World*Go*Round, Vol. 31, No. 4, September, 2004

Letter from the President 

As I write this letter, memories of Exeter are still fresh in my mind. Everyone I have talked to who was at the colloquium seemed to enjoy themselves, to have benefited from meeting so many school psychologists from around the world and to have learned a great deal from the scientific programme. Bob Burden and his team did a great job in organising the event and in being so  patient when answering everybody’s questions and dealing with day to day problems. So I am sure all members will join with me in thanking them for running such a successful colloquium.  

For me personally, I always carry away a mixture of emotions after an ISPA colloquium. These include feelings of contentment, relief, sadness and anticipation. Contentment, because, like always, I met old friends and made some new ones, I learned a lot from attending seminars and key note presentations and I enjoyed the social programme. Relief, because there were no disasters, e.g. it only rained a few times, the key note speakers all turned up and the programme went along smoothly. Sadness, because the buzz that I feel when attending colloquium cannot last for ever and we all return to the mundaneness of our lives back at work. Anticipation, because I am looking forward eagerly to the next colloquium! 

Yes, I am already looking at brochures about Athens! Sissy and her team put on a mouth-watering presentation at the closing ceremony - the venue and the setting seem to be just perfect for the next colloquium. 

But there is always more to the colloquium than the social programme, the tours, seminars, workshops and key note presentations. This year the leadership workshop, once again, was devoted to a lengthy discussion about the future of the Association. Indeed an extremely well attended follow up discussion was also held during the colloquium. You can read Nora Katona.s report on the workshop elsewhere in this issue of WGR and so my comments are more of a personal reflection on the issues that were raised. 

Inevitably people who attend the Leadership Workshop (LW) tend to have at least three things in common. First, they are experienced members of ISPA, second, they hold senior positions in school psychology in their own countries and third, they tend to be creative and visionary regarding the future of schools psychology around the world. This exciting combination always results in there being lively and interesting discussions at the LW during which all sorts of radical and creative ideas can be put forward. In this infections atmosphere, anything seems possible! However, all of us also have a job to do in our own countries, the creative ideas put forward at the LW may not seem so feasible in the cold light of day especially when we only meet together once a year. Hence it is not surprising that the visions and ideals for the development of ISPA that can be voiced at the LW do not always turn into reality.  

And there is a further point. ISPA is not a rich organization, almost all of the work carried out so efficiently by the central office staff is dome on a voluntary basis. If we were to expand our activities and increase our visibility and influence around the world, we would need to secure additional sources of income and we would need to employ professional staff to manage our affairs. Hence there are very real practical difficulties to overcome if ISPA is to make radical changes.  

For these reasons it is important for ISPA to set realistic goals for the next few years. As referred to in my annual report, presented elsewhere in the issue of WGR, the staff in the central office will retire in the next two to three years. Hence one of our key goals is to find an alternative way of managing the affairs of the Association once this change takes place. All  of this needs to be set within the context of an agreed core mission. For the aim of the new central office will be to help us to achieve our goals for the next few years. At the LW we Agreed that the Colloquium is probably our core product in that it is the main activity with which ISPA is associated. This provides a springboard from which other initiatives can develop. However the general view was that ISPA is not ready, or able, to make more radical changes. 

All of this may sound a little pessimistic or down beat. But this is not my intention. ISPA is involved in a range of interesting activities as my annual report indicates. The web page is a fantastic source of information, articles in WGR reflect a wide range of valuable and useful work in which we are all engaged, some of our committees are actively involved in work that should further our knowledge about school psychology world wide and which, in their small way, may contribute to furthering the development of children and young people in different countries.  

So I remain optimistic about the future. ISPA is a fantastic organisation whose members are dedicated to moving school psychology forward; the colloquium provides an excellent opportunity for us to meet and to share ideas. Our goals should be to build on the success of what we have, to be creative in our thinking about how we can move forward but to base our plans on the realities of what is possible. 

Peter Farrell President of ISPA