Workshops and seminars
The conference offers a wide variety of events for teachers. Some of these give delegates the opportunity to share good practice and all delegates are encouraged to come to the conference willing to contribute to some of the events. Alongside the good practice events there will also be opportunities to update skills and knowledge on many aspects of teaching psychology. These events will be led by experienced teachers and authors.
The special themes for this conference are
- Diversity and inclusion: how can we respond to the diverse experiences of our students and make them feel included in our psychology curricula, and how can deal with issues of diversity within those curricula?
- Teaching and learning: what are the most strategic ways to deliver our courses to inspire our students and help them to be successful.
- This is the modern world: how can we update our psychology to take account of the changing experiences of the Bebo generation?
There will be seminars and workshops covering aspects of all these themes.
Featured Workshops
There will be over 70 breakout events at the conference on the three conference themes. A small selection of them are outlined below.
Diversity & Inclusion
Equality & Diversity for new teachers of Psychology- Enthusiasm wins out
This session will be presented in an open forum setting with Laura Rudd and Emma Shakespeare. Laura will present from the view of an NQT in her first year of teaching and Emma will present from the perspective of 3 years down the line as a head of department.
The workshop will look at the practicalities of integrating issues of diversity into teaching such as how to record the activity and finding the best training opportunities. There will also be some top tips such as, how to learn to say no and how to recognise your limits. There will also be an opportunity to share good practice and look at some useful resources.
The Glass Cliff
Dr Michelle Ryan leads the Glass Cliff Research Group at the University of Exeter. Research into the glass cliff examines what happens when women (and other minority groups) take on leadership roles. Extending the metaphor of the glass ceiling, ‘the glass cliff’ describes the phenomenon whereby individuals belonging to particular groups are more likely to be found in leadership positions that are associated with a greater risk of failure and criticism (more information is available at http://psy.ex.ac.uk/seorg/glasscliff/)
Exploring Diversities
Andrew Fox will lead an awareness raising session aimed at stimulating debate in the classroom and enhancing AO2 skills in the exam through the study of ‘gender’, ‘ethnicity’ and ’sexuality’. Although, perhaps more social constructionist in its approach, a common theme centres around the potential for diversities within rather than between these ‘identities’.
Teaching & Learning
Effective Learning
Vicky Newham teaches at Wimbledon High School and has a special interest in effective learning. In this session she will look at what effective learning is, and how it can be promoted in Psychology. Other questions which she will look at include, what the benefits are of promoting effective learning, and how to use Assessment for Learning to promote effective learning in Psychology. Vicky will also provide some practical ideas for learning activities in Psychology which promote effective learning and also some ideas on how to overcome the barriers to effective learning.
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is normally characterised as the study of ‘argument’. This results in teachers fretting with their students at the start of a Critical Thinking course about the nature of ‘argument’. Students will rightly wonder why they’re doing this, so a much better focus is to start by looking at how claims are (and can be) used to generate further claims. This process of inference goes to the heart of what should be involved in Critical Thinking. By focusing on the limits of inference (whilst looking beyond them), we stress both the analytical and evaluative possibilities of Critical Thinking skills, highlighting the hugely creative possibilities involved. As a result, instead of students being puzzled about the distinctions between ‘argument’, ‘discussion’, ‘quarrel’ (and so on, and on), they’re already excited by what can happen when we get into inference (and then into assumptions, and reasoning, and…).
Roy van den Brink-Budgen has been working in Critical Thinking for twenty-one years. In this time, he has played a central role in the growth of the subject in schools and colleges (including having been Chief Examiner for most of the time that the subject has been assessed). His resources (books, CD-Rom, and online course) for teachers and students are widely used not only in this country but also in others, including the US, Australia, and the Netherlands. He runs the education consultancy if…then which provides services to both students and teachers.
On running a Psychology Academy
Craig Roberts from Totton College will share his experience of running a successful Psychology Academy. Do you have students who already want to read Psychology at University? Do you want more time teaching them other aspects of Psychology not linked to a specification? Then, please attend this session where Craig will share a model that has been highly effective at Totton College and his students love. Plus, most of what is available is fundable to make your managers happy! He’ll run through all sorts of things (all stand alone or added together makes an Academy). He looks forward to helping you all out!
This is the modern world
Psychology Teacher’s Toolkit – an update!
Michael Griffin is the author of the Psychology Teacher’s Toolkit which is the most downloaded resource on psychexchange. In his session at the conference Michael aims to provide fresh ideas for delivering psychological content. For those of you that have already downloaded the ‘Psychology Teacher’s Toolkit’ from psychexchange.co.uk, the session will feature new teaching strategies and an updated version of the toolkit, which includes an additional 20 pages of activity ideas! There will also be a focus on strategies to structure group work, creating opportunities for peer and self assessment, as well as some new generic starters and plenaries. Delegates will be encouraged to try these ideas for themselves throughout the session, evaluate their use and consider how they might be adapted for their own lessons.
