Are Educational Psychologists Stressed? A Pilot Study of Educational Psychologists’ Perceptions

This paper describes an exploratory pilot research project, aimed at investigating occupational stress amongst educational psychologists. It investigated three areas: educational psychologists’ perceptions of their own stress levels, sources of stress and possible work conditions, which may reduce stress levels. Data was collected via questionnaires, which were distributed amongst four educational psychology services. The results indicate that 58% of educational psychologists in this study feel that their work as educational psychologists is at least moderately stressful or more. The biggest source of stress was cited as “amount of work” and in direct relation to this, having “more administration time” was identified as the most likely reducer of stress.     

Getting Started in Academia: A Guide for Educational Psychologists

We identify the major tasks facing pre-tenure faculty members and outline advice, based on a review of the literature and our experiences, for succeeding in academia. The challenges encountered by new faculty include learning the culture of the new academic institution, understanding the processes and policies for academic performance review, establishing meaningful and constructive mentoring relationships, creating a sustainable research agenda as well as fostering the writing attitudes and strategies that promote turning research projects into publications. Also included are recommendations for developing expertise in teaching, cultivating healthy and productive relationships with advisees, and fulfilling service responsibilities. Finally, we suggest strategies for balancing the multiple, and sometimes competing, demands and expectations.     

The Role of Educational Psychology in Teacher Education: Three Challenges for Educational Psychologists

Data-driven decision making has become an essential component of educational practice across all levels, from chief state school officers to classroom teachers, and has received unprecedented attention in terms of policy and financial support. It was included as one of the four pillars in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009), indicating that federal education officials seek to ensure that data and evidence are used to inform policy and practice. This article describes the emergence of data-driven decision making as a topic of interest, some of the challenges to and opportunities for data use, and how the principles of educational psychology can and must be used to inform how educators are using data and the examination of its impact on educational practice.     

A Model of Effective Fieldwork Supervision for Trainee Educational Psychologists

This study seeks to provide current survey data from qualified psychologists about effective supervision, in view of increased fieldwork supervision demands, due to restructured initial professional training. A model of effective fieldwork supervision emerges in which a well‐managed and communicative partnership between trainee psychologist and supervisor is formed, in the context of the psychological service, its partners and clients. The authors anticipate that this may support the supervision needs of qualified colleagues, and speculate upon what additional provisions might be relevant in Years 2 and 3 when trainee psychologists will have a dual role as university students and practitioners within services.     

In Memory of Michael Pressley: A Role Model for 21st-Century Educational Psychologists

This article honors the contributions of Michael Pressley and examines 5 roles that were critical to his work as an educational psychologist: teacher, scholar, critic, builder, and mentor. We draw on Michael's life to illustrate how he carried out each of these roles and propose that educational psychologists in higher education in the new millennium should assume all 5 of these roles throughout the majority of their careers.     

The Use of Dynamic Assessment by Educational Psychologists in the UK

Training in Dynamic Assessment (DA) was rarely available in the UK until 1994. This is the first study to explore the outcomes of its availability in terms of the practice of DA and perceptions about it among educational psychologists (EPs). One hundred and nineteen EPs, who had taken positive steps to inform themselves about DA by undertaking some degree of training or by joining a DA interest group, were surveyed to explore the extent of their initial training in DA, subsequent use of it and issues of implementation. Overall, the 88 responses (74%) received suggest, among those surveyed, widespread awareness of DA as a model of cognitive assessment and positive attitudes to it, coupled with a low level of implementation. The low level of use was frequently attributed to insufficient training in DA, to lack of time due to other assessment priorities, often set by the local education authority, and to lack of the ongoing expert support felt to be necessary to maintain use of a demanding form of assessment. The authors take the position that the EP's repertoire would be enriched by improved knowledge of and training in DA. The research raises important issues for cognitive assessment and raises the broader question whether there is a need for the more proactive involvement of educators in enhancing the cognitive functioning of children.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Applications for Educational Psychologists within Schools

Guidance for schools regarding the promotion and enhancement of psychological wellbeing represents an invitation to intervene to promote effective, evidence-informed, whole-school approaches for school staff, students and parents. With its transdiagnostic approach and evidence from empirical literature, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is asserted as a coherent psychological model that has potential to support schools in developing effective and sustainable practices to promote psychological wellbeing. Three ways of applying ACT within educational contexts are discussed, demonstrating potential utility of the model: supporting school staff wellbeing; targeted interventions for children and young people; and a potential universal application, through the development of an ACT-based emotional health and wellbeing curriculum.     

A Survey of Educational Psychologists’ Views on the Delivery of Behaviour Modification

The survey reported here was principally aimed at exploring the views of practising educational psychologists in the United Kingdom as to their implementation of behaviour modification. Approximately 10‐15 questionnaires were sent to each of 22 Psychological Services randomly selected from the Directory of School Psychological Services and Child Guidance Services. Seventy‐eight questionnaires (nearly 31% of those sent out) were received in time for their contents to be analysed. Two findings of the present survey are that an overwhelming majority of practising educational psychologists do not recommend behaviour modification in its traditional form, and that few educational psychologists believe that traditional behaviour modification can or should be implemented without any adaptation. An interesting, and somewhat unexpected finding, is that a vast majority of the respondents hold somewhat ‘and’ attitudes towards the traditional form of behaviour modification, although more experienced educational psychologists are somewhat less antagonistic.     

