Introduction

The Psychology Elders Project is a piece of research distilling the wisdom of Educational Psychologists (EPs) with over 20+ years of experience to help shape the next 20 years of our practice.

As a profession we are retiring faster than we are training (DfE, 2019). This made me worried about a “knowledge cliff”, where we lost the hard-earned knowledge and experience of our colleagues.

Data Collection [Phase 1]:

• Participants have a collective experience of over 340 years.
• Seven national regions represented across 12 interviews.
• There are so many wonderful EPs to talk with, I have started a second phase of data collection. If you would like to recommend someone to be interviewed, please get in touch.

Initial Data Analysis

Preliminary data analysis of the first phase produced themes around:

• The EP role: reflecting and planning, based on the systems and context you work within
• Exploring values and practice
• The history of the profession
• The life journey of an EP
• EPs as changemakers

Application x Analysis = Training Workshops for EPs

As part of sharing the findings and helping EPs to use the data, I have designed training sessions for Educational Psychologists, based upon the data provided by the Elders. If you are interested in booking training for your Educational Psychology Service or arranging a workshop for your University training course, please get in touch.

If you would like to keep in touch with the latest developments from the Psychology Elders Project, I will be writing about it on my newsletter Joining the Dots.