Educational Psychology Dr Catherine Kitchen Educational Psychologist from the Educational Psychology and Behaviour Support Team (EPBST), East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Discussion What do you know already about the role of an EP? What do you hope to get out of this session?
What s good about being an EP? Apply psychology Exciting Variety/breadth Challenging Diverse work with children Observations Discussions Assessments Interventions Group work Diverse work with adults Teachers Parents Other agencies (CAMHS, Social Workers etc)
What type of skills are required? Effective communicator (verbal and written) Good at building a rapport children and adults Flexible Ability to prioritise and manage work Collaborative working Reflective practitioner
What is a typical week? Mon Morning Secondary School Visit to pupil referral unit Afternoon Home visit for a pre-schooler Tue Primary School Primary School Wed Thurs Autism panel Primary School Multi-agency meeting for child at risk of exclusion School staff training Office admin (report writing, liaison, preparation, e-mails) Team meeting Office admin Fri Special school Group work in a secondary school
Training Three year Doctorate training course (previously a one year Masters) 12 universities in Britain offer the training. Closest institutions to Hull are Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham. Applications are made through the Children s Workforce Development Council (CWDC).
Recruitment of trainees 2011 Recruitment to educational psychology doctorates The government is reviewing Special Educational Needs policy with a view to publishing a Green Paper in the autumn. This review may consider the contribution made by specialist services such as educational psychology. In light of this review of national policy we have been advised by the Department for Education not to make any guarantees regarding future provision and funding until the Green Paper is published. As such the recruitment process for the 2011/12 cohort is on hold until we have further information (CWDC)
Doctor of Educational and Child Psychology (DEdCPsy) at Sheffield For September 2010 cohort Year 1: full time student, including 2 days per week placement in Local Authority (LA) Bursary, approximately 14,400, administered by CWDC Y2 and 3 LA employment and student status; 2 days (Y2) then 1 day (Y3) per week spent on university activity Salary negotiable, maybe 21 29,000 Normally, apply Autumn for following September intake NB - Qualified EP paid on Soulbury Scale (often starting around 35,000)
Entry Requirements for Training Course Good Honours Degree in Psychology, or equivalent, giving GBR (Graduate Basis for Registration) Relevant experience working with children within educational, childcare or community settings (min of one to two years full time) What counts as relevant experience?
Relevant Experience Teacher Teaching assistant Assistant educational psychologist Education social worker Behaviour support worker Early years worker Youth work Assistant speech and language therapist Connexions advisor Voluntary work Learning mentor
Most Importantly Courses will be primarily be interested in: What applicants have learnt from their experiences that is relevant to work as an EP How they have been able to apply the knowledge of psychology gained through first degrees (BPS, December 2005)
What can you do if you re interested in a career as an EP? Get relevant experience working with children Think about how you apply psychology in this work Consider choosing a relevant research project in your third year undergraduate degree Keep up to date with what is going on in education (e.g.tes, the Every Child Matters agenda) Keep up to date with psychology (The Psychologist, other journals) Find out about Educational Psychology (shadowing, speaking to EPs about role etc) Go to university open days
Questions
Useful websites CWDC Information about the application process, FAQs and links to all the universities offering training: http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/education al-psychology The British Psychological Society http://www.bps.org.uk/ The Association of Educational Psychologists http://www.aep.org.uk/