Lesson 1

Burrhus Skinner (usually known as B. F. Skinner), a highly influential American psychologist, author, and inventor, pro-vides a more precise definition of the development of theory using scientific methods. He said:

'It [a theory] is an attempt to discover order, to show that certain events stand in lawful relations to other events. The methods of science are designed to clarify these uniformities and make them explicit'

Jimerson et al. (2008b: 132) provide an extensive list of the number of different titles that educational psychologists have around the world, the most common being 'school psychologist', but also the following:

'counsellor, professional of educational psychology, psychopedagog, psychologist in education, psychologist in the schools'.

Roles and responsibilities

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Ausubel's expository teaching model stresses meaningful verbal learning -

verbal information, ideas, and relationships among ideas, taken together. Therefore, Ausubel would assert that learning by heart by repetition (rote memorization) is not meaningful learning, because material learned by rote is not 'connected' with existing knowledge.

Special educational needs

voice can create hierarchical pupil power structures that result in silence and suppression for some pupils. Most evident with children who have special educational needs. They are least able to exercise their rights and are among the most marginalized of pupil groups. page 17

William James (1842-1910)

widely considered the 'father' of educational psychology, was among other things a philosopher. James was concerned with beliefs, truths, emotions, and how we know what we know - the 'nuts and bolts' of gaining know-ledge and developing cognitive abilities through experience.

Characteristics of educational psychologists

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Training and regulation of the profession

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inductive reasoning

specific to general

Philosophical foundations are the origins of educational psychology, with the word 'philosophy' deriving from the Greek philosophia which means....

'love of wisdom'. Philosophy is no mere musings about the meaning of life and the universe but rather the use of rational, critical and systematic logic to establish understandings about language, knowledge, values, and mind. page 6

External challenges

A common external challenge found in most countries was, perhaps unsurpri-singly, 'lack of money to properly fund services', with typically around 60-70 percent of respondents in each country citing this challenge. page 37

The school environment is one of the most governed childhood arenas outside of youth offending institutions, and a location where children are least able to assert their human rights:

Harris (2009) discusses how education law needs to catch up with child care law if it is to hold to the spirit of the Convention. page 16

Wellbeing

In addition to freedom from abuse, children have a right to wellbeing, leisure, and play. Bullying is a prominent issue in schools affecting a child's right to wellbeing. Cyberbullying is increasing.

Psychologist-child ratios

In some countries (e.g. the USA) an educational psychologist might be based in only one or two schools, while in others (e.g. England and Wales) educational psychologists might be responsible for 20 or more schools (and possibly other agencies), based in a central office alongside other psychologists who make up the local authority team.

Registration and licensing

In some countries there are regulations, or even laws, that require educational psychologists to be licenced or registered. For example, in the UK, educational psychologists have to be registered by law with the Health Professions Council (HPC), an independent regulatory body that is responsible for setting and maintaining professional standards for all health-related pro-fessional groups (e.g. speech and language therapists, physiotherapists) including educational psychologists. 35

Every Child Matters (ECM) Green Paper 2003

In the immediate aftermath of UNCRC many countries passed new legislation to embed the 41 articles, but the Government in England and Wales maintained that these were already covered by the 1989 Children's Act. However, at the United Nations Special Summit on Children's Rights (in 2002), the UK Government was criticized for not doing enough, especially in relation to children's participation. In response to this criticism, the Every Child Matters (ECM) Green Paper 2003 was fashioned and ultimately adopted into English law via the 2004 Children's Act. page 13

Maria Montessori

Montessori (1870-1952) was an Italian teacher, philosopher, and physician best known for her method of education for children from birth to adolescence. She was the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree and went on to work in the fields of psychiatry, education, and anthropology.. Might also have placed her in the philosopher/author column. She is an inspirational example of somebody who successfully linked child development and issues of social justice

Pupil voice

Participation theorists such as Shier (2001: 110) refer to a continuum that has listening at one end and power sharing at the other: children are listened to → children are supported in expressing their views → children's views are taken into account → children are involved in decision making processes → children share power and responsibility for decision making.

Research

Perhaps it is unsurprising that alongside the 'lack of research and evaluation' being highlighted as the biggest internal challenge to the profession, it was found that the majority of respondents in 10 of the 15 countries surveyed using the ISPS considered that research was 'very relevant' to the profession of educational psychology, with the majority in the other countries (Albania, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Switzerland) responding that it was 'somewhat relevant'. Only a very small minority in each country, and in some countries no respondents at all, replied that it was 'not relevant' 38

How many educational psychologists are there in the world?

