Research and Teacher Education: The BERA-RSA inquiry. Policy and Practice within the United Kingdom.

Across the four jurisdictions of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) initial teacher education (ITE) is under active development, with its content, location, control and quality often the focuses of sustained debate. Statutory and professional requirements for the sector inevitably reflect differing assumptions about teaching, teacher knowledge and governance. In exploring ITE across the four jurisdictions, this paper reviews policies and practices through two major focuses: first, the relationships between the declared teacher standards (competencies/competences) and research-informed teacher education provision; second, the ‘turn or (re)turn to the practical’ in teacher education, including policy declarations, changes in practices, and emphases and effects of the discourse(s) of relevance

Pupil participation in Scottish schools: final report

This research was commissioned by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to evaluate the nature of pupil participation in primary and secondary schools across Scotland. The specific objectives of the research were: <p>· To describe what school staff and pupils understand by the term ‘pupil participation’.</p> <p>· To describe the range and usage of pupil participation mechanisms employed in schools.</p> <p>· To describe how school staff respect and respond to pupils’ views and ideas, and those of the wider community.</p> <p>· To identify the characteristics of schools and classrooms that facilitate effective pupil participation.</p> <p>· To identify possible barriers to the development of pupil participation in schools and to make suggestions about how these can be overcome.</p> <p>· To capture examples of effective practice of pupil participation.</p> <p>· To make suggestions about how pupil participation can help support the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence.</p&gt

Case Studies to Illustrate Psychological Literacy in Action: sharing activities to develop Psychological Literacy across the curriculum

While many psychology educators are keen to embed psychological literacy into their curricula, there are few practical resources. This poster presents case studies from our Compendium of Psychological Literacy (Taylor & Hulme, 2015) and illustrates the variety of methods of learning, teaching and assessment used to develop psychological literacy

International Edition of the Psychological Literacy Compendium

During 2014/15, the HEA funded the production of a Psychological Literacy Compendium of Case Studies providing examples of psychological literacy gathered from academics in the UK. Following this, we invited psychology academics to submit case studies for a second version of the Compendium and we opened invites to the International community at various conferences. We also invited previous contributors to submit revised version of their case studies showing how they had adapted them as a result of feedback and reflection. This International Compendium will be published online at the www.psychliteracy.com/ website and within our University repositories. The Compendium was presented at a Psychological Literacy Symposium at the EuroPLAT Conference held in Salzburg in September 2017 and it will be discussed within a workshop at the EFPTA Conference to be held in Reykjavik in April 2018. The case studies are presented in alphabetical order and while they are not fully representative of the work being carried out internationally, they provide a snapshot of good practice and hopefully will provide ideas for academics wishing to introduce psychological literacy into their curricula. We would like to thank all our contributors and if you are reading this and would like to contribute to the next edition please email one of us! Jacqui and Julie (February 2018) [email protected] [email protected]

Better communication research project : language and literacy attainment of pupils during early years and through KS2 : does teacher assessment at five provide a valid measure of children's current and future educational attainments?

It is well-established that language skills are amongst the best predictors of educational success. Consistent with this, findings from a population-based longitudinal study of parents and children in the UK indicate that language development at the age of two years predicts children’s performance on entering primary school. Moreover, children who enter school with poorly developed speech and language are at risk of literacy difficulties and educational underachievement is common in such children. Whatever the origin of children’s problems with language and communication, the poor educational attainment of children with language learning difficulties is an important concern for educational polic

Introducing a compendium of psychological literacy case studies: Reflections on psychological literacy in practice.

This article introduces a set of case studies that were submitted to us following requests in psychology conferences and publications, and through professional networks. The full versions of the case studies make up the first version of a Psychological Literacy Compendium of Practice that is available online at www.psychologicalliteracy.com. The first part of this article presents a brief synopsis of each case study and categorises case studies to allow those considering introducing psychological literacy activities to easily compare and contrast different approaches. Categories include: when the activity takes place in the curriculum; whether it is a core or elective unit, or optional activity, and assessment strategies. In the second section, we evaluate each case study in terms of which of the nine psychological attributes identified by McGovern et al (2010) each case study illustrates. This information can be used to assist curriculum design and quality assurance procedures, and highlights the need to define the attributes of psychological literacy that activities are designed to address. Finally, we conclude with a discussion and some suggestions for future work and activities. This article aims to highlight practical ideas to develop psychological literacy and to encourage academics and practitioners to use the Compendium to develop activities to embed psychological literacy within the Psychology curriculum

A Guide to Psychological Literacy and Psychologically Literate Global Citizenship.

This guide provides a basic introduction to the related concepts of psychological literacy and psychologically literate citizenship. Psychological literacy encapsulates the idea that an understanding of basic principles of human behaviour and development gained through study of Psychology will help us to better understand ourselves and others, and will help individuals and organisations to function better. Psychologically literate citizenship extends this idea, to incorporate the benefits that an understanding of Psychology can bring to the individuals who study it, and their local and global communities. The guide will argue that Psychology offers potential solutions to many of the world’s most pressing problems. Its publication is particularly timely following the report of Trapp, Banister, Ellis, Latto, Miell and Upton (2011) and the subsequent inclusion of psychological literacy within the criteria for accreditation of undergraduate Psychology degrees by the British Psychological Society (BPS 2012). The guide commences by introducing the theoretical contexts of psychological literacy and psychologically literate citizenship. It links these concepts to issues around graduate attributes, including employability and global citizenship, suggesting that psychologically literate graduates are also highly employable global citizens. It then goes on to outline some possible areas of the typical undergraduate Psychology curriculum that lend themselves to developing psychological literacy in students. These suggestions are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to stimulate creative thinking in the reader, and encourage psychologists everywhere to think about the real-life value of their particular areas of expertise in Psychology. We hope that you will find it useful, share it with your colleagu es, and use it to spark enthusiasm for Psychology in your students