Psychexchange: tune in, turn on, download
Mark Holah and Jamie Davies from Wyke College have created numerous websites for students and teachers of psychology. Their latest successful venture is psychexchange. They have presented their work at CPD events for teachers and also at academic conferences. They will provide a session that shows you how to get the best from psychexchange and how to download and upload resources.
The Psychology of Terrorism
In the wake of the September 11 attacks and subsequent events in Afghanistan and elsewhere, the world’s attention has turned to the question of how best to tackle terrorism. While an agreed definition is probably as far off as ever, in what is both a difficult and sometimes dangerous topic to investigate, this session will address some of the issues surrounding one of the most challenging problems facing the modern world and psychology. Trevor Dunn from The Leys School will explore these and other issues.
Psychology of Fashion
It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. (Oscar Wilde) Fashion is a topic of great psychological interest. Think learning, status, power, sexual attraction, body image, anorexia, masochism, social psychology etc. Fashion is a problem for evolutionary psychologists, who have to try and explain it. As Matt Ridley points out in his excellent book The Red Queen, the fact that women are so interested in wearing the right shoes and this season’s colours is a bit of a mystery. The problem is this: evolutionary psychology insists that if humans have some innate shared instinct, then this must have evolved, and so must have some bearing on breeding success. It is hard to see the breeding benefits of an interest in fashion so where does this interest come from and what purpose does to serve? That dedicated follower of fashion, Joe Cocker will step into the minefield of fashion with his evolutionary eye and debonair sense of style.
Working Sessions
Writer’s Workshop (books)
Matt Jarvis from Keele University is one of the most prolific authors in UK psychology. Many teachers want to write, and publishers are always on the lookout for new talent. Often though the two just don’t come together. This workshop will explore what publishers and readers want from a book and take a look at the practicalities of proposing, contracting and writing a psychology textbook.
Research Workshop (conducting research and writing up academic articles)
Paul Sander and Jim Rose from the BPS Division of Teachers and Researchers in Psychology will lead a session that will encourage teachers to start research projects in their own schools and give them some tips on how to get the work supported and published. Paul is editor of the BPS journal Psychology Teaching Review.
Round Table Discussion
The links between schools and colleges and HE is an important and ongoing discussion at the BPS and also at this conference. We need to explore ways to improve the links between the two sectors so that our students receive a joined-up curriculum instead of the repetitive one they commonly experience. Please come along and contribute.
Extra Curricula
Belly dance your way to a stress free life
By popular demand Shiraz58 (a.k.a.Lesley McHenry) is back again this year. Following the memorable display at last year’s conference, delegates are invited to join a class to either improve their skills or to learn them for the first time. No veil required.
The psychology of bereavement
Author and teacher, Richard Gross will lead a session on the psychology of bereavement. While grief is usually defined as the response to the loss of a loved one, behind the grief reaction may lie the terror of one’s own death. The workshop considers how attachment theory may be used to reveal this relationship between actual loss of another and potential loss of self.
CBT – an evaluation from a therapists viewpoint.
Stuart Rose is a CBT therapist, counsellor and trainer. CBT is a particularly hot issue at the moment in the therapeutic world with what is currently happening within the NHS. The government is investing in what is called IAPT (Improved Access to Psychological Therapies). Considerable changes are being made within Mental Health provision at Primary and Secondary Care levels with NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence) often favoring CBT as the preferred therapeutic intervention. This has produced some vigorous debates among therapists from other approaches. As a member of several psychotherapeutic organisations ( BABCP, BACP, UKCP, BPS Counselling Division) Stuart has been in the position of hearing the arguments from different sides of the fence.
There will also be over 70 other break out workshops covering issues such as:
E-learning workshops. These will aim to explore how teachers can embed new technologies in their teaching. We will have hands on ICT sessions throughout the conference and we hope to have demonstrations from key educational suppliers such as Promethean
Examination workshops. These will be available to help teachers prepare for their specifications. These events are a regular feature of the conference and we welcome back the Awarding Bodies and senior examiners.
Research updates. These will give teachers some insight into where research psychology is heading at this time. Exeter University psychology department will be presenting on a selection of their main research fields.
Working sessions. We will have a number of working sessions this year which delegates are invited to attend. These will include, a writer’s workshop for aspiring authors and a research workshop for teachers looking to carry out their own research projects.
The Conference Committee reserve the right to change the programme if necessary.
The conference is being organised by Phil Banyard (phil.banyard@ntu.ac.uk) and a team of helpers. If you would like to offer some support, present a workshop or generally be involved then email Phil.
