School Psychology in context: Perception, challenges, and students’ wellbeing in mainstream Kazakhstani secondary schools

Abstract

The paper presented here is part of a collaborative research project between researchers at Nazarbayev University and Cambridge University that began in 2015 and was funded by the British Council in the Institutional Links Newton-Al-Farabi program. In very general terms, the project aims to examine how schools (teachers, principals, students, parents, school psychologists) define and conceptualize wellbeing in general but also through the academic year, with special attention to vulnerable populations, for instance, students living in Rural settings or deprived regions, and those under extreme academic stress, such as students in specialized schools for gifted children.