Programme structure

2. Aims of the Programme

The programme has been developed to provide a rigorous and comprehensive initial training in applied educational psychology. It has been designed to ensure that Trainees successfully completing the programme meet the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards of proficiency for practitioner psychologists, and will be eligible to apply for registration with HCPC. The programme follows The British Psychological Society’s (BPS) curriculum and criteria for accreditation and was accredited by the BPS in the academic year 2004/5 and re-accredited in 2009/10 and again in 2018. Successful completion of the programme will confer eligibility to apply for chartered status with the BPS.

The programme has been carefully developed to provide the academic, theoretical, practical and interpersonal knowledge, skills and expertise to facilitate professional competence in applied educational psychology. The process of learning on the programme aims to support the synthesis of psychological theory into practice skills through a co-ordinated and developmental process that includes academic learning activities and field-based practice opportunities.

The Programme Aims:

1. To provide a coherent and integrated initial professional training in educational psychology. The programme provides Trainees with the skills to apply educational psychology within socially and culturally diverse communities and in partnership with key role partners, including children and young people, their parents and carers, and education, health and social services professionals.

2. To enable Trainees to develop the professional knowledge, understandings, skills and awareness to systematically review information and evidence to formulate effective psychological assessments and interventions in response to client needs at the following levels and contexts: individuals and their families; groups; classrooms; schools; colleges; communities; and local authorities.

3. To develop the knowledge, skills, ethical awareness and practical expertise to conduct research that contributes to and extends the professional knowledge base. The programme aims to use research to contribute to the evidence base of effective applied educational psychology, and to contribute to high-quality research activity within Local Authority and Children’s Services’ contexts.

3. Expected competencies and skills

The expected competencies & skills outlined in 5.3.2 are derived from the BPS programme accreditation for the three-year Doctoral Training Programme and HCPC standards (a full version of the framework for competencies is available on Moodle). Knowledge, skills and competencies are assessed according to the year of study and reflect foundation level in Year 1, mastery in Year 2 and advanced application in Year 3.

3.1 Evaluation of Professional Competence

Assessment of competency and progression

Progression through the programme is dependent on satisfactory performance in all of the following elements of the course:

Academic
Professional practice which includes fitness to practice
Research

Psychological service placements contribute to the professional and academic elements. Satisfactory performance in both academic and professional requirements linked to the HCPC/BPS standards is a necessary requirement for the DEdPsy qualification The UCL Institute of Education, through the annual Board of Examiners makes the final decision for this programme. The decision is based on the combination of the:

UCL Institute of Education’s Fitness to Practice Policy
Assessment of Developing Professional Skills and Competencies (Placement Supervisor, TEP and University Tutor)
University Tutor placement observation(s)
Professional portfolio evaluations (University Tutor and External Examiner)
Fitness to Practice Placement Protocol
Academic assignments
Doctoral thesis

Professional competency depends on several elements all of which must be judged satisfactory by the end of the placement. These are detailed in the national Professional Placement Proficiency Framework (PPPF) and the nationally agreed Assessment of Developing Professional Skills and Competencies (ADPSC).

3.2 BPS and HCPC Professional Standards & Competencies

1. Promoting Development & Education

HCPC: understand key concepts of the knowledge base relevant to educational psychology

2. Personal & Professional Values, Ethics, and Skills

HCPC: Practise safely and within legal and ethical boundaries, fitness to practise

3. Diversity & Culture, maintain confidentiality

HCPC: awareness of impact of culture, equality and diversity

4. Consultation

HCPC: communicate effectively, conduct consultancy

5. Psychological Assessment & Formulation

HCPC: draw upon appropriate knowledge and skills, assess & formulate & intervene psychologically from a range of possible models & modes of intervention

6. Psychological Intervention & Evaluation

HCPC: conduct appropriate diagnostic or monitoring procedures, treatment & interventions, assure the quality of practice

7. Service Delivery and Organisational Change

HCPC: assure quality of practice, maintain records accurately, understand the structures & functions of UK service providers

8. Training & Development

HCPC: work appropriately with others, to plan, design & deliver teaching and training which takes into account the needs and goals of participants

9. Research & Enquiry

HCPC: draw on appropriate knowledge and skills to inform practice, assure the quality of practice

10. Transferrable Skills

HCPC: maintain records appropriately, reflect and review practice

1. Programme Overview, Programme Philosophy and Orientation

To provide a coherent professional learning experience the programme design has been based on Bronfenbrenner’s Eco-systemic model; this helps Trainees conceptualise the interacting systems within which Educational Psychology is practised and applied.

