Dear Secretary of State,

Initial Teacher Training and Psychology

We are writing to you today to express our concern about some aspects of your plans for Initial Teacher Training. The recent announcement by the TDA shows that the government is committed to investing in the best quality graduates as trainee teachers. We support this approach but we are extremely disappointed to see that this commitment does not appear to extend to psychology graduates.

According to the information in the ITT plan, psychology is ‘a non-priority’ subject and therefore trainees would not be eligible for a bursary. Future trainees will in effect be penalised for choosing psychology, as they will need to find up to £9000 for fees on top of living expenses in order to train.

Psychology is the only science subject not to have been designated a priority subject, and therefore not to attract a bursary. We are unclear as to why this is the case, especially at a time when the uptake of science subjects by young people in the UK is a concern. It is now the fourth most popular A-level subject with over 56,000 sitting the psychology exam in 2011 (JCQ, Joint Council for Qualifications,www.jcq.org.uk. 2011), compared to just 275 candidates when the exam was first set in 1972.

The European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA), to which the European Federation of Psychology Teachers’ Associations (EFPTA) is affiliated, recently hosted a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. The aim of this event was to demonstrate the importance of the role of psychology in promoting the health and well-being of European citizens, and Professor Robert Roe (President of EFPA) made it absolutely clear to the Members of the European Parliament that psychology teachers make a significant contribution by encouraging young people to explore issues such as understanding how they learn, the importance of healthy life-styles and how to achieve self-regulation. There are clearly significant economic benefits attached to any improvements that can be made in relation to these issues. It is indeed interesting that Finland is referred to in the White Paper as a nation of educational excellence and in that country psychology is a compulsory subject for students aged 16-19.

Despite the small numbers of available places, the role of the PGCE in psychology has been crucial to improving the quality teaching in many schools across the country. It is therefore essential that PGCE courses are able to attract high calibre trainees to ensure that improvements in the subject continue.

We are also puzzled why some other non-National Curriculum subjects, including Classics and Economics, have been designated ‘priority’ subjects when psychology, has not. There is a danger that this “down-grading” combined with a lack of a bursary for those looking to train, may be interpreted in some quarters as a lack of Government understanding of psychology, ahead of the publication of the National Curriculum review proposals.

Your neglect of psychology education in schools is particularly hard to understand, in view of your Government’s own initiative in setting up the Behavioural Insight Team (BIT), whose aim is to find ‘intelligent ways to encourage, support and enable people to make better choices for themselves’. That is precisely one of the aims that psychology teachers in schools and colleges have been quietly pursuing for years. Yet, whilst you invest financially in the application of psychological principles in the form of the BIT, you are withdrawing financial support for psychology education in schools. This makes no sense.

Through high quality psychology teaching students develop essential transferable skills which enhance learning and achievement in other subjects as well as those which can encourage them to make healthier choices of life-style and become critically confident citizens. This is particularly important at a time when the educational performance of our children appears to be falling in relation to those in other countries, and when the effects of health related illness is costing the taxpayer enormous amounts of money.

Children and young people in this country deserve the best quality psychology education and the best quality psychology teachers. We urge you to reconsider this policy and demonstrate that the government believes this too.

We look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Yours sincerely,
Deb Gajic
Chair of the Association for the Teaching of Psychology

Follow the link below to book for the Psychology CPD event of the year! Join us  from 6th - 8th July 2012 at Aston University
http://www.bps.org.uk/events/association-teaching-psychology-annual-conference-2012

We are delighted to announce that Professor Robert Plomin has kindly agreed to be one of our keynote speakers for the 2012 ATP Conference at Aston University.

Robert Plomin is Professor of Behavioural Genetics at the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

He is best known for his work on twin studies and his research into the nature-nurture debate. He launched the Twins Early Development Study (TEDs) of all twins born in England and Wales in 1994-96 which focuses on developmental problems in cognition and behaviour.

During the past decade his research has increasingly turned towards harnessing the power of molecular genetics, especially genome-wide association strategies, to identify genes for psychological traits in order to help understand the developmental interplay between genes and environment.

He is an international leader in behavioural genetics and was the youngest President of the Behavior Genetics Association. Professor Plomin has published more than 500 papers and is senior author of the major textbook in the field (’Behavioral Genetics,’ Worth Publishers, 5th edition, 2008) as well as author of a dozen other books including ‘Genetics and Experience: The Interplay between Nature and Nurture’ (Sage Publications, 1994).

(thanks to the Kings College London website for biographical information)

The ATP annual conference will be held on 6th-8th July 2012 at Aston University, Birmingham.

The ATP Conference 2012  has held prices fo members.

Offering fantastic networking opportunities, the chance to meet with your exam board representatives as well as providing inspiring CPD breakout events and keynote speakers, the ATP Conference offers great value for money.

