Situated Observation in School Psychology: A Practice-Based Framework for Context-Sensitive Assessment and Consultation

Abstract

Assessment practices in school psychology are increasingly shaped by demands for evidence‑based practice alongside calls for culturally responsive and context‑sensitive approaches. Although observation is widely used in practice, it is often marginalized within research and evaluated according to psychometric criteria poorly aligned with its situated and interpretive forms. This article proposes ‘situated observation’ as a professional craft and develops a framework based on five lenses: participation, central social situation, thick description, analytical framing, and use in consultation. Drawing on anthropological and practice‑based research and illustrated through empirical material from a practice research project, the framework provides school psychologists with practical ways of strengthening observation to support context‑sensitive assessment and collaborative consultation.