Supporting Teachers and Families: A Senior Educational Psychologist's Role
11 Sept, 20241-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- About the support that Senior Educational Psychologists provide to children and families as well as, Teachers and fellow Educational Psychologists.
- Words of wisdom from a Senior Educational Psychologist about the obstacles you may face in a career in educational psychology.
- How to find and apply for the best Educational Psychologist jobs.
A Senior Educational Psychologist has a lot of responsibilities. Not only do they ensure that children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are supported, but they are also responsible for providing advice to parents, families and SEND professionals.
Senior Educational Psychologists handle more complex cases and supervise and mentor Educational Psychologists. Educational Psychologists focus on assessing and supporting individual children’s learning and emotional needs to promote positive outcomes in relation to wellbeing.
In this interview, we learnt how Senior Educational Psychologist Dr Adam McCartney prioritises the educational and emotional needs of children, while supporting families and fellow professionals.
From navigating complex cases to collaborating with schools and families, Adam offers insight into the challenges and rewards of the profession for those considering or advancing in a career as an Educational Psychologist.
Tell me about your career journey so far
I started my career in youth work. I always knew I wanted to be a Psychologist, but I assumed that I would be a Clinical Psychologist. Once I started supporting children with learning disabilities so they could thrive in the community, I quickly developed a passion for supporting them.
I was also curious as to how they learned new skills. I would try varying ways of teaching them new things from holding a pencil to hitting a tennis ball. I noticed that I would naturally change the way I spoke and became consciously aware of how much information I was feeding them at any one time.
I had so much fun working with these children that I couldn’t give it up. I stayed within the youth working sector for a few years and continued to study psychology in my spare time. Once I obtained my masters qualification I became set on getting onto the doctorate training course.
I was living in my hometown at the time, Derry/Londonderry, at the height of the recession, so job opportunities within psychology were limited. I decided that if I was to fulfil my passion I would have to move to England. I achieved this by securing an Assistant Psychologist job in a remote town where no one could understand my accent.
I spent the next few months changing the pace of my speech so that I could at least order lunch. From this post I applied to the doctorate course, carefully picking a course based on what I wanted to pursue. Fortunately, I was successful!
What does a typical day look like for you?
I don’t really have a typical day; I have diversified my role across several organisations. My role ranges from directly assessing children to gather a better understanding of their needs, to advising local authorities and multi-academy trusts on their operational systems.
Some days can be more relaxed than others. Some days I spend most of my time quality assuring reports from other Educational Psychologists, whilst other days I run from meeting to meeting within a school.
What does your job consist of?
My role is broad and diverse with many nuances. However, if one was to reduce it to its core components, I would say that my job is to help people solve problems based on the application of psychological knowledge and theories.
This means that I must manage many relationships and understand complex problems quickly. Often I have to build a rapport with people I may have just met so that they can better understand a situation and begin to solve it.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
It is difficult to say that any one aspect is more challenging than others. However, one tension that I struggle with regularly is deciding on the best advice to give within an education system that is strained.
I am mindful that Teachers and school staff give their all everyday and any advice I give could contribute to their burnout. Therefore, I work closely with them and examine their practice to see how best to support the child with additional needs and the tired teacher.
What’s the most rewarding thing about working as an Educational Psychologist?
When you hear that your advice worked and that a child is happier and thriving in school because of something you implemented - that is extremely rewarding. I also find supporting Headteachers very rewarding.
I have helped schools get into a better position, from feeling like they were firefighting and trying their best not to exclude children, to Teachers reporting that they are happy to come into school. Many of those Teachers are curious about how they can do their jobs better and the Headteacher feels they are thriving.
Although our professional focus is often on the children, I feel these moments are equally rewarding because not only do the children reap the benefits, but I have helped those adults enjoy their lives more; it makes me smile.
What obstacles have you had to face in your career?
Like every new Educational Psychologist, I have had to complete the doctorate training course which tests your character. The course is not something I would advise people to pursue lightly; you have to be all in or all out.
I have also found that I wanted to try different roles within my profession and that can be challenging as the demand for Educational Psychologists to complete statutory work is so high that you can feel pressure to only do this work. Thankfully, I looked around and found other roles that peaked my interest whilst continuing to do some statutory work.
Why do you think Educational Psychologists are in such high demand?
I think we are in such high demand due to the economic and political changes that have happened over the past 14 years. The legislation that guides our profession is well intended but naïve in execution.
The ability to access an Educational Psychologist no longer received appropriate screening, therefore the demand to request an assessment skyrocketed and continues to do so.
What do you feel can be done to tackle the Educational Psychologists crisis?
To improve the quality of service of Educational Psychologists, the balance between economics, legislation and professionalism needs to be readdressed. The Educational Psychologist needs to have greater say over how their work is allocated and the systems necessary to access their services.
Within the local authority framework there are varying degrees of success by which the educational psychology service is listened to. Greater authority would mean independent educational psychology services lease their services to schools and local authorities directly. This way they can state what services they are willing to deliver and the customer (i.e. local authority and schools) can also request what they would like.
The balance is addressed within the marketplace. Surprisingly, my younger self would have flinched at such a proposition, however, times change and I have sadly concluded that the pre-recession way of being an Educational Psychologist is no longer possible. It is a brave new world.
Do you have any words of wisdom for someone considering a career as an Educational Psychologist?
I have received many words of wisdom over the years but a few that come to mind are:
“If you can’t summarise your report in three sentences, then you don’t understand the child.”
“If you don’t have a passion for psychology, don’t become a psychologist.”
“Working together is more important than being right, so stay humble.”
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to develop my own private practice to support schools and redress the balance that I spoke about earlier.
What were your experiences of using a recruitment agency like Spencer Clarke Group?
Senior Consultant Natalie Boaler helped me explore my options. It’s nice and very reassuring to have that support. I think working with an agency really gives you the confidence to explore your options whether that's a different career path or just trying something new.
Educational Psychologist jobs
If you’re searching for your next Educational Psychologist job, why not take a look at the latest vacancies, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant position becomes available.
Struggling to recruit Educational Psychologists?
As specialist local authority SEND recruiters, we support local authorities nationwide with their temporary, interim and permanent staffing needs.
If you’re struggling to recruit, we have exclusive access to some of the most experienced interim Educational Psychologists in the UK.
Simply contact Natalie Boaler on 01772 954200 to discover how we can help.
Share your experience
Every individual brings a unique set of experiences, thoughts, and insights to the table. We believe in giving a voice to a community of professionals to inspire positive change and champion reform in the healthcare sector.
If you work in the healthcare sector and would like to share your own personal and professional experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Perhaps you have a different perspective, could offer a fresh angle, or want to challenge assumptions.
Simply reach out to our Head of Content, Nicole Sherwood, to discuss a collaboration which makes your voice count.
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Established in 2017, we’re a vibrant and progressive recruitment agency based in the heart of the North West.
We continually reimagine the recruitment process to challenge convention and defy expectations; from creating a better recruitment experience to remodelling employee engagement, we thrive off doing things differently and turning heads along the way.
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