was ready for a challenge, for something new. Here at the museum, I lend my knowledge of education to exhibition openings, school outreach, developmentally appropriate materials, student art classes etc. I get to work with students of all ages and abilities, while stretching my own creative legs. I get to jump on research topics and projects, and will hopefully be learning grant writing. For a graduate assistantship, that's not half-bad. (Sure beats PDFing whole books and data entry all day!)
Within the past year, and I can imagine within this coming year, I have been given the opportunity to jump on so many projects and experiences... I'm going to have one interesting and packed curriculum vitae when I interview for internship positions next Spring!
So, it seems the real question should be "Why aren't there more future school psychologists working in art museums?"
~Kathryn
