M.Ed. Psychology of Education

 

Message from Aoife and Conor:

Welcome to this part of the website.  Remember to revisit this page regularly for updates  –  we will update this page when we receive a new update about a book, chapter, paper, report, etc. that will be useful in our studies.

 

As part of the M.Ed. Psychology of Education course, we are all co-constructing a list of useful readings that we have found to be beneficial in our work.

 

Note:  the citations are in bold on this page  –  just to make them more visible when scrolling.  When using the citations in a reference list, make sure that you remove the bold formatting.  Also check to see if they are presented here in APA (7th Edition) format.  Some were added when we were using APA (6th Edition) format. If you spot any citation that needs to be updated, please update it and send us the revised version  –  we will replace the old citation with your new (perfect!) one.

 

Also, if you find any links that are not working – please do let us know and we can get the new link.

 

As you will see, we are gradually adding new sections (e.g., useful blogs).  If you find a useful blog, video, YouTube clip, etc. that could be useful, please do send that on too.

 

Finally  –  do send us new links to anything that could be beneficial.  As a “Community of Practice”, we can all learn and profit from the little contributions that we all make.  When you send us something, perhaps add a sentence (or a few!) that explains what the resource is and what it is useful for (e.g., it might help to explain something that are exploring in the lectures).  We can then add the new resource and your overview text for others to see.

 

Useful Books

 

 

Barnett, R., & Jackson, N. (Eds.). (2020). Ecologies for learning and practice: Emerging ideas, sightings, and possibilities. Routledge.

This relatively recent book was one of the recommended readings for a lecture that was presented by Dr Ann Marie Halpenny (Lecture title: Learning ecologies within and beyond educational settings).

The book is highly interesting because it provides a systematic account of the ideas of learning ecologies and ecologies of practice (using examples from higher education and adult learning).

 

 

Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring lifespan development (4th Edition). Hobokon, NJ: Pearson.

There are many core / introductory textbooks in “developmental” and “lifespan” psychology.  Whilst many developmental books cover “birth to adolescence”, lifespan books have a focus on all parts of the lifespan.  This book by Berk is a very popular one.  Remember  –  all authors are different in their focus, their interests, and their writing style.  If you do not like the approach or writing style in this book, have a look at the very many other books that are available in this area (e.g., Stassen Berger).

 

 

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

 

 

Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Making human being human: Bioecological perspectives on human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

 

 

Brooker, L. (2008). Supporting transitions in the early years. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

 

 

Brooker, L. (2015). Cultural capital in the preschool years. In L. Alanen, L. Brooker, & B. Mayall (Eds), Childhood with Bourdieu (pp. 13–33). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

 

Butler-Bowdon, T. (2017). 50 psychology classics: Your shortcut to the most important ideas on the mind, personality, and human nature. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

 

Furnham, A. (1988). Lay theories: Everyday understanding of problems in the social sciences. New York: Pergamon.

So, what are “lay theories”?  Hopefully this explanation will help.

In our professional work we tend to use the same words to describe and label things that are used by everyone else in society.  However, we generally have a much more precise definition of the issue or word than everyone else has.

For example, when we talk about things like depression, anxiety, self-esteem, happiness  –  we probably define these human experiences slightly differently and with more precision than the “average person on the street”.  The definition that most people would use is termed the “lay perspective”.

Quite often we find that there is a “gap” between what we use as a definition . . . and what everyone else uses.  The problem is that this “drift” can lead to major misunderstandings!  It would not be very useful if I were to think that I was talking with an educator about “anxiety” when they might be working from a different  –  lay perspective  –  of anxiety than me.  So, it is always best to ensure that everyone in the conversation agrees at the start that we are talking about the exact same thing.

A sample of the book is available from Google Books.

 

 

Garvey, D. (2017). Nurturing personal, social and emotional development in early childhood: A practical guide to understanding brain development and young children’s behaviour. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

 

Gross, R. (2020). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour (8th Edition). Hodder Education. Available here.

Richard Gross is famous for this book  –  now in its 8th Edition!  It is a great guide to the basic information that anyone new to psychology needs.  It is very easy to understand and has helped some people on the course to clarify the basic concepts that are explored in Module 1.

 

 

Jackson, N. J. (2016). Exploring learning ecologies. Lifewide Education. Chalk Mountain Publishers.

This book was one of the recommended readings for a lecture that was presented Dr Ann Marie Halpenny (Lecture title: Learning ecologies within and beyond educational settings).

Available here.

 

 

Minton, S. J. (2012). Using psychology in the classroom. London: Sage.