This framework allows a systematic review of the contexts and systems that influence children and young people’s behaviour, learning and development. The model also helps Trainees to conceptualise the symbiotic influences of organisations and the political system, including relevant legislation, within which EPs and their role partners operate. The programme embraces a wide range of different psychological perspectives, including the social constructivist approach, and is based on an interactionist psychological perspective. Thus in working with others, emphasis is given to analysing needs and problems in context, in order to develop shared understandings and identify appropriate action.

We aim to develop applied EPs of the highest quality, who will be able to operate effectively to promote change, at different levels of intervention. These levels include: children; families and teachers; groups of children; schools as organisations; and Local Authorities/Children’s Services (e.g. initiatives to raise standards). We also prepare EPs for the need to respond to national priorities (such as interventions to support progression in educational attainment in children in public care and to support the social, emotional and mental health of children and young people).

We recognise that applied psychologists in education need a broad understanding of both psychology and education, and of the ways of applying psychological knowledge and skills to the educational process. The programme builds on and develops the theoretical knowledge and understanding of psychology gained during Trainees’ first degree in psychology, whilst encouraging the adoption of both the ‘scientist practitioner’ and ‘reflective practitioner’ features of an applied psychologist. We aim to encourage reflection, critical analysis, the use of constructive feedback, active enquiry and questioning and the development of a high level of integrity and professionalism.

The combination of formal teaching and learning with practical placement activities facilitates our aim to provide a coherent and integrated professional learning process. Balancing the range of assessed work to reflect both theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and expertise supports Trainees’ progression in applying educational psychology throughout the training programme. Trainees receive professional supervision and tutorials to support placement learning, to ensure the synthesis of theory into practice, to direct them to follow-up reading, to explore relevant theoretical frameworks and points of view, and to develop a robust underpinning of psychological theory in all placement activity. Trainees maintain a log of their professional development, to help them plan their further academic development and to map their progress and acquisition of core professional skills and special interests. Collaborative enquiry is at the heart of the tutorial process, and the exchange of views that occurs during this process is an important means for developing ideas and demonstrating progression.

We particularly value the opportunities provided by our location to develop practitioners sensitive to the needs of different client groups, and Trainees benefit from experiencing the diversity of the urban and multi-cultural communities of London. Each year Trainees focus on the issues and experiences of diversity in at least one piece of work.

4. Programme Organisation

5. Pedagogy: Supporting the Synthesis of Theory and Practice

The adult learning model and pedagogical approach adopted for the programme supports the progression and development of key professional skills throughout the training process. It is recognised that when learning a professional role the most important learning objective must be to successfully synthesise and integrate diverse strands of theory and skill into effective practice in the complex reality of challenging professional working environments. Our professional training programme has been designed to provide opportunities, from the start, for Trainees to integrate different elements of knowledge and skills to address real world concerns and to subsequently reflect on these in order to develop knowledge and understanding further through critical analysis.

Collaborative enquiry is at the heart of this programme. In line with Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) and British Psychological Society (BPS) requirements a considerable amount of the teaching and learning activity is led by University Tutors who also work, for part of their time, in local authority educational psychology services. The initial stages of training adopts an apprenticeship approach with Trainees working in the field with their tutor and then engaging in critical review and evaluation in university based teaching and tutorial sessions. This includes participating in simulated professional scenarios designed to enable engagement in meta-learning we call Contextualised Psychological Analysis (CPA). This was highlighted as a strength of the programme during the BPS accreditation:

The integration of theory and practice is a strength of the course and this is facilitated by the use of contextualised psychological analysis tutorials which focus on hypothesis generation and the identification of relevant theoretical psychological underpinnings, and high quality teaching which explicitly links discussion to current EP practice (BPS 2010)

It is acknowledged that for Trainees it is crucial to have the opportunity to gain experience and insight, early in their training, into the role of the psychologist and into the professional skills and personal characteristics that contribute to effective practice. These experiences are supported by the use of our Applied Psychological Skills Labs (APSL), where Trainees can practice core professional skills and make use of Tutor input, peer feedback and video enhanced reflection on practice (VERP) before applying skills in the field with children and other members of the public. We expect that Trainees agree to participate in all aspects of learning

Progression in the second and third years is marked by increasing autonomy when engaging in professional activity on placement. At this stage Trainees will have supervision from a Placement Supervisor within their placement authority / children’s service. Placement Supervisors are required to meet the criteria for supervision set out in the PPPF (available on Moodle).

