Senior Educational Psychologist Research Articles

Robot-Mediated Interviews

Abstract In recent years the possibility of using humanoid robots to perform interviews with children has been explored in a number of studies. This paper details a study in which a potential real-world user trialled a Robot-Mediated Interviewing system with children to establish if this approach could realistically be used in a real-world context. In this study a senior educational psychologist used the humanoid robot Kaspar to interview ten primary school children about a video they had watched prior to the interview. We conducted a pre and post interview with the educational psychologist before and after using the system to establish how the system worked for him and the perceived potential for real-world applications. The educational psychologist successfully used the system to interview the children and believed that principally using a small humanoid robot to interview children could be useful in a real-world setting provided the system was developed further.

Parental perspectives on nurture groups: the potential for engagement

Nurture groups have been identified as supportive and potentially effective provision for young people with troubled patterns of social, emotional and behavioural development, and a specific literature has emerged in relation to understanding their functioning. The work outlined here derives from an exploratory study by Valerie Taylor, a senior educational psychologist in Staffordshire, and Anthea Gulliford, from the University of Nottingham, describing and analysing the relationship between nurture group working and children's behaviour as perceived by adults involved, using qualitative approaches. Drawing upon grounded theory methods, the investigation commenced with an exploration of the relationship between nurture group attendance and children's behaviour. The grounded theory which emerged encompassed a strong vein of data relating to what could be described as parental engagement. It is this strand which is explored here, and consideration is given to the potential for facilitation of the home–school dialogue in the nurture group context, with reference to commentaries regarding parental participation and home–school engagement.

Utilising the Boxall Profile within the Scallywags service for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

In this article, Moira Broadhead, Roy Chilton and Victoria Stephens offer an in-depth analysis of a targeted intervention, Scallywags, aimed at children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Scallywags, based in Cornwall, offers an early intervention package for children and their families based upon an initial Boxall Profile analysis. Moira Broadhead is a senior educational psychologist for the Scallywags service and both Roy Chilton and Victoria Stephens held split posts as assistant psychologists and support workers within the intervention service. Moira, Roy and Victoria offer practitioners new to the Boxall Profile a compelling account of how it can be used to inform practice for learners with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and conclude with a series of insightful questions about the use of the Boxall Profile and the role of interventions of this nature.

RESEARCH SECTION: Nurture groups: a large‐scale, controlled study of effects on development and academic attainment

Nurture groups have contributed to inclusive practices in primary schools in the UK for some time now and have frequently been the subject of articles in this journal. This large‐scale, controlled study of nurture groups across 32 schools in the City of Glasgow provides further evidence for their effectiveness in addressing the emotional development and behaviour problems of vulnerable children. In particular, Sue Reynolds, Principal Educational Psychologist, Maura Kearney, Senior Educational Psychologist, both working in Glasgow City Council Psychological Services, and Tommy MacKay, Professor at the University of Strathclyde and Director of Psychology Consultancy Services, suggest that is the first study to report quantitative gains in academic achievement when the progress of pupils in nurture groups is compared with that of matched children in mainstream classes. This highlights the importance of providing a nurturing context as a basis for promoting children's learning.

A Pilot Project of 8 lessons across Social Studies: Thinking Actively in a Social Context: (TASC)

The members of the Social Studies Team were concerned about the high level of student dependency on staff for their learning, and many students seemed to lack the ability to take the initiative. This seemed to be particularly the case when teaching at A level (studies undertaken post 16 years). Through the support of the Farmington Institute, I was able to begin an enquiry into how other schools in both the primary and secondary sector were addressing this issue, and was introduced to the TASC Framework by Marie Huxtable, the Senior Educational Psychologist for Bath & North East Somerset, UK. The team within which I worked decided to introduce the TASC Framework into our teaching in the hope that this would contribute to developing the skills of learning independently and interdependently. This paper describes the learning journey made by staff and students.

