Educational Psychology: Diversity led, context sensitive and process driven – a view of the future

Abstract

Educational Psychology has roots that go back well before the foundation of The British Psychological Society. Whilst the early work focused on testing and selecting according to aptitude, in recent years the work has taken account of the more complex interaction of factors that influence child learning and development. The impact of peer relationships, of adult behaviour, of social construction, of values and beliefs and of emotion have all been included in the repertoire of the skills of the psychologist working with children and young people. The future looks challenging, exciting and promising as developments in our understanding of the brain, of the relationship between language and thought and of the political and ethical dimensions of our work all act as forces affecting the future of applied psychology in the learning community.