All placement activity is subject to learning contracts between the university and the educational psychology service providing the placement. Trainees’ University Tutor helps to agree the content of the learning contract and they will continue to provide advanced level supervision to support Trainees’ continued learning and professional development. There will be regular three-way meetings (Trainee, Placement Supervisor and University Tutor) to monitor Trainees’ progress and to plan the next steps in their professional learning. In addition Trainees will be observed by their University Tutor and Placement Supervisor several times each year as required by the PPPF, which includes VERP with their Tutor.

Trainees compile a reflective professional development portfolio and engage in formal learning activities including essays and research projects. Teaching sessions include interactive elements and group discussion, and Trainees are expected to actively engage in the process of interactive learning. Active participation in teaching and learning activity supports the process of assimilating new information and we aim to help Trainees develop their ideas and skills in an analytical and critical way. We encourage Trainees to grapple with issues and problems both on their own and in groups.

Group work features throughout the programme for the following reasons as it:

Provides Trainees with an opportunity to articulate and explore their thoughts in a situation that is intended to be comfortable and non-threatening;
Makes optimum use of time available by providing learning tasks that maximise the contributions of different group members;
Provides the opportunity for Trainees to draw on their own professional experience and to share this with others;
Allows Trainees to share the results of personal reading and other learning with colleagues and through discussion enables them to extend and develop their ideas and perspectives.

Contextualised Psychological Analysis (CPA)

Whilst formal teaching tends to focus on a single issue or area, the reality of applied psychology practice is that concerns that arise in working contexts require the simultaneous fusion of a wide range of theoretical and applied psychologies. In order to help Trainees quickly orientate to these demands, all formal learning is punctuated by Contextualised Psychological Analysis, a development based on problem based learning. The CPA approach aims to promote the professional qualities and transferable skills necessary in applied educational psychology. CPA gives emphasis to active and self-directed learning and a thematic approach in which there is a strong link between theory and practice.

CPA has both an individual self-directed learning focus and small group focus to help Trainees develop collaborative professional skills as well as personal ones. CPA meetings are undertaken in small groups facilitated by a member of the Tutor team to ensure that Trainees fully engage with the desired learning outcomes.

Trainees are required to take professional responsibility for developing a psychological formulation in response to a complex and challenging professional scenario. The CPA scenarios draw on real examples of EP casework. They are uniquely related to the cross modular themes we use to structure learning in a coherent and developmental way. Therefore, each CPA is delivered in-conjunction with associated lectures, skills labs and placement tasks.

Trainees are required to explore a case study/scenario with their colleagues and develop some hypotheses regarding key relevant factors. They then have time to follow up key literature references before meeting again with their fellow Trainees to re-examine their original hypotheses in the light of new information.

The aim of CPA is to enable Trainees to demonstrate the ability to:

Systematically acquire, understand and utilise a significant body of psychological and educational knowledge which contributes to the vanguard of professional educational psychology practice;
Draw on psychological, educational and professional knowledge and experiences to develop informed professional judgements derived from the evidence available regarding complex situations, and to communicate hypotheses and conclusions succinctly and efficiently to professional and lay role partners;
Demonstrate professional competence in interpersonal interactions and the application of theoretical and practice skills in educational psychology to a standard that would allow semi-autonomous operation in the professional role of the ep.

The Seven-stage Process of Contextualised Psychological Analysis

Initial group meeting:

1. Clarify unfamiliar terms or concepts

2. Define the features of the scenario to be explained

3. Analyse the features identified and develop tentative hypotheses

4. Evaluate the outcomes of the discussion – summarise

5. Agree the hypotheses to be researched and formulate learning objectives and individual tasks

6. Self-directed study phase - Independent research based on step 5

7. Follow-up meeting - report back in the group. Discuss theoretical models and research that are relevant and their contribution to creating a reasoned psychological formulation that can contribute to better understanding of the scenario and inform intervention. Reflect on group process and learning.

Contextualised Psychological Analysis works as a learning process by:

Activating prior knowledge: this enables a person to acquire and process new information more quickly and effectively.
Encoding specificity: the closer the resemblance between the situation in which something is learned and the situation in which it is applied, the better the performance.
Elaboration of knowledge: New knowledge is better understood and retrieved if there is an opportunity to elaborate it. This might be done in the following ways:

○ Discussing the subject with other Trainees;

○ Teaching peers what they have learned;

○ Writing summaries;

○ Formulating and critiquing hypotheses about a given situation.

Establishing a sense of conscious competence and helping to inform future learning needs.

