News
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Thank you for taking part in our webinar on 18 March! Climate change & sustainability in psychology education.
Thank you to everyone who took part in our spring webinar on Saturday 18 March! The theme of climate change and sustainability in psychology education was very popular with about 50 participants from many countries in Europe and beyond. Unfortunately our keynote speaker Dr Dan O'Hare had to cancel, however EFPTA Bard members stepped in to provide a summary of Dr O'Hare's recent paper.
Cick on the links below for the workshop presentations.
In the breakout sessions participants said they found the workshops interesting and useful, and also shared their views and info about how they address environmental issues and sustainability in their own schools. Concern about the effects of the climate crisis on the wellbeing of young people, and the need to prepare them for future challenges, will continue. Also a number of important fundamental questions arose about the role of psychology education in addressing the climate crisis, so we plan to follow up this theme in future EFPTA events - watch this space!
Psychology and climate change is a theme currently prioritised by the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA), to which EFPTA is affiliated.
Documents and Resources
Workshop: Whole-school approaches to sustainability
Workshop: Climate change - learning activities in the psychology classroom
Some key sources on climate change and psychology
EFPTA Board meets in England
EFPTA Board's bi-annual full meeting took place on 18-19 November in England, hosted by Jock McGinty, EFPTA Vice President and England & Wales rep, at his school, Watford Boys Grammar School. It was so good to be able to meet in person again! Representatives from Denmark, England, Germany, Finland, Scotland and Sweden took part, with several other country reps able to join remotely. Mairi Rice was welcomed as new Scotland rep. A busy Agenda included planning for the spring 2023 webinar, the next Board meeting in April to be hosted by our Sweden rep in Stockholm, and preliminary planning for EFPTA 2024 conference in Helsinki. Watch this space for more news of these events!
Meet EFPTA's new President!
At the Board meeting on 30 April in Odense, Denmark, EFPTA members elected Mette Eggertsen as our new President for 2022-24. Mette, of the Danish psychology teachers' association, was previously EFPTA Vice-President. Most Board members attended in person - the first in-person meeting since November 2019 - and a small number attended virtually. An unusual 'hybrid handover' took place when outgoing President Lenka Sokolová (2019-22), from the Slovakian association, who attended via Zoom, handed over the role to Mette who was there in person - see the photo! The Board thanked Lenka for the huge amount of work she has put into advocating for high school level psychology teaching in Europe, and promoting EFPTA amongst psychology educators and practitioners. Fortunately, Lenka is continuing on the Board as representative for Slovakia.
The other three Officers elected /re-elected at the meeting are: Vice-President - Jock McGinty (England and Wales); Treasurer - Wolfgang Augustin (Germany); Secretary - Morag Williamson (Scotland).
The main business of the meeting was to plan activities for 2022-24 - watch this space for news of events!
EFPTA webinar 19 February 2022: thanks for taking part!
On 19 February we held a webinar with the theme: Mental health at school: what is the role of psychology teachers?
Around 50 people took part - psychology teachers, university academics, mental health professionals - from c.16 European countries, and presenters from five countries talked about their approaches to mental health education for young people. It was very interesting, and inspiring, to learn about these different perspectives, with a clear focus on practical strategies for supporting young people through these very challenging times.
Sadly, the global covid-19 pandemic since early 2020 has led to an increase in mental health problems especially among young people. This webinar forms part of a project by EFPTA and the EFPA Board of Educational Affairs on mental health education in secondary schools in Europe, including the role of psychology teachers in supporting students' mental health.
Presentations are available here.
Saturday 19 February 2022, 10.00-12.00 (CET). This event has now ended.
Click the link below for full programme information.
Documents and Resources
Webinar flyer /poster - full programme
Collaborate! webinar presentation
In the EFPTA webinar on 6 March, Anne Riekkinen (Finland) took us on a fascinating journey through recent projects with collaborative partners in various countries. She presented both her own experiences and those of her Finnish colleagues Teija Jokinen-Luopa and Helena Haranen, in projects mostly facilitated by the EU programme Erasmus+. Anne left us in no doubt as to the value of such experiences, and the Erasmus+ programme itself, for her professional practice, a sentiment strongly echoed by the event participants. Take a look at Anne's presentation, and be inspired!
Documents and Resources
Collaborative projects presentation 06-03-21
EFPTA Newsletter 2020 is published!
You'll find a great mixture of articles, news and reports of events of interest to psychology teachers. Thanks to all contributors - who are psychology teachers and researchers from across Europe - and thanks to new Editor, Jock McGinty (England / Wales representative), taking over from Jackie Moody (Luxembourg). Enjoy!
Documents and Resources
