Arnold, Christopher

Leadbetter, Jane

Tavistock and Portman E-Prints Online

children was being promoted andadvocated.  In the USA the state of Massachusettsstarted a process of compulsory and freeeducation for primary-aged pupils in1852. Other states followed suit and bythe early 20th century all states hadsimilar legislation.In England the 1870 Education Actpaved the way for compulsory educationfor young people from five to 12 years(although a pupil could leave at the age of 10 if a satisfactory standard had beenreached). The process was completed by1880 (although not for all children until1972 when education was provided forthe most severely disabled children by the1970 Education Act). In France similarlegislation was passed in 1882. With the introduction of universaleducation came new challenges. Childrenwho previously would not have beenconsidered educable were admitted toschools. It was clear that some childrenhad difficulties not manifested by the vastmajority of others. Medical practitionershad long been accustomed to diagnosinga wide range of handicapping conditions.It is difficult not to feel some revulsion inthe labels used to categorise children atthe turn of the 20th century: the termsidiot, imbecile, retarded and feeble-mindedwere all commonly used to categorisechildren. Although deemed offensive now,at the time they were used to attempt todiscriminate between different types ofchildren having what we now mightdescribe as special needs.  Alfred Binet, working in France, had developed an interest in intelligenceand along with Théodore Simon becameinterested in children with learningdifficulties. He pointed to theinconsistencies around diagnosis:One child, called imbecile in the firstcertificate, is marked idiot in thesecond, feeble-minded (débile) in thethird, and degenerate in the fourth.(Binet & Simon 1916/1980)Binet observed three key problems withthe way that children were allocated toThe first educational psychologist (EP)was appointed in Britain in 1913; itis therefore timely for the professionto reflect on its roots and consider how farit has come in the intervening 100 years.Cyril Burt (later Sir Cyril) was appointedas an educational psychologist withinLondon County Council not long afterthe emergence of the new discipline ofpsychology. This article traces the earlyinfluences leading to this significantappointment from the core disciplines ofpsychology and education. A whistle-stoptour of the intervening years then bringsus up to date with an overview of thecurrent range of work undertaken andtopical issues affecting the profession.Direct roots in psychologyThe first university department dedicatedto psychology was opened in 1879 whenWilhelm Wundt established the Institutefor Experimental Psychology in Leipzig.The first English university to have apsychology department was Cambridge,with William H.R. Rivers being appointedas lecturer in physiological andexperimental psychology in 1897. By1901 he had a room, by 1903 a building,and by 1912 there was a recognisablelaboratory. This department might havehad a laboratory at an earlier date, but in1877 the university authorities inCambridge refused this on the groundsthat it ‘would insult religion by puttingthe soul on a pair of scales’ (cited inArnold, 2013). The first Englishpsychology journal was published in1904, in which James Ward defined thesubject thus: ‘psychology will furnish… a description of normal mental processesand their development, more or lessincomplete, no doubt, but as systematic as far as it goes’ (Ward, 1904, p.3)Moving from its parent discipline ofphilosophy, towards the end of the 19thcentury two developing areas ofpsychology were becoming established:the experimentalists and the therapists.Both drew inspiration from theapplication of the scientific method toproblems of the mind and both believedthey were making discoveries about thebrain and how it functioned. Meanwhile a very different development was toestablish a new field in which to work. In the second half of the 19th centuryprimary education started becoming botha universal right and obligation in manycountries, such as the USA, UK andFrance. This provided new opportunitiesto apply existing ideas about thefunctioning of the brain to the challengesof universal education. Working within educationalcontextsBy the late 19th century psychology hadboth a research base and methods forhelping people with some kind of mentaldisorder. The developments that were tofollow came from different politicalinitiatives, whereby in several countriesaccess to universal, free education for696 vol 26 no 9 september 2013Arnold, C. (2013). Origins. In C. Arnold &J. Hardy (Eds.) British educationalpsychology: The first hundred years(pp.1–9). Leicester: BritishPsychological Society.Binet, A. & Simon, T. (1980). Thedevelopment of intelligence in children.Baltimore, MD: Williams and Williams.