Previous estimates have put a figure of around 87,000. However, a more recent survey of 51 countries that are known to have educational psychologists has estimated the figure to be around 76,100. page 31

Work preferences of educational psychologists

Respondents were asked about their likes and dislikes about the job, and common responses across countries for what they like about the profession were 'working with students and families, producing positive change', and 'professional autonomy and flexibility'. Common responses regarding least favourite aspects of the job included 'administrative responsibilities', 'overwhelming workload' and 'conflicts', for example between school and parents. page 34

Lundy (2007: 933) conceptualizes children's voice as being constituted in four parts, not one:

Space: Children must be given the opportunity to express a view Voice: Children must be facilitated to express their views Audience: The view must be listened to Influence: The view must be acted upon as appropriate.

1970 Education of the Handicapped Act

The 1970 Education Act established the absolute right of all children, irrespective of their disability, to a full education and the 'ineducable' category was finally abolished. However, no provision was made for children with severe learning difficulties and many continued to be educated in specialist schools or hospitals where behaviourist techniques were favoured.

Jean Piaget

The Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is arguably the most influential figure in educational psychology, particularly when others apply his theories of stages in cognitive development to educational contexts. Learner-centred education - good practice (arguably) around the globe in early childhood and primary school settings today - is deeply rooted in Piaget's theory that people learn best about the world through exploration of it rather than being told.

systematic observation

The careful observation of the natural world with the aim of better understanding it. Observations provide the basic data that allow scientists to track, tally, or otherwise organize information about the natural world.

Victoria Climbie 2000

The death of eight year old Victoria Climbie in 2000 led to a UK government-commissioned inquiry (Laming 2003), which highlighted and criticized the lack of appropriate training and liaison between professionals working with children and young people.

School councils

The growth of school councils has done much to raise awareness about the potential for pupils to play a part in leadership and management. School councils are forums that enable pupil representatives to take forward views and concerns of their peers into governance structures. 2002 Education Act. page 16

Here is one idea of how a good advance organizer for this chapter might read:

The history of educational psychology begins with its philosophical foundations in the late nineteenth century, follows attempts to apply scientific method to educational settings and now celebrates its current status as a fully recognized applied science in the second decade of the twenty-first century. page 6

Internal challenges

The most cited internal challenge across countries was lack of research and evaluation

Demographics: gender, age, and working hours

The people who make up the profession of educational psychology are predominantly female - up to 90-100 percent in some of the countries surveyed (Albania, Estonia, Georgia, and Russia) - while others were more evenly balanced, around 50 percent (Egypt, Germany, the UAE). However, most countries report a male-female ratio of around 1:2.

For the past century or so, educational psychology has been heavily influenced by research carried out in the....

USA, and reported in international research journals published in either the USA or the UK (Bridges 2006). page 4

UNCRC

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Page 12

The term 'educational psychology' is in itself something of a 'puzzle' for, as James (2001: 3) once said, 'Psychology is a science and teaching is an....

art'. So, it is important from the outset to appreciate that any combination of these two will clearly call for a unique blend of scientific knowledge and skilled applied practice. page 21

Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes:

being healthy; staying safe; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; and economic wellbeing. Schools and educational psychologists were required to incorporate these into their planning processes.

Cyril Burt

best known of all British educational psychologists. His early work in the 1920s set a 'template' where formal, individual assessments came to be seen as the cornerstone of educational psychologists' work. Burt's earliest assessments were, however, based on a 'deficit' medical model where psychometric tests were used primarily to identify the 'feeble-minded' who were deemed to be in need of 'care' rather than 'education'. page.22

Pupil-led research

children exercising the right to lead their own research about aspects of their education. page 18

advance organizers fall into one of two categories:

comparative and expository. Comparative organizers activate or reactivate (bring into working memory) already existing schemas. They remind you of what you already know but may not yet realize is connectable or relevant. Expository organizers provide new knowledge that pupils will need in order to understand the upcoming information.

For much of the twentieth century, the medical model of disability prevailed and doctors diagnosed children from four categories:

feeble-minded, moral-defective, imbecile, or idiot. Idiots were judged to be 'ineducable'.

meaningful verbal learning

focused and organized relationships among ideas and verbal information

The recent Green Paper (Department for Education, 2011), in proposing 'developmental surveillance' of children under the age of five years, would seem to have an inherent assumption that early, timely intervention will significantly lessen the...

former need for formal assessments. Any reduction in statutory assessment work then should be heralded as professionally 'liberating' for educational psychologists, allowing them 'to use their psychological skills more effectively' (Farrell et al. 2006: 4). Page 23

David Ausubel believed learners understand new knowledge using deductive reasoning -

from general ideas to specific cases

Indeed, of the 1.89 billion population of children across the world, it has been estimated that 379 million children will not....