Even while they teach, newly‐qualified teachers learn

The Training and Development Agency sets national standards in the UK for qualified teacher status. These standards set out the areas of knowledge and skills that aspiring teachers should acquire during their training. One of these areas of knowledge and skills concerns the identification and teaching of pupils with special educational needs yet the effectiveness of current training routes for teachers in this area remains a matter of ongoing debate. In this article, Nicola Barber, a senior educational psychologist working in Medway, and Mark Turner, who runs an online training company and is a part‐time tutor at the University of East London and senior educational psychologist in Medway, focus on the experiences of newly‐qualified teachers during their induction and first year of teaching. These authors sent out questionnaires to newly‐qualified teachers working in primary schools in two local authorities and received 60 responses. Their results suggest that these teachers, during this opening phase of their careers, experienced an increase in confidence in relation to special educational needs and report that they feel more skilled in this area at the end of their first year of teaching. Nicola Barber and Mark Turner analyse the factors that contribute to this scenario and begin to draw out implications for future approaches to the training and induction of teachers with regard to special educational needs and inclusion.

Evaluating Circle Time as a support to social skills development – reflections on a journey in school‐based research

The authors of this article argue that deficit in socially skilled behaviour is often one of the distinguishing characteristics that sets people with intellectual disability apart from their non‐disabled peers. The need for social skills training to take place within the context of real life daily situations has been emphasised in more recent literature as essential in enabling people with an intellectual disability to generalise new skills. The researchers involved in this study, Catherine Canney, a senior educational psychologist, and Alison Byrne, a senior speech and language therapist, both work in a school for children with mild intellectual disability in Ireland as part of a multidisciplinary team. Analysis of teachers' referrals to the team indicated a significant and ongoing need for supporting social skills development among the students.The purpose of this study was to investigate the merits of Circle Time as a classroom intervention aimed at improving the social skills of students with a mild intellectual disability. The research is presented here as an evaluative case study reflecting this experience. Organisational and interactional issues arising are presented and discussed with the intention of supporting those involved in facilitating Circle Time with children who have special educational needs. The authors also identify avenues for future research.

Supporting the Siblings of Young Children with Disabilities

In this article, Lynda Warren Dodd, who is senior educational psychologist for early years and the Portage Service supervisor in Stockport LEA, discusses the development of a support group for the brothers and sisters of young children with a wide range of disabilities. The group has been running, as an annual event, for eight years and offers a mix of socialising, games and group work. Through the group, the Portage Service aims to address some of the isues that emerge for families when there is a child with a disability. In order to evaluate the support offered to siblings, as well as to the child with special needs and their parents or carers, members of the Portage team gathered views from children and adults. Several key themes emerged from the comments made by children. All the participants enjoyed attending the sibling group. The children had varying degrees of understanding about their brothers' and sisters' disabilities. Some reported positive attitudes while others described the negative feelings they experienced in relation to their siblings' special needs. The parents also tended to value the sibling group and most of them asked for the provision to be extended. Lynda Dodd sets her account of this evaluation in the context of a constructive review of the literature on the sibling experience. She closes her article with a valuable summary of the implications of her work for future policy and practice in this important and often neglected area.

Focus on Practice: Assertive Discipline in a school for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties

The management of difficult and disruptive behaviour continues to be an issue in many classrooms. In this article, Jeremy Swinson, a senior educational psychologist and honorary lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, and Mike Cording, an education consultant working in Southport, consider the impact of in‐service training on the use of Assertive Discipline in a school for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). Swinson and Cording report improved rates of ‘on‐task’ behaviour for pupils across the age range and reduction in numbers of disruptive incidents. These changes in pupil behaviour mirror an increase in teachers’ use of positive feedback and praise. Swinson and Cording argue that these techniques are effective even for those pupils who are seen as being disaffected or very discouraged.

