The Role of the Educational Psychologist (EP)

The Role of an Educational Psychologist

  • Primary Functions:

    • To apply psychological theory and concepts in educational settings/ practice.

    • All fits around the needs of the child.

    • Support children and young people aged 0-25 to achieve their potential encompassing:

    • Development

    • Well-being

    • Learning- reading and writing. Can be the last factor to look at. What the above two needs to change. Some may be in position where they can’t learn.

    • Trauma

    • Safeguarding

    • Impact on the parents

    • Exclusion

    • Pre-school children- SLT needs (delays) or a lack of opportunities. See who are developing after for example Easter after having time to settle and teachers have time to input strategies after starting in September. What further input is needed for the children who haven’t caught up.

    • 0-25’s now have an IDP instead of statements. Level of ‘protection’ and legal documents in order to get their needs met. The targets should shift the focus from literacy and numeracy and focus more on social relationships/ well-being. Aspects that will impact their functions.

    • Liaise with paeditricians.

Major Approaches to Educational Psychology

  • Key Psychological Approaches:

    • Behaviouristic

    • Chief Exponents: JB Watson, BF Skinner, IP Pavlov, EL Thorndike, Guthrie, Hull.

    • Main Focus: Overt behaviour and stimulus-response.

    • Cognitive

    • Chief Exponents: J Piaget, J S Bruner, Ausubel.

    • Main Focus: Cognitive processes and conditioning, schema development.

    • Psychoanalytic

    • Chief Exponents: S Freud, CG Jung, Adler.

    • Main Focus: Unconscious processes, motivation, and libidinal orientation.

    • Humanistic

    • Chief Exponents: Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, A.W. Combs.

    • Main Focus: Personalised experiences and self-actualization.

    • Neurobiological

    • Chief Exponents: Ramón y Cajal, Mc Connel, Hyden, Flexner, Kohler, Lewin, EC Tolman.

    • Main Focus: Nervous system structure and function of the brain.

  • ABAS screening/ assessment- behaviours that can help with daily living.

  • How they are learning- what strategies are being used to support individual children.

  • Environment- what is happening in the school? Presentation of the school.

  • Teacher- can be a make or break to work with teachers to allow the change.

  • Growth and development- puberty.

The Eclectic Learning Approach

  • Suites each child’s needs- the foundation phase.

  • However, doesn’t give enough time for children to catch up. Ensure that children have the solid foundation base/ critical skills to learning e.g. timetable.

  • See the above in prisons.

  • Educating parents and sharing knowledge e.g. reading to children etc.

  • May be harder in secondary school. Year 7- are they ready from year 6 interactive sessions etc.

  • The new curriculum for Wales- teachers can decide what works and what skills need to be achieved and how to go about that.

Who Do Educational Psychologists Serve?

  • Key Stakeholders:

    • Individuals, groups, and various professionals:

    • School staff.

    • Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCO).

    • Parents and carers.

    • Families.

    • Education professionals.

    • Health professionals- SLT (mostly in schools), links are improving with health and education.

    • Social care professionals- can be more difficult

    • Systems and organisations.

    • Trainee Educational Psychologists.

  • Activities Involved:

    • Planning meetings- Teams around the school (TAS).

    • Observation,

    • Consultation- set targets and discussions.

    • Plan-do-review cycles, need for schools to touch base if they need more support.

    • Assessment e.g. blob trees, scaling, ideal school/ non-ideal school

    • EP advice regarding ALN reforms (statutory work- legal duty) decisions if a child has a ALN. Need to be seen within 12 weeks. How to hold on to the non-statutory children.

    • Writing reports,

    • Conducting home visits/joint visits,

    • Multi-agency meetings.

    • Making further referrals,

    • Participating in forums and panels,

    • Trauma informed- pushing for the needs of the child/ teacher relationship. School bonding questionnaire. Staff knowing the children’s name and getting to know their interests/ views. Can take correction because they had a connection. Advocacy- SLT’s and EP’s- offering a voice of reason as an outside point of view. We build these relationships to be able to share the concerns- correction because connection- earn the right to be able to spark where to go and give a nudge. Thinking about how you’re saying things and not being “the expert”.

