By Sarah Murray For educational psychologists, much of our work is centred around supporting and fostering positive relationships. To achieve this within my work I am grateful to be able to apply Video Enhanced Reflective Practice, more commonly known as “VERP”. Within this approach, the aim is to support the adults with whom we work … Continue reading “Using video to connect, reflect and grow”
Category: educational psychology
Working together for mental health: moving beyond the psychiatry/ psychology dichotomy
By Hannah Pugh and Marc Doyle Last week, the trainees on the doctorate course in educational psychology at the University of Birmingham came together for a day on mental health. The morning focused upon the role of psychiatrists and we were fortunate to hear about this from Professor Matthew Broome (Director of the Institute for … Continue reading “Working together for mental health: moving beyond the psychiatry/ psychology dichotomy”
Growth Mindset: it’s not just a poster on the wall
By Sasha Mandair The idea of a growth mindset has captured the imagination of many teachers. This can be seen in the number of posters displayed in classrooms, that promote a growth mindset. When I was teaching, many colleagues in my school decided to have these posters around their rooms. Despite this, the idea of a growth mindset is not always well understood in schools and what is often missed is that the teacher’s mindset is as … Continue reading “Growth Mindset: it’s not just a poster on the wall”
Educational Psychology and Youth Justice
By Huw Williams The work of educational psychologists is often assumed to be with children who have special educational needs and disabilities. In reality, we work in a diverse range of settings. One example of this diversity is the area of youth justice. In this arena increasing numbers of educational psychologists are working … Continue reading “Educational Psychology and Youth Justice”
A review of the year
By Julia Howe As we head towards the end of 2018 this seems a good moment to pause and reflect on why we decided to start a blog for our initial training course in educational psychology and what we have achieved so far. We had a number of reasons for why we wanted to start this blog: … Continue reading “A review of the year”
Defying the risks of disadvantage
By Rachael Mulcare In support of International Volunteer Day I would like to share my experiences of working as a mentor with the Social Mobility Foundation. Growing up in a single parent family in inner-city Birmingham, I am familiar with the challenges of social disadvantage and deprivation for people from low income backgrounds. The … Continue reading “Defying the risks of disadvantage”
A Lament for Universal Approaches in the Early Years
By Anita Soni and Anjam Sultana World Children’s Day was established by the United Nations in 1954, with the aim of promoting the welfare of children around the world. To mark this day we are considering how children’s welfare in England has been affected by the reduction of universal services for children and their families. Last … Continue reading “A Lament for Universal Approaches in the Early Years”
Mental Health Matters
By Sarah Prall As part of the training course for educational psychologists at the University of Birmingham, we have two days every year when all three groups of trainees come together. These “3 cohort days” give us a chance to get to know one another across year groups and also to spend some time looking … Continue reading “Mental Health Matters”
Representation Matters: Decolonising Education
By Anjam Sultana One of the things I am interested in as an educational psychologist, is how educational institutions influence and shape the identities of Black and minority ethnic students. What is taught in school contributes to the sense of belonging and identity that students develop. Knowledge is not neutral and what we choose to … Continue reading “Representation Matters: Decolonising Education”
Mental Health: What have educational psychologists got to do with it?
By James Birchwood On World Mental Health Day it seems a good time to consider how the work of educational psychologists can support the mental health of children and young people in our schools. Recent media coverage has focused upon a mental health “crisis” and the lack of services to support children and young people. … Continue reading “Mental Health: What have educational psychologists got to do with it?”