Stephen Minton was central to the design and validation of the M.Ed. Psychology of Education programme in TCD.  Stephen is now based in the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth.  If you are interested in Stephen’s research, you can see links to his interests, projects, and publications here.  Whilst Stephen has had a long history of involvement in bully / victim research, he has been a critical scholar in advancing this area  –  e.g., see his more recent work that explores the processes of exclusion and marginalisation in education and society, especially regarding the experiences of Indigenous peoples, members of alternative sub-cultures, and LGBTQ+ people.
This book is highly useful to anyone new to the area of “psychology of Education” or embarking on a career in teaching. The book is very accessible and shows the various uses of psychology in the classroom.  The book also offers some interesting views on how we can define “psychology of education”.  Each chapter in the book explores an “area of contemporary concern” in the classroom and how psychology can be applied by teachers to address these issues.

 

 

Mooney, C. G. (2013). Theories of childhood: An introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget, & Vygotsky (2nd Edition). St. Paul, MN: Readleaf Press. Available here.

This is a nice introduction to these key thinkers.  The chapter on Erikson is particularly clear, interesting, and relevant.

 

Hayes, N., O’Toole, L., & Halpenny, A. M. (2017). Introducing Bronfenbrenner: A guide for practitioners and students in early years education. London: Routledge.

Considering that this course is largely based around the thinking of Urie Bronfenbrenner, this is a great start to understanding Bronfenbrenner and how his theory can be applied to education.  Whilst Nóirín leads on our Module 2 (The Individual in the Family Context), Leah and Ann Marie have also contributed to the module.  This is a lovely book to get started with when thinking about how we can “put the individual into context”  –  i.e., exploring a bio-ecological perspective of human development.

In Trinity College Dublin, this book can be located at: Lecky Lower (372.21 R7;1).

We are also fortunate to have access to an electronic copy of the book  –  is is available here for TCD students.

 

 

Peterson, A. (2016). Compassion and education: Cultivating compassionate children, schools and communities. London: Palgrave McMillan.

 

 

Pound, L. (2005). How children learn: from Montessori to Vygotsky – educational theories and approaches made easy. Lemington Spa: Step Forward Publishing Ltd.

 

 

Stassen Berger, K. (2021). The developing person through the life span (11th Edition). New York: Worth Publishers.

Stassen Berger has been producing very popular text books in this area for a long time.  As noted for the entry above for Berk, some of Stassen Berger’s books have focused only on development until adolescence.  This book is a useful one as it refers to the lifespan.  In general, Stassen Berger has a nice structure for her books  –  with separate sections for critical periods across the lifespan  –  e.g., “the play years”, “the school years”, “adolescence”, “early adulthood”, “middle adulthood”, and “late adulthood”.  Within each of these sections, Stassen Berger generally presents 3 separate chapters  –  focusing on what we might expect in relation to (i) biosocial development, (ii) cognitive development, and (iii) psychosocial development.  Whilst Stassen Berger’s books have a largely US readership and referencing to key studies, it is easy to see how we can “edit” what we read for cultural differences, etc.

 

 

Trawick-Smith, J. (2014). Early childhood development: A multicultural perspective (6th ed.). London: Pearson Education.
This book addresses both typical and atypical child development from birth through age eight.  The text highlights the diversity of child development and seeks to support professionals in their work to meet the unique needs of children from a wide variety of backgrounds.  The book contains clinical and classroom-based methods for assessing learning and development of young children.

 

Woolfolk Hoy, A., Hughes, M., & Walkup, V. (2013). Psychology in education. Harlow: Pearson Education.

This reference is to the European adaptation of Anita Woolfolk’s very popular textbook (Educational Psychology).  Many people really like this book and its view on education and learning from a psychological perspective.  This version includes some new content related to AfL, Attachment, and SEN.
This textbook is useful too for defining “psychology of / with / in education”.

 

 

 

Useful Book Chapters

Boyle, J., & King, E. N. (2021). Resilience, reflection and reflexivity. In J. Monsen, L. Marks Woolfson, & J. Boyle (Eds), Why do teachers need to know about psychology? Strengthening professional identity and well-being (pp. 107-128). Bloomsbury Publishing.
Bronfenbrenner, U., and Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In R. M. Lerner & W. E. Damon (Eds), Handbook of child psychology: Vol 1, theoretical models of human development (6th Edn), (pp. 793–828). Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Gregory, I., & Davis, I. (2002). The aims of education. In I. Gregory, I. Davis, & N. McGuinn, Key debates in education (pp. 1–28). London and NY: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

Fitzpatrick, A. (2020). Towards a pedagogy of intergenerational learning. In M. Kernan & G. Cortellesi (Eds), Intergenerational learning in practice: Together old and young (pp. 40-59). Routledge.

Intergenerational Learning (IGL) is a very interesting concept!  This book chapter was recommended in a lecture by Dr Ann Marie Halpenny (Lecture title: Learning ecologies within and beyond educational settings).  In the lecture, Ann Marie discussed the idea of IGL and highlighted that IGL seeks to bring together individuals from different generations to share knowledge, skills, and values . . . and, importantly, to have fun together!