(Original work published 1916)Burden, R. (1978). Schools’ systemsanalysis: A project-centred approach.In B. Gillham (Ed.) Reconstructingeducational psychology. London:Croom Helm.Burt, C. (1927). The young delinquent.London: University of London Press.Dessent, T. (1978). The historicaldevelopment of school psychologicalservices. In B. Gillham (Ed.)Reconstructing educational psychology.London: Croom Helm.Gillham, B. (1978). Reconstructingeducational psychology. London:Croom Helm.Leadbetter, J. (2000). Patterns of servicedelivery in educational psychologyservices: Some implications forpractice. Educational Psychology inPractice, 16(4), 449–460.Leadbetter, J. (2008). Activity theory andthe professional practice ofeducational psychology in B. Kelly, L.Woolfson & J. Boyle (Eds.) (2008)Frameworks for practice in educationalpsychology. London: Jessica Kingsley.Leadbetter, J. (2011). Change anddevelopment in the professionalpractice of educational psychologistsin the UK. In H. Daniels & M.Hedegaard (Eds.) Vygotsky and specialneeds education. London: Continuum.Leyden. G. (1978). The process ofreconstruction. In B. Gillham (Ed.)Reconstructing educational psychology.referencesLOOKING BACKA hundred years of applied psychology Jane Leadbetter andChristopher Arnold look back over the history of educationalpsychology in Britaineugenics movement was born, and Galtonhoped that this new science would replacereligion with a universal way ofdeveloping the human race. Burt wasclearly aware of eugenics and the possibleapplication to different human problems.Other countries had similar ideas. In ItalyLombroso wrote in 1888: Born criminals, including hopelessrecidivists and the morally insane,should be considered as incurable; all of them should be confined for lifein a criminal asylum, or relegated to a penal colony, or else condemned todeath. (Lombroso, 1888, cited in Burt1927)Burt rejected this stance and suggestedthat there was ‘no single and simpledisposition to crime’. He urged that weidentify the differences between what isinherited and what is inborn andconcluded that it would not be possible to identify a separate race that wasresponsible for criminal acts. Accordingly,he rejected any notion of the ‘eugenicsolution’ in matters relating to humans. Burt’s appointment in 1913 included,as part of his role, surveying the profile ofpupils’ needs in London schools andhelping teachers to respond to them. Hewas also expected to undertake researchas part of his remit; an activity that is stilla key component of the role of EPs today.Burt became a controversial figure in laterlife and after his death, and his workcontinues to be the subject of somedebate. However, the arguments andcontroversy relate to his later career as an academic rather than when he waspractising as a psychologist. A summary of educationalpsychology in BritainFrom one EP appointed in 1913, we now have over 3000 working in Britain.As noted earlier, some of the tasksundertaken by Burt are still within thecurrent role expectations, but theexpansion has been vast. Of particularnote is the exponential increase in EPsworking to support other professionals,mainly teachers, through consultation andadvice. It is possible to analyse thechanges that have taken place since thoseearly days using ideas and concepts fromactivity theory (Leadbetter, 2008),whereby the focus of activities, desiredoutcomes, rules governing work, toolsused, involvement of others and divisionof labour can be identified and comparedacross the changing sociocultural andhistorical contexts. Through suchscrutiny, transformations in practices canbe observed.The Second World War providedample opportunity for psychologists todevelop their therapeutic and supportiveskills as many children were evacuatedfrom their families, resulting indisturbances to family life. Additionally,with fathers away from the home,uncertainty surrounding individual and collective futures existed. In manyfamilies, mothers were going out to workfor the first time and there were severepressures on families and childrenresulting in greater numbers referred forchild guidance. By about 1944 there were about 70child guidance clinics in the UK (Dessent,1978). The publication of an EducationAct in 1944 introduced, amongst manychanges, the concept of educational sub-normality and also establishedmaladjustment as a handicappingcondition in the same way that blindnessor deafness existed. In terms of theindustry of categorisation, labelling,discriminating and selecting, this createdever-new vistas for psychologists. At thistime, many psychologists were spendingsome of their time working as part of a child guidance team and part of the time within a school