I joined the Association for the Teaching of Psychology (ATP), UK in December 2014 and was honoured to become a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (the UK’s national psychologists’ association) in September 2020. My students and I have benefitted from my membership of these communities in many ways:
Firstly, I have formed close friendships and received unconditional support from many psychology teachers across the UK and Europe (including EFPTA members-you know who you are!) since attending my first ATP conference at the University of Lancaster in 2015. This support has been invaluable to me as I have often been working as a psychology department of one! Not only were the ATP conference workshops useful for refreshing my subject knowledge but it is great to mix with like-minded people who are never too busy to answer technical questions on topics, such as ‘how do I help students who are less confident in maths to understand inferential statistics?’
I have also had the rewarding experience of being a member of the ATP committee since July 2023, as well as editing the “ATP Today” magazine in February 2024 – it has been so inspiring to read articles and ideas from other students and teachers about the world of psychology, which I have then explored with my students! This experience has also given my students the unique opportunity to improve their subject skills and university application statement by writing for the ATP magazine!
Secondly, I was honoured to be nominated as ATP Representative on the BPS’ dedicated teaching committee in December 2023. During this time, we have worked together to break down barriers between the university and pre-university teaching communities. For example, the committee launched the Pre-tertiary Education Psychology Teacher of the Year award in October 2023 to celebrate the work of pre-university teachers in schools. Moreover, my colleagues, Deb Gajic and Helene Ansell, who are both former ATP committee members, collated resources from psychology teachers and collaborated with colleagues at the BPS to produce the excellent and popular online resource, called the ‘Teacher’s Toolkit’. (https://shorturl.at/bfsT7 )
The materials are free to access and are intended to be useful whatever specific psychology course students are following. These resources have significantly contributed to my excellent track record of student outcomes and have greatly supported my students in writing effective applications to their chosen universities. They particularly praised the sections on careers and writing personal statements. We have also found the BPS online events such as the “Psychology Careers Festival” and “Meet the psychologist” useful for making their university choices and tailoring their university applications to their chosen courses (in many cases, psychology).
Finally, my students and I have greatly enjoyed discussing ways of using the weekly BPS Research Digest and monthly articles in the BPS magazine, “The Psychologist” to boost their critical thinking skills and marks for longer essays in their final examinations!