 

O’Toole, L., Hayes, N., & Halpenny, A. (2020). Animating systems: The ecological value of considering Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model of development. In Barnett, R.  and Jackson, N. (Eds.), Learning ecologies: Sightings, possibilities, and emerging practices (pp. 19-31). London: Routledge.

Ryan A., & Webster R. S. (2019). Teacher reflexivity: An important dimension of a teacher’s growth. In R. Webster & J. Whelen (Eds), Rethinking reflection and ethics for teachers (pp. 65-79). Springer, Singapore. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9401-1_5

This chapter was useful for (i) understanding the issue of “reflexivity”, and (ii) the aims of education.

 

 

Useful Ph.D. Thesis

McDonnell, D. (2017). An exploration into the psychology of education: The use of an ecological framework to address macro and microsystemic factors that influence individuals working within Irish education (Unpublished doctoral thesis).  The University of Dublin, Trinity College. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.22114.22723

This is the doctoral research of Dr Dean McDonnell.  Dr McDonnell teaches on the M.Ed. Psychology of Education programme.  It is a particularly relevant thesis as it explores definitions of psychology, education, and psychology of education.  The thesis is also constructed around the central principles of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model of human development.  The research explored the role of psychology in Irish education.  For example, Chapter 3 describes the “psychology of education” and provides an overview of some useful learning theories  –  e.g., Behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism.  The thesis is publicly available via TCD’s institutional repository (TARA) here.

 

Journal Articles

 

Arakelyan, S., & Ager. A. (2021). Annual research review: A multilevel bioecological analysis of factors influencing the mental health and psychosocial well-being of refugee children. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 62, 484-509. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13355

One of our previous M.Ed. Psychology of Education lecturers and supervisors, Dr Sadhbh Byrne (ORCID), alerted us to this useful article.  This review of the literature provides an example of the application of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model of human development.  It helps to conceptualise the factors that can shape the mental health and psychosocial well-being of refugee children.  The paper outlines risk and protective factors at different levels of influence, and links these to life course principles of socio-historical time, developmental age, proximal processes, and child agency.

Dr Byrne works on a fascinating and important project called “REFUGE-ED: Effective practices in education, mental health and psychosocial support for the integration of refugee children”.

 

DeRobertis, E. M., & Bland, A. M. (2020). Lifespan human development and “the humanistic perspective”: A contribution toward inclusion. The Humanistic Psychologist, 48(1), 3–27. https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000141

Holmes, A. G. D. (2020). Researcher positionality – A consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research – A new researcher guide. International Journal Of Education, 8(4), 1-10. DOI: 10.34293/education.v8i4.3232 Available here.

 

Hong, J. S., Hunter, S. C. Kim, J., Piquero, A. R., & Narvey, C. (2021). Racial differences in the applicability of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model for adolescent bullying involvement. Deviant Behavior, 42(3), 404-424. DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2019.1680086 Available here.

Jun Sung Hong and Simon C. Hunter are great researchers  –  with a long involvement in exploring issues related to bully / victim problems.  As the authors correctly identify in their abstract, whilst there has been a long history of exploring various personal (e.g., gender) and situational (e.g., school) variables in relation to bully / victim problems, there has really not been much attention to the importance of studying racial differences  –  especially when designing prevention and intervention programs.  Hong et al. used data from the important “Health Behavior in School Aged Children (HBSC)” study and applied Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model to help develop an understanding of how various interrelated systems are associated with involvement in bully / victim problems (i.e., perpetration, victimization) in this nationally (US) representative sample of adolescents.  For me, this is a great addition to the literature in 2 separate ways: (i) exploring racial issues, and (ii) using Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological theory to better understand the central issues.

 

Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Neuberg, S. L., & Schaller, M. (2010). Renovating the pyramid of needs: Contemporary extensions built upon ancient foundations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(3), 292-314. DOI: 10.1177/1745691610369469

When we think about Maslow and the “hierarchy of needs”, we often think about the famous pyramid!  However, Maslow did not actually present the theory in the form of a visual pyramid (see here).  This paper by Kenrick et al. (2010) presents a possible “renovation” of the pyramid.

 

Lätsch, A. (2018). The interplay of emotional instability and socio-environmental aspects of schools during adolescence. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(2), 281-293. DOI: 10.12973/eu-jer.7.2.281

This article is useful if you have an interest in post-primary school education.  It was an interesting read about Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model in the context of adolescent development.  When considering the many changes that accompany adolescence, this article highlighted factors that could hinder learning and development, with a focus on the relationship between socio-environmental aspects and emotional instability.  Supporting the social and emotional well-being of learners is essential for productive learning experiences, and fostering healthy relationships and inclusion plays a big role in this.  This was also useful in terms of thinking about how educators can work towards eliminating barriers to learning by nurturing confidence and resilience with a growth mindset (e.g., Dweck).