The Applied Psychological Skills Lab (APSL)

The purpose of the Applied Psychological Skills Lab (APSL) sessions is to support the development of professional practice skills in a safe and facilitative environment. APSL sessions provide time and space to plan and try out new skills, with support from fellow Trainees and members of the Tutor team, prior to applying the skills in real life situations on placement. Each session has a task focus that provides a context for the practice of professional skills. A range of learning activities are used, including pair and group work, role-play, peer observation and video analysis. Professional practice skills that might be the focus of a Skills Lab session include: familiarisation with assessment tools; facilitating a consultation meeting; learning to use a particular psychological approach such as cognitive behavioural approaches, therapeutic use of play; or managing a difficult meeting. From a quality assurance and ethical perspective this helps to promote Trainee competency and confidence before they work with members of the public.

Video Enhanced Reflection on Practice (VERP)

Interpersonal communication is a core competency for EPs. Video Enhanced Reflection on Practice (VERP) is a strengths-based methodology embedded across all three years of the programme with the aim of supporting Trainees to develop the attuned relational skills needed for the practice of consultation as an EP. VERP is a method of teaching and learning associated with Video Interaction Guidance (VIG), which aims to improve communication and the quality of relationships through self-modelling. Both enhance and develop reflective professional practice. Reviewing video recordings of their practice gives Trainees the opportunity to consider how they interact with others, reflecting on their strengths and future professional development needs in a safe constructive learning context. There are strict protocols in place with regard to consent for filming, review and management of the films.

VERP is a formative learning tool. In Year 1 Trainees are introduced to the principles of attuned communication and to VERP through reflection with a fellow Trainee and their Tutor on three films of their practice taken at different points in the year. They also have the opportunity for peer modelling through small group VERP ‘intervision’ where they are invited to share and reflect on a short film clip in which they have identified moments of personal and professional strength and competency. The consolidation and mastery of these skills within EP consultation is supported in Years 2 and 3 by the making of two further films (one per year), which Trainees analyse and reflect upon in tutorials with their Tutor.

A spiral curriculum is used to develop and extend Trainees’ evolving professional practice skills over the three years of study. We define the levels of HCPC and BPS competence and standards that Trainees are expected to achieve over each training year as follows:

Year 1: Foundation skills

Year 2: Mastery

Year 3: Advanced application of professional skills

Most formal teaching takes place in the first two years of the programme. In the first year Trainees are introduced to key theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and expertise and in the second year they progress to a mastery level of knowledge and understanding through lectures, contextualised psychological analysis (CPA) sessions, Applied Psychological Skills Labs (APSL) and tutorials. In the final year there is even greater focus on advanced professional knowledge and skill, in particular Trainees ability to work at an evaluative, systemic and therapeutic level.

Professional practice supervision and research supervision at university facilitate the mastery and advanced level use of the taught content of the programme in complex professional activity, including research. Successful progression in professional aspects of learning each year is judged against national professional competencies. Academic skills are assessed through assignments, contribution to lectures and tutorials. Trainees need to pass both the practical and academic elements of the programme to progress to the next year of training.

The DEdPsy at the UCL Institute of Education is part of the SEEL consortium of training providers (Institute of Education, Southampton, Tavistock, UCL and UEL). The first year of study contains a higher level of university-based teaching to enable Trainees to reach the level of professional competence necessary to undertake supervised professional activity in their Local Authority/Children’s Service placement provider in Year 2. During Year 1 Trainees spend approximately 40% of their time on placement and 60% of their time at the university. In Year 1 each SEEL programme makes its own placement arrangements, and at the end of Year 1 Trainees are allocated a placement in a Local Authority for Years 2 and 3.

In Years 2 and 3 of the programme Trainees spend 130 days on placement per annum. The remaining time Trainees are engaged in university based teaching, personal study and research activity. The Year 2/3 placements are made anonymously by a placement panel comprising Principal Educational Psychologists, a Programme Director and Trainee representatives who are available to the placement panel as advisors. In May of Year 1 Trainees recruited through the NCTL selection process are required to nominate, according to the specific requirements and in order of preference, five of the busaried placements that have been pledged in the SEEL region. While the placement panel will try where possible to allocate trainees a Year 2/3 placement in one of the five they have nominated trainees need to be aware that they could be placed anywhere in the region. The boundaries of the SEEL region extend from Norfolk east to Oxford, south to Dorset and west to Kent. In addition to considering the needs of SEEL trainees the placement panel will also consider the needs of LAs for bursary placements to meet the needs of children and young people in their area. Further information can be found on the SEEL Bursary website.

6. Placement Learning

In each year of the programme Trainees engage in a range of supervised placement activities that support their integration of theory with practice and the development of the skills needed to work as an autonomous practitioner.