    • Help lines/drop-ins.

    • Delivering training (particularly in person)

    • Critical incident teams (deaths, terrorists etc.) Supporting staff and reassuring parents- after an incident.

    • Engaging in research

    • Policy development/reviewing.

    • Goal: Promote understanding of needs and work towards developing solutions, acting as a fresh pair of eyes and the voice of the child for inclusion.

Locations of Educational Psychologists' Work

  • Settings:

    • Schools (mainstream, specialist, independent).

    • Nurseries/ pre-school. Trying to support the parents to avoid negative experiences/ starts. PRUDA assessments for children to be diagnosed for autism sooner- may be too early for this diagnose. May be diagnosing too early before beginning a setting- see how they are in different environments. Social learning theory.

    • Colleges.

    • Resource provisions (e.g. learning, behaviour, language resource provision (LRC). No support for secondary for LRC.

    • Pupil Referral Units (PRU).

    • Children’s centres. EBSA- children that can become school avoidant. Literacy and SLT needs very prevalent here.

    • Clinics.

    • Out of county placements. Looked after children.

Example Week Structure

  • Weekly Schedule:

    • Monday: Assessment Year 2.

    • Tuesday: Observations and meetings, including a meeting with mother, ABAS assessments at school and home.

    • Wednesday: Attend multi-agency meetings and secondary review meeting.

    • Thursday: Observations and teacher meetings in nursery.

    • Use the Neurodevelopmental Profile tool for assessments involving student, foster carer, and teacher.

    • Friday: Reports preparation, planning meetings concerning new ALNCO, administrative tasks, peer supervision.

  • Portage: heling children and parents with play skills

  • MAP meetings will be conducted regularly to facilitate collaboration among educational psychologists, teachers, and parents to monitor student progress and strategize interventions. Police can also be involved.

  • LIFT (Learning Interventions for Families and Teachers): A program designed to support children's learning needs through collaboration between educational psychologists, teachers, and families. Parents/ schools need to the knowledge to implement this at home- lack of experience and parenting e.g. toilet training.

Assessment Tools Used by Educational Psychologists

  • Standard Assessments:

    • WISC-V (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fifth Edition).

    • ABAS-3 (Adaptive Behavior Assessment System – Third Edition).

    • BAS3 (British Ability Scales – Third Edition).

    • BRIEF2 (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Second Edition).

    • PAR assessments for various cognitive and behavioural evaluations.

    • York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension.

Terminology of Learning Difficulties

  • General Learning Difficulties:

    • Definition: Below average performance across various skills, categorized as mild, moderate, severe, or profound.

  • Specific Learning Difficulties:

    • Definition: Below average skills in a specific area, such as:

    • Dyslexia: issues with word reading/spelling.

    • Dyscalculia: difficulties with number skills.

    • Specific speech and language difficulties.

  • More Able and Talented / Strengths:

    • Definition: Skills above the average range.

  • If they have difficulties across the board- general learning difficulty.

  • DLD diagnostic scale has changed the standard scores.

Educational Psychologist's Involvement

  • Main Routes of Involvement:

    • Through collaboration with the school's ALNCO/SENCO.

    • Discussion between school and home environments.

    • Communication with other professionals.

    • Graduated response through the school, gathering information over time.

    • Parental requests for involvement where applicable.

    • Consideration regarding ALN (Additional Learning Needs) and the Individual Development Plan (IDP) process, which may involve either the school or local authority requesting EP advice.

    • Parental consent is necessary for involvement.

Conclusion on the Role of Educational Psychologists

  • Value Added: Educational psychologists are viewed as a fresh pair of eyes, consolidating various perspectives to see the bigger picture; they collate and share views from a variety of perspectives, focusing on both strengths and difficulties. The child is considered the primary client of the Educational Psychologist.