Educational Psychologists’ Contribution to the Every Child Matters Agenda: The parents’ view

In the DfES review of the role and contribution of educational psychologists (2006) the views of a range of different stakeholders were surveyed about the work that EPs do. As part of this process, questionnaires were devised and sent out to 300 parents, 30 from 10 local authorities (LA), distributed by the principal educational psychologist in each LA. Thirty per cent of parents completed the questionnaires and their responses indicated that they valued highly the contribution made by EPs to the outcomes for their child. Their responses also illustrate the broad range of work in which EPs are involved and the multiprofessional nature of support that is available. In this paper, the main findings from the survey are discussed and consideration is given to their implications for the future development of EP services.     

教育评价中的模糊综合评价方法

本文根据模糊综合评价的基本原理，就如何应用模糊综合评价实现教育评价的量化作一般性的讨论。     

Collaboration Between Educational Psychologists and Speech and Language Therapists: Barriers and opportunities

This paper reports a study that aimed to investigate the perspectives of educational psychologists (EPs) and speech and language therapists (SLTs) about collaborative practices across these two services, to identify any barriers to collaboration and to explore how these could be overcome. The views of EPs and SLTs in two local authorities were sought using a questionnaire. Data analysis identified differences relating to professional and attitudinal issues, revealing divergent views about assessment and resource allocation. Communication difficulties were also identified. Approaches to develop effective collaborative practice are discussed and the importance of creating opportunities to deliver joint training in schools is highlighted.     

发展性评价的教育人类学解读

发展是人类的生存方式,教育是人类的本质需求,人的发展与教育具有多维的动态关系.同时人的发展是教育人类学研究的核心问题,从教育人类学视角解读人的发展观,在此基础上重新解释人的发展性评价,从而提出文化多元背景下教育评价尊重差异的合理化走向.     

Lesson study: an inter-professional collaboration approach for Educational Psychologists to improve teaching and learning

This paper describes an innovative use of Lesson Study (LS), an internationally used collaborative approach in which teachers develop their teaching knowledge and practices. It aimed to evaluate how EPs join teachers in LS teams, using working memory and other knowledge to inform the teaching of pupils with learning difficulties. The study uses a case study methodology to evaluate LS teams (three teachers and EP) in a primary, secondary and special school. The findings show how working memory knowledge is used in reviewing and planning research lessons, how the teams interact, including the teachers’ perceived EP contribution to the Lesson Study process. The paper illustrates the potential of an inter-professional LS study to embody collaborative reflective practice in order to improve the teaching of pupils with learning difficulties.     

Munchausen syndrome by proxy: A family affair

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is an unusual form of child abuse: a child presents with an illness that has been factitiously produced by a parent, typically the mother. A case of chronic illicit insulin administration to a one-year-old girl is described. Despite temporary separation of the child from the mother and long-term psychiatric intervention, factitious illnesses continued, including urine specimen contamination, laxative-induced diarrhea, suspected bladder catheterization, and suspected poisoning. Retrospective review of the medical records of the mother and two siblings demonstrated previously unrecognized evidence of factitious illnesses. The medical records contained evidence of 30 separate episodes of suspected or documented factitious illness in these four members of the same family. This unique family illustrates the significant morbidity of Munchausen syndrome by proxy and a poor response to psychiatric treatment.     

The Development of Teacher Appraisal: A Recent History

The Conservative government made appraisal compulsory to monitor teaching more effectively. Unable to elicit the type of data required, the process became marginalised. Labour is now turning to appraisal to raise standards. Though appearing more conciliatory, it is argued that the end result will be to achieve the Conservatives' original aim of controlling teachers     

Conversations with Three Highly Productive Educational Psychologists: Richard Anderson, Richard Mayer, and Michael Pressley

This article seeks to answer the question, “What factors characterize highly productive educational psychologists?” Using qualitative research methods, we identified three top scholars in educational psychology—Richard Anderson, Richard Mayer, and Michael Pressley—and examined factors that influence their work. Although each scholar had a distinctive trademark characteristic, they had much in common. Each had an impressive lineage, gravitated to centers of excellence, was guided by routine, contributed significantly to educational service, pursued outside interests, strived for clarity in writing, collaborated heavily and effectively with students, and shared the same guiding philosophy regarding scholarly productivity. The article concludes with advice to budding educational psychologists and with unanswered questions that perhaps merit further research.     

高校网络教育资源评价的探讨

随着教育信息化的发展,网络教育资源作为高校教育信息化的重要组成部分,发挥着越来越重要的作用。科学的评价体系是提高高校网络教育资源质量和服务的重要保障。评价目标、评价指标、评价方法和评价策略是建构科学的评价体系的核心内容,通过对上述评价体系核心内容进行深入地探讨,以推动科学的高校网络资源评价体系的完善和发展。     

A family affair: The effect of family on Thai students’ choices of international education

This study examines the influence of family on Thai students’ choices of international education. A qualitative phase indicated that influence from family can be slotted into one of five categories: finance, information, expectation, persuasion, and competition. The choices of international education can be classified into the decision to study abroad, choice of country, city, academic program, and of university. Subsequent quantitative analysis demonstrated that students from family with direct experience of study abroad are, themselves, subject to higher family expectation to study abroad than students from family without direct experience. The impact of social competition on students is more profound for those from Bangkok, than for those from other areas in Thailand. Furthermore, Thai students from households comprising nuclear family are more highly influenced by family than individuals from extended and alternative family households. The study has implications for marketing practices in higher education institutions, in particular those which market themselves to Thailand.