Psychology in the Classroom

This week Dr Eleanor Leigh talks about how, for some adolescents, social situations create such feelings of anxiety that it interfere with learning and education as well as other aspects of their day to day lives. Eleanor is principal Clinical Psychologist and the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow at the department of experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.   Her research is focused o...

At what point do people accept the label 'Disabled'?  What are the barriers to acceptance?  Why do students fail to tell educational establishments about disabilities when it may be in their interests to do so?  Dr. Julie Hulme, Reader of Psychology at Keele discusses all these question and introduces us to Social Identity Theory and explains why social context is so important in defining who we a...

Ever been in the situation where you feel you should do one thing but it goes against the 'rules' in some way?  Chris researches the phenomenon of Constructive Deviance and what makes us stick to the 'rules' even when we feel we shouldn't and what makes us break them and whether or not this is a good thing in an organisation such as a school.  We cover bystander apathy (a fascinating topic) and ho...

Dr. Malik Boykin is the first Black professor in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences (CLPS) at Brown University.  In this conversation we discuss how student-teacher relationships affect learning, and the importance of being vulnerable in front of our students.  We then consider how stigma and prejudice arises and how to reduce this within schools at both and indivi...

This is my final episode of the 2020-21 academic year and as we take a break for summer what better than to consider the psychological benefits of holidays and how to make the most out of them.  Here are my top tips and a little hint of what is to come in the Autumn.  Enjoy!

I am so excited to be taking this podcast into a second year.  This autumn I am going to be bringing you a range of really interesting interviews from leading psychologists in their fields, as well as a wide variety of ideas, information and understanding about how psychological research is conducted and can be applied to the classroom.  Here is a  taster of what is to come in September as I take...

During our conversation on Autism Jo and I digressed on to being a parent of children with SEND.  Both of us have children with SEND in Secondary school and both of us work with parents of children with SEND.  We know first hand the challenges that parents face and the wide range of emotions that it brings to the surface, but we also recognise that teachers face challenges as well.  This open and...

The 9th and 10th July saw the return of the ATP conference live and in person.  Despite having to sit spread out in lecture theatres and not shake hands, clean desks, wear masks and generally keep away from each other it was a hugely fun event.  This podcast brings you the highlights from the keynote speakers, workshops and event organisers.  Guests: Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, Professor Sophie...

This week it was a pleasure to talk to Dr Seonaid Anderson about Tourettes Syndrome, understanding what it is and isn't, the challenges those with TS face and how it can disrupt learning.  We cover the treatments, classroom support and the effect of Covid in this enlightening interview. Seonaid is a chartered research psychologist and freelance neurodiversity consultant with many years experience...

Ant McVerry is currently the Director of Inclusion and SENCO at Notre Dame Catholic College in Liverpool. He spent 10 years working in the largest special school in Liverpool, which catered for the needs of pupils aged 3 to 19, all of whom had a diagnosis of Autism and other associated difficulties. He transitioned over to mainstream as he saw the potential for inclusion within mainstream settings...

As a parent I have met Educational Psychologists (EP) but as a teacher I haven't, so it was fascinating to hear about how varied the job of an EP is and the work that Dan does with teachers.  Working with such a wide range of people and organisations enable EPs to see the big picture of SEND across a county, understand best practice and support teachers with the day-to-day challenges they face in...

Philip Asherson is Professor of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry at Kings's College London, in this episode he shares his research around ADHD from a clinical perspective discussing the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, the role of medication, the impact that ADHD can have on wellbeing and how ADHD overlaps with other specific learning difficulties.

Ella is an insightful and articulate young Trainee Educational Psychologist (TEP) who is clearly passionate about inclusive education. In this interview she talks about her journey to become and TEP, what it involves and why she is particularly passionate about educating teachers about ADHD.  She offers plenty of practical advice to help support young people with ADHD in the classroom as well as d...

This week's podcast covers Sensory Processing Disorder.  This is a very varied disorder which affects how people process sensory information and as a consequence how they respond to the environment.  Though often linked with Autism SPD doesn't always go hand in hand with ASD.  SPD can be triggered via all senses such as vision, noise, touch and smell and considering your classroom environment can...

This week I speak to trainee teacher Jasmine Selwood who shares her experience of growing up with a deaf parent and how this has impacted the way that she approaches the classroom, and supports students with hearing impairments. Her insights of life both in and outside of the classroom are fascinating and should give us all pause for thought. For more on the McGurk Effect you can check out this li...

1 in 10 people have dyslexia and given that so much learning requires reading and writing it can really hinder progress in school. Dr Cathy Manning talks about her research on Sensory Processing in those with dyslexia and autism, how we can use this to understand the condition and how we can support those who have dyslexia.  Alexandra Gardner from the Unicorn School talks about her experience of w...

This week continues the Speech and Language theme from last week.  I speak to Speech and Language Therapist Meera Deters about how speech typically develops and what issues bilingual children may face in school.  Then Dr Saloni Krishnan from Royal Holloway, University of London talks about her research as a cognitive neuroscientist into language disorders and brain function in children.  Links dis...

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is prevalent in classrooms, hidden and has devastating consequences for those who struggle on undiagnosed.  This week I speak to Hannah Hobson about her research and speech and language therapists Lisa Sharp and Alex Winterbottom about their work with children and young people.  We cover DLD, how to spot it, its impact on learning and life, and how we can supp...

In this Episode I speak to Julia Gudinchet ( Sunflower Autism Consultancy ), Alexandra Gardner ( Unicorn School ), Jo Billington ( University of Reading ) and Meera Deters ( Super Speech Solutions ) about how to support young people with Autism in the classroom. Whilst the conversations are wide ranging, the over-riding message is to listen carefully to the young person to find out what works for...

Inclusion is a word we are using more and more in the context of education, but what exactly does inclusive education look like?  Creating inclusive educational systems is incredibly complex, in fact just trying to define inclusive education throws up more questions than answers.  In this interview Tim Kent , from Roehampton University considers the semantic, political, philosophical and practical...

As an introduction to this season's podcasts on the Psychology of SEND I am starting with a brief overview of the SEND Code of Practice.  It covers the 4 main areas of need and how classroom teacher need to support pupils and adapt practice around SEND.  I have also created an acronym cheat sheet which you can find on my website: changingstatesofmind.com/season-3

Sonia Guerriero works for UNESCO, where she leads research, strategic development, and implementation of international projects that support developing countries to improve learning outcomes through better teacher education.  This interview explores teacher training and development, how teaching is regarded as a profession and how we might encourage teachers to stay in the profession.  Sonia's und...

Tamsin Ford is an internationally renowned Child Psychiatric Epidemiologist who researches the organisation, delivery, and effectiveness of services and interventions for children and young people's mental health.  In this interview we talk about the Mental Health picture for Young People in the UK, the effects of Covid-19, how schools can implement best practice, SEND and so much more.

As a parent of neurodiverse children and a teacher this is an area that is particularly important to me.  This season will cover all sorts of neurodiverse conditions, what the research tells us and how we can apply this to classroom practice.  Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode or visit my website changingstatesofmind.com

Neuropsychology holds a unique fascination, the way the brain functions in order for us to survive in the world and it's adaptability when damaged never fails to surprise us.  How we can use our understanding of damaged brain to increase our knowledge of the intact brain is Dr Ashok Jansari's specialism.  In this interview we consider how our understanding of neuropsychology can applied to the cla...