Critical Educational Psychology - (BPS Textbooks in Psychology) by Antony J Williams & Tom Billington & Dan Goodley & Tim Corcoran (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The first textbook of its kind, Critical Educational Psychology is a forward-thinking approach to educational psychology that uses critical perspectives to challenge current ways of thinking and improve practice.

From the Back Cover

The first textbook of its kind, Critical Educational Psychology is a forward-thinking approach to educational psychology that uses critical perspectives to challenge current ways of thinking and improve practice. Written by practitioners engaged in theory, this text uses a broad range of theoretical resources from outside mainstream psychology to examine issues at the forefront of educational psychology. The chapters discuss the role of education, the relationship between teaching and learning, the impact of gender, faith and ethics in educational settings, the construction of rich learning environments, and notions of normalcy, difference, and disability. Contributors employ phenomenology, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, discursive psychology, social constructionism, narrative psychology, disability studies theory, among other theoretical resources.

This serves as a foundational text for trainees in educational and school psychology as well as an essential resource for those practicing and researching in those fields and related ones across psychology and education. Students will benefit from pedagogical features, such as discussion points, mini exercises, essay questions, key terminology, theoretical starting points, and further readings. By calling into question and reconceptualizing traditional models, this text illuminates an exciting new frontier in educational psychology.

About the Author

Antony Williams is the Academic Director for the Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology at the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. He also works as a practicing educational psychologist. His research interests are focused in the area of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, with a particular interest in how psychoanalytic concepts and theory may inform as well as potentially disturb psychological practice.

Tom Billington is Professor of Educational and Child Psychology at the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. A critical psychologist, practitioner and academic, his research focuses on the nature of psychological work conducted with young people and the theoretical bases upon which practice is justified, in particular in the fields of autism and child protection, utilizing qualitative research methodologies, primarily discourse analytic, psychodynamic and narrative approaches. His books include Working with Children: Assessment, Representation, and Intervention (2006), Children at the Margins: Supporting Children, Supporting Schools (2004), and Separating, Losing, and Excluding Children: Narratives of Difference (2000).

Dan Goodley is Professor of Disability Studies and Education at the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. He directs the Masters in Psychology and Education, and teaches in the Doctorate of Education and the undergraduate Education, Culture and Childhood programs. His research interests include critical disability studies, critical psychological and sociological theory, and non-normative childhoods. He is the author or editor of many books in the field, including, most recently, Dis/ability Studies: Theorising Disablism and Ableism (2014), Disability and Social Theory (2012), and Disability Studies: An Inter-disciplinary Introduction (2011).

Tim Corcoran is Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Critical Psychology at The Victoria Institute, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. He has extensive experience in educational psychology as a school psychologist and researcher/academic. His work has involved teaching, research and professional practice in Australia, the UK, Singapore and Iraq. He edited Psychology in education: Critical theory-practice (2014), an international collection of contributions examining critical approaches to educational psychology. More recently he co-edited Disability studies: Educating for inclusion (2015).