Ethical conduct and competence – experiences of teaching and assessing ethical sensitivity and reasoning on an initial school psychology training programme

Abstract

The ethical competence of school psychology trainees and graduates is of key importance to students, training providers, regulatory bodies, employers and most importantly the public for whom we provide psychological services. In the UK, a broader national context of systemic failures, and the tragic consequences of such failures, to adhere to ethical standards across the private and public (e.g. residential care homes) sector informs approaches to and judgements of ethical competence. In this part of the symposium Dr. Emma-Kate Kennedy focuses on the experiences of one initial training provider in England following the implementation of new guidance from the British Psychological Society [BPS] on the teaching and assessment of ethics. The learning approaches highlighted in the guidance – becoming acculturated to the ethics of psychology, meeting the developmental needs of trainees and considering both the philosophical and the practical and experiential – have been applied with the most recent cohort of first year trainees across all aspects of their training (tutorial, supervision, placement, teaching seminars and workshops). Institutional perspectives on taking up the role of teachers and assessors of ethical competence are explored further in the workshop, and a critical review of strengths and areas to further enhance is provided