 

Lohse-Bossenz, H., Kunina-Habenicht, O., & Kunter, M. (2013). The role of educational psychology in teacher education: Expert opinions on what teachers should know about learning, development, and assessment. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(4), 1543–1565. DOI: 10.1007/s10212-013-0181-6

This journal article explores some areas of education that can be well informed from a psychological perspective (learning, development, and assessment).  The authors highlight how these topics are especially important for teachers and should be included in Initial Teacher Education (ITE).

I was able to locate a full-text version of the paper here on ResearchGate.

 

McInerney, D. M. (2005). Educational psychology – Theory, research, and teaching: A 25‐year retrospective. Educational Psychology, 25(6), 585–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410500344670

This paper reviews the development and changes that have occurred to educational psychology over the 25 years (to 2005).  The paper has a predominant emphasis on four of the “big” areas of psychology as related to the field of education: (i) educational psychology, (ii) cognitive psychology, (iii) behavioural psychology, and (iv) social cognitive theory and humanism.  It examines the development of approaches to learning and teaching throughout the years.  The article also extends this review to explore more recent influences from the cognitive and information processing perspectives (e.g., Piaget, Vygotsky), the development of constructivist approaches to learning and teaching, and the growth in cognitive theories of motivation.  The review is also understood in terms of developments in, for example, methodological advances in psychological research and the increasing importance of a cross‐cultural perspective.

The article concludes with five paradoxes that are designed by the author to stimulate reflection on behalf of the reader: (i) constructivism, (ii) impact on policy and practice, (iii) cross-cultural dimensions, (iv) teaching time, and (v) research training.

I was able to locate a full-text version of the paper here on ResearchGate.

Stîngu, M. M. (2012). Reflexive practice in teacher education: facts and trends. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 33, 617-621. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.01.195
A useful paper on the issue of being a “reflexive practitioner”  –  the full-text of the article can be found here.

 

Remember: The advice and support on this page is intended to be a supplement to the guiding documents you have been given in relation to what you are studying (e.g., M.Ed. Handbook, Module Document).  So, always read these more formal sources of information first and use the contents of this page as extra support.

The Library and the Importance of the Subject Librarian

For lots of reasons that should be obvious, we place enormous emphasis on the library and the resources that can be found there – either in hard copy or electronically.  Importantly, the TCD library is a legal deposit library (read here for what this means).

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about the library is that we are exceptionally lucky to have the support and expertise of Geraldine Fitzgerald – the ‘Subject Librarian’ for Education.  If you are in doubt about how to use the library or how to get better search results, have a look at the Education Subject Guide on the Library website.  This is a great ‘jumping off point’ for much of what you might be looking for.  If you get stuck or need additional help, please do contact Geraldine.  However, please ‘have a go’ yourself before you make contact with Geraldine.  If you do need Geraldine’s help, make sure that you have a good think about what it is you are looking for, what you need explained, etc.  Remember that whilst Geraldine knows all about the library and how to help you, she probably doesn’t know about your project specifically- so, have an ‘intelligent’ list of questions ready and a good summary of what you have already tried and what problems you encountered, etc.

Blogs: Some Useful Insights from Others

Social media can be of use in supporting what we do in terms of studying and research.  From our experience with Twitter, we have found a few useful ‘bloggers’ that we have come to enjoy.  Perhaps you will enjoy their writings and musings too.  Here are a few people that we follow on Twitter and receive new blogs from. 

 

Pat Thomson’s blog and writings were brought to our attention by Geraldine Fitzgerald, the Education Subject Librarian at TCD.  Pat is a Professor of Education in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham.  Her research is centred primarily on how schools might change to become more engaging and meaningful for more children and young people.  The reason why we are suggesting that you read Pat’s blogs is that she is interested in researcher education and the writing that scholars want to, and must, do.  For example, Pat has a useful blog about metacommentary– that is , the need to ‘signpost’ your writing.

See also Pat’s co-authored book (with Barbara Kamler): Writing for peer reviewed journals: Strategies for getting published. (Routledge – ISBN: 0415809312).

 

Dr Inger Mewburn is the managing editor of The Thesis Whisperer Blog and works at the ANU, Canberra, Australia.

 

Anna Sharman is a freelance editor, proofreader, scientific publishing consultant, and trainer.  Anna’s blog ‘sharmanedit’ is well worth exploring.

 

Some Useful Blog Posts

 As we read tweets and blogs, we sometimes finds little ‘pearls of wisdom’ that either remind us of important issues and concepts, give us renewed enthusiasm for research projects that we are working on, or educate us about something new.  So, just in case they might be useful for you, we have listed them below.

 

 

Useful Links

The Psychological Society of Ireland