The professional practice of educational psychologists: Developing narrative approaches

• Published in: Educational and child psychology Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 41 - 52
• Main Authors: Hobbs, Charmian, Durkin, Rachel, Ellison, Gillian, Gilling, Jennifer, Heckels, Tracey, Tighe, Sarah, Waites, Barbara, Watterson, Carol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• ISSN: 0267-1611; 2396-8702
• DOI: 10.53841/bpsecp.2012.29.2.41

People (parents, carers, teachers, adults, other professionals) seeking the involvement of an educational psychologist (EP) frequently bring longstanding and difficult concerns. Usually, many ways have already been tried to address the difficulty and generally these have been felt to be unsuccessful. The problem then often becomes one that is described as belonging to the person or setting – the angry child, the bad parent, the weak teacher, the inexperienced leader. Once labelled as such, it becomes less likely to remedy a concern that has become part of someone’s identity – the label becomes an established fact. The problem is stuck. Narrative approaches construct problems in a different way; the educational psychology team in Darlington has been interested in applying narrative ideas to the practice and ethos of the service over a number of years. Narrative approaches (White, 2007) view problems as separate from the person or setting and as such are one story amongst many that people have in their lives. This paper presents a reflection on the work of Darlington Educational Psychology Service (DEPS) in developing narrative approaches to practice. The work is considered through a number of case studies including direct work with children and young people, training to bring about organisational change and research. It is suggested that a narrative approach provides a challenge to prevailing socio-cultural narratives and offers alternative richer understandings of behaviours often characterised as problematic.