Placement learning experiences include the full range of core professional activity, including: case-focused consultation with children, young people their families and teachers; the development and delivery of in-service training to colleagues, parents and other professionals; systemic and organisational level work with families, professionals and in educational contexts; and the ability to work effectively in multi-professional and specialist contexts, e.g. CAMHS and F.E. provision.

Over the three years, Trainees produce a portfolio of work demonstrating their professional development through placement activity. The purpose of this is to demonstrate the application of the theoretical content of the programme in professional practice.

7. Opportunities to Learn Alongside other Professionals

Trainees have the opportunity to engage in collaborative learning alongside other disciplines and professions. This is facilitated through opportunities for multi-agency working on placement and also through collaborative learning with Trainees on other programmes.

In year 1 Trainees engage in joint learning with Trainees from other London based EP training programmes. They also engage in joint learning with UCL Speech and Language Therapist Trainees and Trainee EPs from the DECPsy programme.

In year 2 Trainees engage in collaborative learning with Trainees from the UCL DECPsy and Clinical Psychology programmes.

An annual Alumni Workshop provides an opportunity for graduating trainees to meet and work alongside our previous graduates, in order to build professional networks and continue professional learning

8. Applying Research Skills

During the first year of the programme, through the process of lectures, seminars and supervision, Trainees develop the knowledge and skills needed to engage in a small-scale research project that culminates in the writing of a research report (8,000 words ± 10%) and a research briefing (of no more than 1,000 words). This research activity is designed to support the synthesis of research knowledge and skills into ‘real world’ application. It is intended that this process will raise the profile of research in applied educational psychology through increased evidence-based practice; lead to formal dissemination locally or nationally; contribute to the knowledge base of the profession; and make a genuine contribution to addressing, understanding or evaluating legitimate priorities within Local Authority placement contexts. It also offers useful experience in designing and implementing a research project before Trainees start work on the thesis.

Trainees commence work to develop their thesis from the end of Year 1; this will continue throughout Years 2 and 3 of the programme. Research supervision at the university is provided by a panel that includes an academic supervisor and a professional EP research supervisor, with oversight by a third advisor, making for a robust model of supervision. The research is undertaken in Local Authority or Children’s Service contexts and reflects activity that is of legitimate value to applied educational psychology and contributes to professional understanding. This research activity represents an original and substantial individual contribution to relevant theoretical knowledge bases in psychology and education in the form of a thesis of between 30,000 and 35,000 words.

Over the three years of the programme Trainees should demonstrate evolving research skills:

Develop the knowledge and skills to apply a range of both qualitative and quantitative research techniques to address relevant questions in the field of applied educational psychology, with the specific aim of introducing contemporary approaches and methodologies where applicable.
Negotiate, plan, design, implement and interpret research activities in Local Authority contexts, addressing a range of issues reflecting the needs of individuals, groups, systems and organisations.
Undertake innovative research activity in order to support the evolving knowledge base of the profession; report the findings so as to extend theoretical understandings and perspectives; and disseminate this information through conference presentations or contributions to professional journals and other publications, following the robust process of peer review.
Develop, through the process of research supervision, a creative and innovative research contribution of relevance to the profession. Design and pilot the research activity, modifying the procedures were appropriate; implement and analyse the data; and synthesise the findings to contribute to the vanguard of current theoretical understandings.

9. Programme Outline

The programme comprises six major modules, three of which (1, 2 and 5 below) are taught through themes that synthesise the different modules’ content in a manner that provides coherence and reflects the experiences of applied psychology practice. This approach to teaching and learning enables Trainees to learn about, and thus combine, elements from different modules. In this way it reflects the complex and interacting nature of educational psychology and fits well with the CPA process.

Two themes are taught each term during the first two terms of Year 1 and one theme will be covered in the third term. The themes are:

Systems and contexts
Child and adolescent development
Cognition, ability and intelligence
Social, emotional and mental health
Applying psychology in context – block placement with an Educational Psychology Service.

In Years 2 and 3 there are two main foci:

Developing advanced applied psychology in a more autonomous way whilst demonstrating, through tutorials, a clear psychological rationale for all decisions and actions;
Research supervision to support the completion of the thesis.

Each programme module embraces the learning outcomes defined by The British Psychological Society’s criteria for the accreditation of three-year training programmes for EPs and the HCPC’s standards for education and training. The balance between formal teaching and learning and practical placement experiences facilitates the integration of theoretical and applied aspects of the curriculum. The different approaches to assessment adopted also acknowledge the range of knowledge, skills and expertise that is being developed during training.