The psychology of Education at the crossroads

Abstract

This article examines two sets of decisions which have had a negative impact on the image and definition of educational psychologists as a profession, and on the role of Educational Psychology as a discipline in psychology studies. The first is the creation of two healthcare professions within psychology, with their own respective educational pathways, which created a certain asymmetry between the different areas and specialisms within psychology. The second set of decisions includes the creation of the regulated profession of School Guidance Counsellor and the offering of a Masters in Secondary-School Teacher Training. After reviewing the consequences of the two decisions, and demonstrating the lack, hitherto, of a satisfactory response in the area, we look at four possible solutions and their respective consequences, with a view to eliciting an opinion from the various people involved, enabling us to construct a view of the state of the discipline as it currently stands, reflecting those areas in which there is consensus, and those aspects about which there is no consensus. The ultimate goal of this analysis is to put forward a mutually agreeable solution to the problems discussed herein.