It's a changing landscape : a trainee educational psychologist's experiences of being employed by an academy : an autoethnography

• Main Author: Vallily, Morgan
• Other Authors: Bennett, Patricia
• Published: University of Sheffield 2014
• Subjects: 370
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.617253

Educational reforms and the emergence of Academy schools are changing the way Educational Psychologists (EPs) practise. I have been employed as a Trainee Educational Psychologist (TEP) by a federated primary and secondary Academy during the second and third years of my doctoral training. This is a unique role and a change to the ‘traditional’ training model where TEPs are employed by a Local Authority (LA) Educational Psychology Service (EPS). This gave me the opportunity to carry out an autoethnographic study exploring my experience of this new way of working. While working in the Academy I kept a reflexive diary and field notes and used a Grounded Theory method of analysis to generate theory to help conceptualise my experience of being employed as a TEP in an Academy. I triangulated this with data gathered from a focus group with experienced EPs. I used quotes from the focus group to support my findings and to help ensure the trustworthiness of my results. My experience suggested that there are three important areas to consider when being employed by an Academy; systemic issues and implications, ethics and power, and TEP professional development. It is hoped that my experiences as presented in this research will offer points for reflection within the discussion around the future of the EP profession and issues of best practice when working in Academies.