psychologicalservice. This latter development wasessentially post-war and marked thebeginnings of educational psychologistsworking directly in schools. It would begratifying to report that EPs worked withschools but in fact they tended to replicatethe practices undertaken in clinicalsettings, namely testing, within variouscorners of school buildings. However, the1944 Education Act, by including morechildren within the legitimate remit ofeducation, at least provided a forum forspecial classes; ignorance on the part ofthe physician diagnosing the condition,variability in the terms adopted and lackof precision in the description of thesymptoms. He described previousmethods as medical and pedagogical. The medical approach aimed to diagnoseinferior intelligence by analysis ofanatomical, physiological andpathological elements. The pedagogicalmethod assessed the knowledge ofthe child and judged theintelligence from this, but hisproposed psychological methodused direct measurements andobservations to assess intelligence.Hence, Binet and Simon went onto develop a series of tests that,they felt, measured the intelligenceof a child at a point in time. Theseearly tests were used to selectchildren for special classes andspecial education. Whether suchchildren who were moved intospecialist provision benefited from specialist support for theirlearning or whether the tests hadbeen used merely as a means ofremoving them from themainstream is unclear. However,this task of selecting particularchildren for a different educationalexperience has remained a coreactivity for educationalpsychologists to the present day;some would say to the detriment of thedevelopment of the profession as a whole.Burt and his influencesIn the late 19th century and early in the20th century, when Burt was studying,Galton was researching within the fieldsof biology and genetics, studying thenatural world in particular. His half-cousin was Charles Darwin and he startedto apply Darwin’s ideas of naturalselection to the concept of race inhumans. He described the processes ofselective breeding adopted for somebreeds of horses and used it to warn ofthe dangers of over-selection. Thus theread discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk 697looking backLondon: Croom Helm.Reid, R.S. (1976). Editorial. AEP Journal, 4(1).Scottish Executive (2002). Review of provisionof educational psychology services inScotland: The Currie Report. Edinburgh.Topping, K.J. (1978). The role and function ofthe educational psychologist: The wayforward? AEP Journal, 4(5), 20–29.Ward, J. (1904) On the definition ofpsychology. British Journal of Psychology,1(1), 3–25.Burt urged that we identify the differencesbetween what is inherited and what is inbornquestions to be asked about provision for these new groups of children.Numbers of educational psychologistsincreased, so that a report by UNESCO in 1948, indicates that there were about70–100 educational psychologists inEngland and Wales, but many of thosewere part-time. Although the numbers of educationalpsychologists increased rapidly throughthe 1950s and 1960s, the balance of workseems to have been rarely challenged withindividual casework predominant. Theincrease in posts was in part due to thefact that more children were comingwithin the purview of education, as the1970 Education Act deemed that childrenpreviously labelled educationally sub-normal should now become theresponsibility of education departments.To an extent, this group of pupils pavedthe way for psychologists to begin toemploy behavioural principles in theirwork, something that had not beenprevalent up to this point. However, this new approach was necessary in orderto design suitable curricula, teachingprogrammes and behaviour managementtechniques. Against the custom and practiceformed over many decades, in differentparts of the UK, newtechniques, roles andmodels of practice werebeing discussed and insome cases put intopractice. Leyden (1978)portrays a picture of theclimate and cultureagainst which this happened:Faced with school populations of20,000 to 30,000 and a system of openreferrals with no initial screening, theenthusiasm for testing began towane, initially on the simple groundsthat it was inappropriate andimpossible for the large number ofchildren referred. (pp.163–4)The seminal text ReconstructingEducational Psychology (Gillham, 1978)brought together a collection of writers,all educational psychologists, whorepresented the frustrations anddissatisfactions, felt by many, surroundingthe role of educational psychologists.Clearly, the medical model was stillperceived to be dominant, and at thispoint in the history of the profession,when role definition was particularlycrucial, Topping (1978) suggested that,even though many EPs were beginning toquestion a medical