What is educational psychology?
In a nutshell, it’s a branch of psychology that is concerned with understanding and improving how students acquire a variety of capabilities through formal instruction in a classroom setting.
Where To Study Educational Psychology In South Africa?
Educational Psychology | University of Pretoria
Educational Psychology – SACAP
Educational Psychology – Stellenbosch University
Department of Educational Psychology – UWC
Master of Education in Educational Psychology
Educational Psychology – University of Zululand
Psycho-Social Education NWU
Where do educational psychologists work?
Local education authorities employ the majority of educational psychologists. They work in schools, colleges, nurseries, and special units, primarily with teachers and parents.
How much does a school psychologist earn in South Africa?
School Psychologist Salary in South Africa. A beginner in this field will earn about ZAR102,684, or about US$7,743 per year, but will reach the national average in about 5 years.
What does an educational psychologist do?
Essentially, these trained professionals study how students of all ages learn. … Educational psychologists work with a wide range of people, including parents, teachers, social workers, counselors, and speech and language therapists, to support these students.
What does an educational psychologist do?
Essentially, these trained professionals study how students of all ages learn. While investigating how students process emotional, social and cognitive stimuli, they make assessments based on the student’s reactions, using this analysis to identify learning, social and behavioural issues that impede his or her learning. Barriers to learning may include everything from learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, to bullying, anxiety, and low levels of confidence or poor self-esteem.
Educational psychologists work with a wide range of people, including parents, teachers, social workers, counsellors, and speech and language therapists, to support these students.
Recently, educational psychology has expanded beyond the school classroom to assist adults in educational settings.
However, although educational psychologists are able to help learners of all ages, they differ from general psychologists in that, where the latter has a broad overview of the study of psychology as it pertains to mental health and psychological functioning, educational psychology is a more specialized field dealing specifically with the psychology of education and learning.
Where does an educational psychologist work?
Educational psychologists typically work with schools or educational institutions, or as independent or private consultants. The work of an educational psychologist can either be directly with a child (assessing progress, providing counselling) or indirectly (through their work with parents, teachers and other professionals).
Direct work involves some form of assessment to uncover a child’s learning difficulty through consultation with professional colleagues, observation, interviews or use of test materials. Recommendations are then made to determine the most appropriate educational provision for that child and interventions might include devising learning programmes as well as collaborative work with a teacher.
Educational psychologists are also often hired by schools or learning institutions to work with staff in developing and implementing successful educational programmes for students.
They provide advice and training on how schools might help children to learn and develop and they recommend methods, or develop strategies in partnership with schools, to help children learn more effectively. Strategies may include teaching approaches, improvements to learning environments, advice on curriculum materials and behaviour support.
Thinking of a career in educational psychology?
This multi-dimensional job requires a number of core competencies, including various personality traits, from being a good listener and having a genuine interest in the wellbeing of others to being both a creative and critical thinker.
As far as professional qualifications are concerned, you will need five years’ full-time formal education in Psychology in order to register as an educational psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). This tuition should comprise the following:
- A three-year Bachelor’s Degree majoring in Psychology or the equivalent thereof.
- An Honours Degree in Psychology.
- A Master’s Degree in Psychology approved by the HPCSA.
You will also need to have successfully completed an approved 12-month full-time internship as well as the National Examination of the Professional Board for Psychology in the Educational Psychology category.
SACAP’s Bachelor of Applied Social Science degree is a comprehensive undergraduate psychology degree programme that provides the perfect springboard for those wishing to progress to Honours and Masters in order to become an educational psychologist.