If the full conference is beyond your budget, the ATP  also offer day rates.

As Aston University is close to Birmingham City Centre it has excellent road and rail links.

Your ATP Needs You

Can you offer a workshop or symposium at Aston ATP conference next July? Do you consistently get good AS results? Do you have lessons that inspire your students? Have you got great ways of teaching the more ‘dry’ topics? Or maybe there is something important that you feel needs airing? If so, then consider sharing your ideas with colleagues.

If you are interested and would like to discuss it further, then email: info@theatp.org. If you are new to presenting, we can offer support and guidance. Remember, you don’t have to go it alone – workshops are often very effective when presented by two or more colleagues.

Meeting your CPD needs

The ATP  want to continue to inspire you and provide you with the best CPD event possible. Is there a workshop that you would love to see on next year’s programme? A burning issue in psychology that you want to debate? Then contact us and we will do our very best to arrange it.

See more here www.atpconference.org.uk

Email: info@theatp.org

Saturday March 5^th 2011

The ATP is running a CPD event which is open to all teachers of Psychology. The aim of the day is to provide high quality, low cost CPD for Psychology teachers.

The day will consist of interactive workshops given by experienced teachers and examiners on a variety of topics relevant to all teachers of Psychology.  There will be plenty of opportunity to network with like minded professionals.

The exact programme is still to be finalised, but will contain workshops on the following:

• Using new technologies to support teaching and facilitate learning;
• Developing Reflective Learners- increasing students’ understanding of how to improve work;
• Developing Independent Enquirers- equipping psychology students with the basic skills required to succeed in HE.

The event will be held at: -

The McAuley Catholic High School

Cantley Lane

Doncaster

South Yorkshire

DN3 3QF

The nearest train station is Doncaster and the school is 10 minutes away from junction 3 of the M18.

The cost of the day is £65. Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided.  The day will begin with registration and coffee at 9.30am and finish at 3:30pm.  Please book your place early to avoid disappointment.

Please pay the £65 delegate fee via PayPal, on the website www.theatp.org .  In order to qualify for this bargain price you must be a member of the ATP.  Please join via www.theatp.org, if not already a member, before registering for the Event.

Any queries please contact: – eshakespeare@mcauley.org.uk

The 2011 ATP annual conference will be held on 8th -10th July 2011 at the University of Hertfordshire and one of the keynote speakers will be Elizabeth Loftus. Website details to follow.

To celebrate Uniview’s commitment and partnership with the ATP, they are offering one lucky teacher the opportunity to visit the three-day annual conference absolutely free of charge (value of over £250).

In order to win this fantastic competition Uniview are looking for a brand new Psychology poster design to add to their ever expanding collection to be launched at the ATP conference in Keele this July.

This prize includes:

Includes ensuite B&B accommodation Friday 2 and Saturday 3 July
Lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Evening meals on Friday and Saturday
Refreshments
Entrance to all ATP workshops, lectures and exhibitions
Access to online materials before and after the conference.
Winning resource, name and institution unveiled at the ATP conference this July among hundreds of Psychology professionals.
Winning name credited on the psychology poster for display across institutions worldwide.

See here for more details http://www.uniview.co.uk/acatalog/psyposterdesigncomp.html

The closing date is 7th June 2010

The 28th annual ATP conference 2010 will be be held at Keele University – Friday 2nd July to Sunday 4th July. The theme is Teaching Psychology: changing lives, changing minds.

The conference is for teachers of psychology and will offer updating sessions on psychology, presentations and workshops on teaching and learning, and opportunities to share good practice.

See you there.

The ATP is running a CPD event for NQTs and those new to teaching Psychology.  The aim of the day is to provide high quality, low cost CPD for Psychology teachers.

The day will consist of interactive workshops given by experienced teachers and examiners on a variety of topics relevant to NQTs.  There will be plenty of opportunity to network with like minded professionals.  The exact programme is still to be finalised, but will contain workshops on issues such as effective lesson planning, using interactive resources, questioning, Assessment for Learning, teaching research methods etc. A website forum has been set up for suggestions.

The event will be held at: -
The Polesworth School
Dordon Road
Dordon
Tamworth
Staffs
B78 1QT

The nearest train station is Tamworth and the school is 5 minutes away from junction 10 of the M42.

The very reasonable cost of £30 will include refreshments and a light lunch.  The day will begin with registration and coffee at 9.30am and finish at 3pm.  Please book your place early to avoid disappointment.

Please pay £30 delegate fee via PayPal.  In order to qualify for this bargain price you must be a member of the ATP.  Please join here if not already a member, before registering for NQT/New to teaching Psychology CPD Event.  Any queries please contact d.gajic@sky.com