model of professionalpractice, this premise:…remains firmly part of the cognitivemap of the teaching profession, andteachers’ expectations ofpsychologists  in many areas are stillcouched in terms of the ‘assessmentand treatment’ of individual children,who, by virtue of needing suchattention, must be ‘abnormal’. (p.21)Thus pressures relating to expectationsfrom the medical profession shifted, orwere perhaps augmented by pressuresarising from the new colleagues withwhom EPs worked, namely teachers.Burden (1978) offered aconceptualisation of the role of the EP as being concerned with the widerenvironment, employing systemic andpreventative approaches, and this was awelcome relief to many EPs dissatisfiedwith the narrowly defined role previouslyoutlined. This conceptualisation of therole also represents the beginnings of ‘the great debate’, as it came to be known(Reid, 1976). Other writers since thistime have typified the tensions that existbetween the push to undertake crisis-driven individualised work with childrenand the belief that preventative, systemicapplications of psychology are moreeffective; a debate mirrored in manystrands of professional psychology to this day. The next period oftime saw a significantshift in role definition for EPs as the professiongained, for the first time,a statutory functionwithin special needslegislation. This was heraldedby many as an important move, in thatthe status, position and specific skills andknowledge of EPs were recognised for thefirst time. However, with hindsight othercommentators have reflected that it wasthe beginning of a different type ofstraitjacket for the profession. The 1981Education Act introduced a statutoryrequirement for all children who mayhave special educational needs to undergoa full assessment by a range ofprofessionals, including, in all cases, aneducational psychologist, employed by alocal education authority. This resulted inEPs often adjudicating about allocation ofscarce resources, providing lengthyassessments and thus leaving little timefor more preventative, intervention-basedwork. As statutory demands oneducational psychologists have continuedto increase, there has been a continuingdetermination on the part of EPs toexpand their activities beyond workingwith individual children. This hasresulted in the use of a wide range ofapproaches, including sharing, or, somewould say, giving away psychology,through training in schools and othersettings (Leadbetter, 2011).Practice is constantly changing inresponse to role demands and also to newknowledge and skill development withinthe profession (Leadbetter, 2000). Morerecently there has been a move towards a different model of engagement betweenschools and educational psychologists,and this is characterised by thedevelopment of consultation in many EPservices. Consultation, particularly withteachers, has grown in popularity as it isseen to offer opportunities for EPs todraw upon a broad range of psychologicalapproaches and to work in a more equalpartnership with teachers and others whowish to consult with EPs. Consultationhas been defined in many different waysand is implemented in different EPservices in Britain with varying degrees of rigour, but it has been a key mode ofservice delivery in a majority of servicesthroughout the past two decades. Current priorities and futuredemandsKey areas of work for EPs continue to be around assessment, intervention,consultation, research and training asdetailed in the Currie Report (ScottishExecutive, 2002), with some EP servicesspecialising in one area rather thananother. EPs are diversifying in terms oftheir work bases, although most EPs stillwork within the public sector for localauthorities. However, increasingly withinlocal authorities, educationalpsychologists are trading with schoolsand other settings and are providingservices, which were previously deliveredfree of charge, at a cost. Thiscommercialisation of the role is resultingin tensions and ethical debates but is alsoopening up new opportunities for creativeuses of psychology. The use of evidence-informed practice and increasing demandto support children and young people’smental health and well-being are twocurrent priority areas for practitionereducational psychologists. The futurelooks positive but it remains informativeand fascinating to reflect on when andhow the profession started.698 vol 26 no 9 september 2013looking backI Jane Leadbetter is Tutor in EducationalPsychology and Senior EducationalPsychologist, Birmingham EPS, University of Birmingham j.v.leadbetter@bham.ac.ukI Christopher Arnold is with SandwellCouncil christopher_arnold@sandwell.gov.uk“Practice is constantlychanging in response torole demands”

A hundred years of applied psychology

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