Feeling empowered by EFPTA
In November 2023 I had the opportunity to join the European Federation of Psychology Teachers’ Associations (EFPTA) as a Board member, representing the ATP (England & Wales) and attending the Board meeting in Edinburgh. What a fascinating experience! I can’t wait to go to the EFPTA Conference in Helsinki in April 2024 and find out much more about psychology teaching all over Europe.
What stands out from my experience meeting colleagues from across Europe?
Well, I already believe the following: All young people would benefit from psychology teaching throughout their education, from specialist educators, and I think it a shame that many leave school without gaining the valuable knowledge, insights and skills, which studying psychology would bring to their lives. Not to mention the effect this would have on society and humanity as a whole! If you are still reading – I am aware that I will most likely be ‘preaching to the choir’ at this point…
Anyway, like you, I am so busy day-to-day (in my case teaching Psychology A-level and Biology and Personal Health and Social Education) and I can’t tackle this problem by myself. However, meeting educators from EFPTA from many different countries and comparing their teaching systems has left me feeling empowered. What might we do about adding to psychology teaching throughout our curricula, as a collective?
It’s important to gather and share up-to-date information about what goes on in different countries in relation to how psychology is taught, discover similarities and differences, share models of best practice and personal experiences of teaching psychology, and learn from each other. EFPTA does this in various ways: each member country has a page on the EFPTA website, and at the Helsinki conference Board members will display posters about psychology teaching in their countries.
Now, this new blog page – of which I am the Editor – offers great opportunities for such sharing: I call on you to write a short blog about your own observations, your country’s ‘story’ regarding psychology teaching and your own teachers’ associations.