From Campus to Classroom: Reflective Professional Development in Schools

EDUC33050 From Campus to Classroom: Reflective Professional Development in Schools 20 Full year Undergraduate Level 3 Kelly Burgoyne Unit coordinator Education 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Last part of a Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 This unit draws upon the core psychology modules which have been covered in Y1 and Y2, with specific reference to EDUC13011 Foundations of Psychology and EDUC13042 Exploring Psychology in the Classroom, and EDUC23040 Counselling and Educational Psychology in Professional Contexts.The unit requires students to apply psychological knowledge to interpret, analyse, and understand educational approaches and practices through community engagement via school placement. This unit draws upon the core psychology modules which have been covered in Y1 and Y2, with specific reference to EDUC13011 Foundations of Psychology and EDUC13042 Exploring Psychology in the Classroom, and EDUC23040 Counselling and Educational Psychology in Professional Contexts.The unit requires students to apply psychological knowledge to interpret, analyse, and understand educational approaches and practices through community engagement via school placement. <ul><li>Support students to develop and apply their psychological knowledge to interpret, analyse, and understand educational approaches and practices</li><li>Develop student own learning, employability and psychological literacy through self-reflection, planning and implementing strategies for skill development  </li><li>Provide opportunities for community engagement via school partnerships</li></ul> This is a placement based unit which supports students to develop and apply their psychological knowledge to interpret, analyse, and understand educational approaches and practices.  Through placement, students develop a wide range of experience and skills that are relevant to roles in Psychology and Education. This includes:<ul><li>Critically evaluating educational approaches and practices in schools</li><li>Applying psychological knowledge to interpret, analyse, and understand educational approaches and practices</li><li>Developing a skills audit and mapping own learning priorities</li><li>Critically reflecting on experiences to facilitate self-development</li><li>Effective communication and collaboration  in a professional education environment.</li></ul>Through the unit students will further develop their autonomy and initiative, through self-directed study and through critical self-reflection of their employability skills and psychological literacy. <ul><li>Describe a range of educational practices and approaches that can be implemented in a school context</li><li>Apply psychological knowledge to examine and critically evaluate  educational practices and approaches in school</li></ul> <ul><li>Analyze educational practices and approaches in the context of an applied setting (i.e. school)</li><li>Critically reflect on their own current skills levels in relation to employer expectations and plan strategies demonstrating employability skills and psychological literacy</li></ul> <ul><li>Collaborate with others in a professional education setting to gather information about educational approaches and practices</li><li>Communicate information about educational approaches and practices effectively through written presentation</li></ul> <ul><li>Use professional development resources and digital tools to to reflect, track and articulate skill development</li><li>Use digital tools effectively to produce appropriate visual materials suitable for a school audience </li></ul> The unit is taught across the year as follows:Semester 1 consists of weekly on-campus sessions designed to: 1) Expose students to a broad range of real-world educational approaches and practices through facilitated guest lectures and workshops; 2) Provide structured opportunities, supported by career services, for students to reflect, track and articulate their employability and skill development and identify self-development opportunities. 3) Prepare students to undertake their 7-session placement in Semester 2 though identifying the scope and remit of a stage 1 Psychology student (e.g. not providing subject-specific psychological support or offer guidance that falls within the professional competencies of qualified practitioners).Semester 2 revolves around a 7-week placement in a local partner school.  The placement is a short-term, unpaid educational experience where students make use of observations in real world contexts to demonstrate knowledge and understanding that are relevant to roles in Psychology and Education.Supporting the placement are campus-based sessions which are used to support critical reflection on the experience, with a focus on a) the role and relevance of psychology in educational practice and approaches, and b) employability and psychological literacy post-graduation.  An online placement pathway utilising video materials, online interviews, and written resources provides an alternative route to meeting ILOs if a student is unable to physically visit school (e.g. should it not be possible to complete a DBS check). The approach adopted in this unit is predominantly one of structured observership and critical self-reflection.  The approach to learning is supported and guided using face to face seminars/workshops and guided use of online material provided in the virtual learning environment. An online space is available throughout the unit for students to post questions and receive responses from teaching staff.  The unit is comprised of two stages:  In Semester 1 students attend weekly on-campus sessions and complete pre- and post-sessional independent learning activities. These sessions are used to build student knowledge of a range of educational approaches and practices implemented in schools, to introduce and prepare students to undertake the placement, and to enable students to undertake an self-reflective audit of their own current skills levels in relation to employer expectations and plan strategies demonstrating employability skills and psychological literacy.Students are expected to supplement on campus sessions with independent and guided working.In Semester 2, students complete a placement in a local partner school where students make use of observations in real world contexts to demonstrate knowledge and understanding that are relevant to roles in Psychology and Education.   Students have the option of securing their own  educational setting  or having this  sourced by the teaching team. The placement takes place one day every week for 7 weeks (depending on setting and University timetables). Students are to critically reflect on educational approaches and practices, consider real-world barriers and facilitators, and reflect on the role of Psychology in these processes . In person seminars mid-way and at the end of placement are used to prepare for the assignment, support self-reflection and problem solving, and review experiences in respect to their own skill development and employability.Throughout the unit, students have access to online learning materials (including video content, quizzes, suggested reading) and an online space to raise questions and discussion points. 2 Written assignment (inc essay) 70% 5 Portfolio 30% Assessment 1 (30%) — 1,500 words<ul><li>Students complete a skills audit and produce a reflective portfolio that articulates their employability and skill development and identifies self-development opportunities.</li></ul>Assessment 2 (70%) — 1,500 words<ul><li>Students independently produce a digital resource designed for a school/teacher audience, justifying one educational practice or approach, including a critical assessment of it’s theoretical underpinnings, design, intended outcome(s), and how it might be evaluated in practice.</li></ul> Feedback will be provided via VLE within Faculty guidelines. BSc (Hons) Educational Psych BSc (Hons) Educational Psych Third Year Mandatory N The reading list will depend on the type of educational approach or practice students choose to focus on. Texts with broad application across the unit are indicated below:Benedict, A. & Braven, A. (2025). Educating Everyone: An Introduction to Relational Inclusion in Schools. Taylor & Francis.Bishop, D. & Thompson, P.A. (2023). Evaluating What Works. Taylor & Francis.Clarke, P., Truelove, E., Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. (2013). Developing reading comprehension. Wiley-Blackwell.   Lectures 19.5 Placement 45.5 135