have access to any educational psychology service at all, and another 939 million children will have access to a service that has a psychologist-child ratio of less than 1:10,000. Page 32

Without the pioneering and entrepreneurial climate of higher educational institutions in the USA, much of the work that has contributed to the development of the applied science of educational psychology would not.....

have been carried out. page 4

advance organizer

introductory statement broad enough to encompass all the information that will follow. Advance organizers can serve three purposes: they can direct your attention to what is important in the coming material; highlight relationships among ideas that will be presented; and remind you of relevant information you already have.

theory

is formed (in the context of educational psychology) by the systematic observation of how teachers and learners behave, and the causes and consequences of the behaviour. The scientific method organizes these observations in order to create a theory about the behaviour being observed. page 7

Competence-dominant theories

limit the self-agency of children in the exercising of their rights

The profession of educational psychology (also referred to as 'school psychology') is one that has been around in some countries for almost 100 years (e.g. the UK), while in others it is still...

not yet recognized as a profession at all. Page 31

Since 2004, the research by Shane Jimerson and colleagues from the University of California, under the auspices of the International School Psychology Association (ISPA), has played a crucial part in gaining better knowledge of the....

number of educational psychologists there are across the world, in which countries the profession exists, and the various roles and responsibilities that they have. Page 31.

It is therefore an almost impossible challenge to provide a definition of the role of the educational psychologist that covers the 83 countries of the world where the profession exists. However, Jimerson et al. (2007: 1), in their research of the identity of the profession the world over, have attempted to do so. They define the role as:

one that collectively provides individual assessment of children who may display cognitive, emotional, social or behavioural difficulties; develops and implements primary and secondary intervention programmes; consults with teachers, parents and other relevant professionals; engages in programme development and evaluation; conducts research and helps prepare and supervise others. page 32

The right to an education

page 14. Essentially, children have the right 'to' an education but no right to 'decline' an education. Children's Rights Alliance England (CRAE).

Not all our 18 leading psychologists engaged in scientific method to formulate theory. Remember that William James, as well as being a medical practitioner, was principally a....

philosopher, an original thinker, and a linker between the disciplines of physiology, psychology and philosophy. In contrast, Piaget not only observed and made sense of what he observed, but applied scientific methods to create and check out his emerging theories of cognitive development and learning. page 9

corporal punishment

physical punishment. Previous generations grew up with it. Sweden led the way, banning corporal punishment in 1979. Most European countries followed suit over different time scales, e.g. Finland as early as 1983 and Portugal as late as 2007. In the UK, legislation to ban corporal punishment in state schools was passed in 1987 (more than a decade later for private schools). However, corporal punishment is still allowed in many non-European countries, putting them in direct conflict with Article 19 of the UNCRC. page 15

deductive reasoning

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

social-constructivist theories

recognize the emancipatory status of the children as social actors with evolving capacities

The Warnock Report (1978)

replaced offensive terms with "learning difficulties"

Don't Stick It, Stop it! research campaign in 2007 page 15

revealed that 80 percent of children with learning difficulties were being bullied at school - 60 percent had been physically hurt by bullies. For 27 percent of children with learning difficulties, the bullying lasted three or more years.

Scandinavian countries are most likely to be the trailblazers of children's rights in education. Sweden banned corporal punishment a quarter of a century ahead of some of its European neighbours. Norway lowered the age of participation from 12 to.....

seven, making it a legal requirement that seven-year-olds be given the opportunity to express themselves and legislating for 15-year-olds to make decisions about their own education, religion, and membership of organizations page 18

Educational psychologists are 'applied scientists' working across the social contexts of the school, the family, and society. Educational psychology, like education itself, is influenced by both political and societal factors and this becomes particularly evident when looking at the broader, international picture where even the 'prevalence' of educational psychologists is quite diverse: while countries such as the USA, Finland, Denmark, and France report a....

significant presence of educational psychologists, Jimerson and his colleagues found that in German and Italian schools, educational psychologists are 'almost non-existent'

epistemology

study/theory of knowledge. Branch of philosophy that William James was drawn to.

Maria Montessori believed

that each child is born with a unique potential which can be 'revealed' by their early experiences including the type of education they receive.

David Ausubel believed

that people acquire knowledge primarily through reasoning from concepts, principles, and ideas presented by a teacher. They do not necessarily discover the knowledge for themselves, as some others on our list of 18 would suggest. page. 5

Consultation versus individual casework

the role of educational psychologists should involve an element of consultation in order to be effective as practitioners; i.e. practitioners who are able to advise teachers as well as senior school personnel.