Educational psychologists can play a fundamental and inspiring role in people’s lives. A vibrant and expanding profession, educational psychology is becoming more influential in the lives of children and in its influence in government policy. But how do you qualify, and what is being an educational psychologist really like? How to Become an Educational Psychologist is the first book to provide a clear, practical guide to the pathway to qualifying as an educational psychologist. Written by two educational psychologists with a wealth of experience in both education and training, and incorporating testimonials from trainees, trainers, and qualified educational psychologists, it explains every step of the journey, including advice on a suitable degree course, making the most of a training placement, how to prepare for the job interview, and the challenges of making the transition from training to qualification. Written for anyone from current students to those interested in a change of career, How to Become an Educational Psychologist is the perfect companion for anyone interested in this varied, rewarding, and popular profession.

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book presents a wealth of practical information to guide the next generation of educational and developmental psychologists in Australia and New Zealand in pursuing a career in the field. There are over 800 educational and developmental psychologists in Australia, and over 200 educational psychologists in New Zealand, who represent a diverse workforce. Pathways to becoming an educational and developmental psychologist have seen rapid shifts with updated key competencies that prospective educational and developmental psychologists need to be aware of. This book gives the reader a comprehensive understanding of what makes an educational and developmental psychologist and outlines seven steps required to become an endorsed educational and developmental psychologist. Specifically, it offers guidance on understanding the role and its history, tertiary study requirements, registration requirements, professional competencies, skills and attributes needed, work experience, professional associations and member groups, endorsement and supervision requirements, finding work, and starting work. With a primary focus on Australia, each chapter also features a section on the career in New Zealand, with a variety of psychologists sharing their expertise and reflections from their experiences in New Zealand. This resource is essential reading for students, provisional psychologists, and practising psychologists. At the same time, it provides insights for other educational and health professionals who may work multi-, inter-, or transdisciplinary with educational and developmental psychologists.

Whether we are competing for a job, building a business or championing a good cause, some days it can feel as if we are trapped in an endless competition for status, wealth or attention. Maybe if we learn to play the game and follow the rules we’ll come out on top. But is life really a finite game – a game of selection and rules, winners and losers, players and spectators? In The Infinite Game, Niki Harré asks us to imagine our world anew. What if we are all part of a different type of game entirely – a game in which playing matters more than winning, a game that anyone can join at any time, a game in which rules evolve as new players turn up – an infinite game? Harré looks at our society (are people pawns or participants?) and ourselves (what kind of player would you like to be?) to offer an inspiring vision of how we might live well together. Deeply informed by psychological research and a life of social activism, Niki Harré’s provocative book teaches us all how we might live life as an infinite game.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Children are born full of curiosity, eager to participate in the world. They learn as they live, with enthusiasm and joy. Then we send them to school. We stop them from playing and actively exploring their interests, telling them it's more important to sit still and listen. The result is that for many children, their motivation to learn drops dramatically. The joy of the early years is replaced with apathy and anxiety. This is not inevitable. We are socialised to believe that schooling is synonymous with education, but it's only one approach. Self-directed education puts the child back in control of their learning. This enables children, including those diagnosed with special educational needs, to flourish in their own time and on their own terms. It enables us to put wellbeing at the centre of education. Changing Our Minds brings together research, theory and practice on learning. It includes interviews with influential thinkers in the field of self-directed education and examples from families alongside practical advice. This essential guide will give you an understanding of why self-directed education makes sense, how it works, and what to do to put it into action yourself.

The importance of high quality early childhood education is now universally recognised, and this quality crucially depends upon the practitioners who work with our young children, and their deep understanding of how children develop and learn. This book makes a vital contribution to this understanding, providing authoritative reviews of key areas of research in developmental psychology, and demonstrating how these can inform practice in early years educational settings. The book′s major theme is the fundamental importance of young children developing as independent, self-regulating learners. It illustrates how good practice is based on four key principles which support and encourage this central aspect of development: - secure attachment and emotional warmth - feelings of control and agency - cognitive challenge, adults supporting learning and children learning from one another - articulation about learning, and opportunities for self-expression. Each chapter includes: - typical and significant questions which arise in practice related to that area of development - an up-to-date review of key research, including insights from observational and experimental work with young children, from evolutionary psychology, and from neuroscientific studies of the developing brain - practical exercises intended to deepen understanding and to inform practice - questions for discussion - recommended further reading. This book provides an invaluable resource for early years students and practitioners, by summarizing new research findings and demonstrating how they can be translated into excellent early years practice. David Whitebread is Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology and Early Years Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.

Intended as a text for upper-level students of developmental psychology, this volume presents a collection of work by leading researchers in lifespan development topics: infant-care practices; children's memory development within the context of sexual abuse; correlates of adolescent pregnancy and parenthood; and design and evaluation of interventions in nursing homes.

First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methodsâ€"to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. The amazing learning potential of infants. The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. A realistic look at the role of technology in education.

Improving Learning Through Dynamic Assessment is a practical tool for helping to assess and support children aged 4+ with learning challenges based on an innovative approach. Contrasting with traditional 'static' assessment methods, this resource enables educational psychologists and related professionals to involve the child actively in the process of assessment - allowing them to measure not just what the child has learnt, but also how the child learns, how responsive they are to attempts to intevene, and what is holding them back from learning. It outlines the relevant theory and offers a staged assessment process to follow, with strategies for assessing cognitive and affective capacity. The resource contains all you need to carry out dynamic assessment, featuring photocopiable activities, checklists, handouts for teachers/parents to use with children and training materials which explain the approach in terms understandable to all participating adults. The first practical resource on how to carry out this popular and innovative form of assessment, Improving Learning through Dynamic Assessment is an important resource for educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs), specialist support teachers and other professionals working with children with learning challenges.