In my master's thesis I focused on the role of psychologists employed in Slovenian primary schools. I was interested in how psychologists perceive their role and how their colleagues, who are experts in a different field, perceive psychologists’ role. I examined what are the work tasks of psychologists, how they are involved in the work with students with special needs and how the team collaborates in working with this group of students. I also wanted to identify the competencies and shortcomings of the psychologist in working with students. To this end, I included psychologists and their team colleagues who were experts in a different field in the sample. There were 16 participants from eight different Slovenian primary schools. I conducted a semi-structured interview with all of them and analysed the answers according to the grounded theory. It turned out that psychologists in primary schools have a variety of work tasks and play an important role in carrying out diagnostics of students with special needs. The participants report that they work well together in a team and share a lot of information and expertise. They perceive that psychologists are most competent in working with students who have emotional or behavioural problems. They express empathy at work and have a good feeling for working with students. According to the participants, psychologists mainly lack knowledge in the special pedagogical field. Psychologists would like to improve their diagnostic skills and their colleagues perceive that psychologists might be less proactive compared to other professionals. This research will provide us with an insight into the diverse work of psychologists working in primary schools, especially in the area of working with students with special needs and teamwork. It also raises the question of the need for supervision for counselors employed at schools.
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