Educational Psychology Services and their futures — some responses to the DfEE Working Group Report

In this short article, a group of educational psychologist representatives on the DfEE Working Group on the future role and training of educational psychologists and their Services, consider some of the outcomes of the ‘Role’ Report. They describe the positive aspects of the Report, especially its ambitious description of what educational psychologists can do to make a difference. They also describe some of the problems of impact and implementation associated with the report. Rob Stoker is Principal Educational Psychologist for the London Borough of Westminster and a Director of Applied Psychology Associates; Glenys Fox is an HMI; Irvine Gersch is Professor and Director of Professional Training in Educational Psychology at the University of East London; Jackie Lown is Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist in York, and is also seconded to the University of Sheffield, where she works as an academic and professional tutor; and Sue Morris is Director of Professional Training in Educational Psychology at the University of Birmingham.

Children with autism and peer group support: using ‘circles of friends’

Philip Whitaker (Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist, Leicestershire Educational Psychology Service with specialist responsibility in autism) and members of the Leicestershire Autism Outreach Team describe the rationale and process of establishing ‘circles of friends’ to support seven youngsters with autistic spectrum disorders, six of whom were attending mainstream schools.

Dimensions of special needs: a non‐categorical approach to SEN

Jim Muncey, Chief Education Adviser, and Charles Palmer, Senior Educational Psychologist (both of whom work for the City of Coventry Edcation Service) reconsider the concept of ‘Dimensions’ introduced by Fish (1989). It is suggested that an individual approach to meeting pupils' special educational needs requires a descriptive system which is neither crudely categorical on the one hand, nor completely individualised on the other.

Management in Educational Psychology: The People Factor

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsR.J. CameronDr Sean Cameron is senior educational psychologist (Practice Development) in Surrey and professional tutor on the MSc (Educational Psychology) course at University College London.The contributions of my work colleague Ros Sinclair, Senior EP (Performance Management) to the final revision of this paper are acknowledged with thanks.

There's Nowt Sae Far Aslew as Gud Maneshment Med Set it Stret (Old Cumberland Proverb)

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsM. WatmoughMichael Watmough is principal educational psychologist and Douglas Thomson is a senior educational psychologist, with Cumbria Education Service.

Qualitative Data Analysis and the Use of ‘Cardfile’

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsB. JohnsonBarry Johnson is a senior educational psychologist in the Sheffield Psychological Service, 9 Newbould Lane, Sheffield S10 2PJ.

The Four P's of Policy

Charles Palmer, Rob Redfern and Kate Smith, Coventry Education Service, describe a framework for developing special needs policies in schools which takes into account the draft Code of Practice, OFSTED's framework for inspection, draft regulations on school policies and Coventry's LEA policy. Charles Palmer is a senior educational psychologist with the Coventry Educational Psychology Service. Rob Redfern is the secondary support teacher and Kate Smith is a primary support teacher with the Special Needs Support Team in Coventry.

Multi‐layered assessment of learning difficulties

Support for LearningVolume 5, Issue 1 p. 43-47 Multi-layered assessment of learning difficulties Gloria Pollack, Gloria Pollack Senior Educational Psychologist, Knowsley Schools' Psychological ServiceSearch for more papers by this author Gloria Pollack, Gloria Pollack Senior Educational Psychologist, Knowsley Schools' Psychological ServiceSearch for more papers by this author First published: February 1990 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9604.1990.tb00385.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume5, Issue1February 1990Pages 43-47 RelatedInformation

Evidence of Progress?

Issues related to the national assessment of children with special educational needs, including standard assessment tasks, are discussed by Rea Reason. The author is tutor for professional development in educational psychology, Centre for Educational Guidance and Special Needs, Manchester University, and senior educational psychologist in Oldham.

Approaches to Service Delivery in Further Education: EP's into FE will go

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJ. HarrisonJoyce Harrison was a main grade educational psychologist while doing the project and is now a senior educational psychologist in Hampshire. David Hogg is now the deputy principal educational psychologist of Hampshire.

Telling Stories to Encourage Language

Is regular story telling to individual children a more effective way of improving their language development than an objectives‐based approach with the teaching of specific skills, as the authors suggest? This is one of the questions raised in this small study by Jeremy Swinson, senior educational psychologist, Liverpool, and Chris Ellis, senior educational psychologist, West Sussex.