Educational Psychologist

Also known as:

Psychologist, Educational

Introduction

Educational psychologists study and treat the learning, behavioural and emotional problems of children and young people, from birth up to the age of 24 years. They also help teachers to understand psychological problems and to meet the special needs of their pupils. Most educational psychologists work in schools, nurseries, special children's units or assessment centres.

Back to Top

Work Activities

Educational psychologists encounter a wide range of problems. For example, some children have learning difficulties in reading and writing. Others have social and emotional problems that lead them to display challenging behaviour in the classroom, or make them unable to make friends. Some children may have a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia. Very intelligent or 'gifted' children have their own needs and may have problems coping with teachers' and parents' expectations of them.

Educational psychologists usually begin to tackle a case by carrying out a full psychological assessment. This means looking at the young person's needs, both at school and at home. Educational psychologists can work either directly with a child (assessing progress, giving counselling) or indirectly through their work with parents, teachers and other professionals.

In direct work, an assessment can involve observing young people's behaviour, or using interviews and test materials. From this assessment, the educational psychologist may make recommendations to decide the most appropriate educational programme to meet the child's needs.

Recommendations may include counselling, family therapy sessions or planning special teaching techniques to improve the young person's learning and tackle any behavioural problems they have.

In indirect work, educational psychologists contribute their views and findings in careful consultation with other professionals, including education officers, social workers, medical consultants and health visitors.

Educational psychologists also train teachers in different techniques to help pupils with learning difficulties and/or behavioural problems. They help schools to think about and put into practice policies on special needs. Educational psychologists may organise courses and workshops for parents, teachers or other professionals, providing training on issues such as stress management, bullying, specific learning difficulties and behaviour management.

Some educational psychologists are involved in research, exploring new ideas, evaluating methods and helping to create effective education policies, For example, they may assess how effective a school's policy on bullying has been.

Back to Top

Personal Qualities and Skills

You must have a very strong commitment to helping children and young people overcome learning and behavioural problems. You must be able to use a logical and objective approach to solving problems.

You will need a caring personality and the ability to empathise with your clients. You must be able to build a trusting relationship with young people, through the use of sensitivity, tact and diplomacy.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are needed to work with parents, teachers and other professionals. You will also need good administration and time management skills - this career can involve a lot of paperwork.

This work can be very demanding, so you must be resilient and able to cope with the problems you encounter. You must be patient, and prepared to work with children and young people who seem to make little, or very slow progress.

Back to Top

Pay and Opportunities

Earnings for educational psychologists vary depending on their area of specialisation and whether they are employed or in private practice.

Earnings for educational psychologists in Scottish local authorities are: inductee, £35,577 a year; basic grade, £36,936 - £45,255 a year; senior, £48,069 a year. Salaries for managers are higher.

Some psychologists in private practice may earn considerably more.

Educational psychologists usually work a basic 37-hour week. Some evening and weekend work may be required.

Most chartered educational psychologists work in the Local Education Authority system but others work in private practice, with adults, in staff training, or in university teaching and research.

Back to Top

Adult Opportunities

It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

If you don't have the qualifications needed to enter your chosen degree course, a college or university Access course (eg. Access to psychology) could be the way in. No formal qualifications are usually required, but you should check individual course details.

There are accredited conversion courses open to graduates with degrees in subjects other than psychology. You can find out more by looking on the British Psychological Society's (BPS) website. Alternatively, candidates can sit the BPS Qualifying Examination.

Part-time degree study is available from a number of universities. However, most part-time degrees are not accredited by the BPS.

Open or distance learning is available from the Open University, which offers a BSc degree in Psychology. The Open University also offers a postgraduate Conversion Diploma in Psychology. These qualifications are accredited by the BPS.

Sponsorship by local education authorities is sometimes possible for places on the postgraduate courses in educational psychology.

Funding may also be provided by the Department for Education and Learning in Northern Ireland, and the Scottish Executive Educational Department in Scotland. Otherwise individuals taking the course are self-funded.

The BPS website has a searchable database of funding opportunities. These range from studentships to research grants.

• 22% of psychologists work part-time.
• 10% have flexible hours.
• 2% of employees work on a temporary basis.

Back to Top