2000 - 01 Reports

The Professional Development Programme (PDP) is managed by the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP) in collaboration with local authorities and funded by the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED). This is the sixth cycle of the programme, which involves groups of psychologists in cross-boundary project work and other professional development activities, around agreed themes, over a period of about one year. The outcomes of this work are disseminated to colleagues and others in the field of education. This booklet gives a summary of the activities and findings of the two themes addressed by the 2000-2001 programme, namely:

• Developing a Role for Local Authority Psychological Services Post-16
• New Community Schools: Challenges and Opportunities for Educational Psychologists

The eleven psychologists participating in the New Community Schools PDP project were involved in identifying and understanding many of the facts and fictions regarding New Community Schools (NCS). The report teases out the background to NCS, arguing that NCS and full service schools in the USA arise out of community psychology with emphases on social policy, action and the value of preventative work over repair and remediation. NCS can be a one-stop shop for addressing educational, physical, psychological and social requirements. Implications for how educational psychologists might work in such a setting and how parents might play a fuller part are explored in the report.

The Beattie Report, published in 1999, made a number of novel recommendations concerning services to 16-24 year olds. Included within these was an outline of roles for educational psychologists in Scotland. To work in this way with Colleges of Education and with service providers will be a new venture for many Psychological Services. The PDP project sought to survey current practice in Scotland, interview key stakeholders and draw up a specification for pilot work to develop a model for involvement of Psychological Services in post-school training and placement. The report outlines the consultancy with the Scottish Executive Education Department and the Beattie Implementation Team which secured funding and agreed a remit for a substantial three year pilot project, started June 2001.