I’ve seen teachers taking bit of stick recently. This paper, published today, might offer a little insight for those who have never been in a classroom but are quick to disparage the contribution of school staff
John McMullen
@jdmcmullen.bsky.social
Programme Director of the Doctorate in Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology at QUB. Research/intervention with war-affected children (DRC, Uganda, Palestine, NI)
Huge congratulations to our DECAP Year 3 trainees - Natalie Armstrong, Joe Bailie, Brónach Crabtree, Aisling Daly, Fionnuala Donald, Aisling Donnelly, Niamh Harron, Mairead Mayock, Deborah McGettigan, Gemma Megarry and Laura Sheerin who passed their vivas last week 👏
🌟 New blog Recently, communities across the UK, like those in Belfast and Southampton, have experienced tension, violence and racism. John, Hassan and Chris offer guidance on how to support pupils following these events. Read here: edpsy.org.uk/blog/2026/su... #Belfast #Southampton #edpsychs
Our #QUBPsych researchers, clinicians, policymakers and frontline workers have come together today to discuss trauma, mental health and legal issues that refugee and asylum seekers face. We were pleased to welcome guests from Denmark, the Netherlands and Poland. https://ow.ly/ZZVK50Z8RgM
One of our year 2 trainee educational psychologists would love to hear from you if you teach in SPiM provision in NI. Complete the survey at this link below eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
📢 “Beat the Traffic; improving air quality to help children learn”. We are hosting a free, online ESRC Festival of Social Science event, exploring links between traffic-related air pollution and child cognitive development. Details below- festivalofsocialscience.com/events/beat-...
Beat the traffic: improving air quality to help children learn | Events | Festival of Social Science
Interactive online session exploring links between traffic-related air pollution and child cognitive development — and actions to address it Join Dr Aoibhe Kieran and Dr John…
festivalofsocialscience.com
A statement from our CEO Moazzam Malik on the news that the government is cutting the UK aid budget to fund an increase in defence spending:
📢 Call for #edpsychs for a DECAP study on the knowledge of EPs on preterm birth & its impact on assessing children born pre-term (a repeated measures intervention study). Details below Pre-questionnaire: www.psytoolkit.org/c/3.4.4/surv... Post-questionnaire: www.psytoolkit.org/c/3.4.4/surv...
A ceasefire at last. The exact same agreement could have happened over a year ago. 18,000 children dead. Every school, every hospital, every university destroyed. What was the point? What was achieved? Why did so many of our societies, public figures, churches etc refuse to call for a ceasefire?
414 full classrooms of school-aged children, more than 11,000, have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023. As children go back to school this week a Save the Children volunteer went to Westminster to take a stand against the war on children in Gaza.
If there had been more US presidents like Carter we wouldn’t have spent the past year witnessing a genocide www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
From Panama to Palestine, Jimmy Carter refused to let his moral voice be silenced
Carter signed treaties to hand over the Panama Canal and criticized Israel, drawing respect and fury past his one term
theguardian.com
Absolutely thrilled for this one… thank you @uel-eprap.bsky.social for the opportunity to share my work.
‘For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good-will to men’ www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...
Death feels imminent for 96% of children in Gaza, study finds
Needs assessment by NGO reveals the huge psychological impact of the war with Israel on young people
theguardian.com
Such an interesting and important keynote by @joniholmes.bsky.social at our @decap_qub CPD day, focussing on neurodiversity and ‘learning beyond the label’. 180 EPs, AEPs and TEPs in attendance!
My thesis article on social justice in EP practice has now been published in the Journal of Educational and Child Psychology (BPS) in a special edition on Intersectional Identities, Education, Psychology and Social Justice: explore.bps.org.uk/content/bpse... #edpsychs
‘If you see something that’s not right, we need to challenge it.’ A critical review and qualitative exploration of Educational Psychologists’ perceptions of social justice and practice in local authority services in the West Midlands
AimsThere has been relatively little research into social justice in educational psychology in the UK. A qualitative exploration of Educational Psychologists (EPs’) views of social justice in educational psychology practice in England was undertaken, aiming to comprehend how EPs understand and define the term in relation to their role; and what EPs can do to work towards social justice, noting perceived barriers to working towards social justice in EP practice.Method11 EPs employed in four West Midlands Local Authorities (LAs) took part in semi-structured interviews, analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis.LimitationsThis was a small-scale exploratory case study design. It was likely to have recruited participants who were already attuned to social justice agendas. Thus, responses were relatively uniform in their orientation. The study also did not capture the voices of EPs working outside of local authority settings, or privately, or outside of the West Midlands who also may have significant contributions to how best to facilitate social justice work.ConclusionsThe final psychological framework presented may inform EP reflection, to develop and further refine cycles of EPs’ own social justice praxis.
explore.bps.org.uk
🌟New blog post Esther writes about her work developing an educational resilience programme - the RESTA programme. Lots here about strengths-based and relational approaches, moving from research to practice, and professional collaboration. Read here: edpsy.org.uk/blog/2024/wo... #edpsychs
‘The physical exercise and emotional stretching that children enjoy in unorganized play is more varied and less time-bound than is found in organized sports. Playtime—especially unstructured, imaginative, exploratory play—is […] an essential component of wholesome child development.
“You need two flames burning in the human heart: the flame of anger against injustice, and the flame of hope you can build a better world” #TonyBenn
I’ve only spent about 15mins on here but already randomly came across two interesting papers. It’s like what Twitter used to be before it was putrefied
Interested in training to become an Educational Psychologist? We are holding our online open event on Monday 2 December at 4.30pm 👇 ow.ly/hrRb50U31br
Making tentative steps towards moving over here. Any #edpsychs around?
