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What Is Educational Psychology?

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

• Major Perspectives
• Topics of Study

Frequently Asked Questions

Educational psychology is the study of how people learn , including teaching methods, instructional processes, and individual differences in learning. It explores the cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social influences on the learning process. Educational psychologists use this understanding of how people learn to develop instructional strategies and help students succeed in school.

This branch of psychology focuses on the learning process of early childhood and adolescence. However, it also explores the social, emotional, and cognitive processes that are involved in learning throughout the entire lifespan.

The field of educational psychology incorporates a number of other disciplines, including developmental psychology , behavioral psychology , and cognitive psychology . Approaches to educational psychology include behavioral, developmental, cognitive, constructivist, and experiential perspectives.

This article discusses some of the different perspectives taken within the field of educational psychology, topics that educational psychologists study, and career options in this field.

8 Things to Know About Educational Psychology

Perspectives in educational psychology.

As with other areas of psychology, researchers within educational psychology tend to take on different perspectives when considering a problem. These perspectives focus on specific factors that influence learning, including learned behaviors, cognition, experiences, and more.

The Behavioral Perspective

This perspective suggests that all behaviors are learned through conditioning. Psychologists who take this perspective rely firmly on the principles of operant conditioning to explain how learning happens.

For example, teachers might reward learning by giving students tokens that can be exchanged for desirable items such as candy or toys. The behavioral perspective operates on the theory that students will learn when rewarded for "good" behavior and punished for "bad" behavior.

While such methods can be useful in some cases, the behavioral approach has been criticized for failing to account for attitudes , emotions, and intrinsic motivations for learning.

The Developmental Perspective

This perspective focuses on how children acquire new skills and knowledge as they develop. Jean Piaget's stages of cognitive development is one example of an important developmental theory looking at how children grow intellectually.

By understanding how children think at different stages of development, educational psychologists can better understand what children are capable of at each point of their growth. This can help educators create instructional methods and materials aimed at certain age groups.

The Cognitive Perspective

The cognitive approach has become much more widespread, mainly because it accounts for how factors such as memories, beliefs, emotions , and motivations contribute to the learning process. This theory supports the idea that a person learns as a result of their own motivation, not as a result of external rewards.

Cognitive psychology aims to understand how people think, learn, remember, and process information.

Educational psychologists who take a cognitive perspective are interested in understanding how kids become motivated to learn, how they remember the things that they learn, and how they solve problems, among other topics.

The Constructivist Approach

This perspective focuses on how we actively construct our knowledge of the world. Constructivism accounts for the social and cultural influences that affect how we learn.

Those who take the constructivist approach believe that what a person already knows is the biggest influence on how they learn new information. This means that new knowledge can only be added on to and understood in terms of existing knowledge.

This perspective is heavily influenced by the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky , who proposed ideas such as the zone of proximal development and instructional scaffolding.

Experiential Perspective

This perspective emphasizes that a person's own life experiences influence how they understand new information. This method is similar to constructivist and cognitive perspectives in that it takes into consideration the experiences, thoughts, and feelings of the learner.

This method allows someone to find personal meaning in what they learn instead of feeling that the information doesn't apply to them.

Different perspectives on human behavior can be useful when looking at topics within the field of educational psychology. Some of these include the behavioral perspective, the constructivist approach, and the experiential perspective.

Topics in Educational Psychology

From the materials teachers use to the individual needs of students, educational psychologists delve deep to more fully understand the learning process. Some these topics of study in educational psychology include:

• Educational technology : Looking at how different types of technology can help students learn
• Instructional design : Designing effective learning materials
• Special education : Helping students who may need specialized instruction
• Curriculum development : Creating coursework that will maximize learning
• Organizational learning : Studying how people learn in organizational settings, such as workplaces
• Gifted learners : Helping students who are identified as gifted learners

Careers in Educational Psychology

Educational psychologists work with educators, administrators, teachers, and students to analyze how to help people learn best. This often involves finding ways to identify students who may need extra help, developing programs for students who are struggling, and even creating new learning methods .

Many educational psychologists work with schools directly. Some are teachers or professors, while others work with teachers to try out new learning methods for their students and develop new course curricula. An educational psychologist may even become a counselor, helping students cope with learning barriers directly.

Other educational psychologists work in research. For instance, they might work for a government organization such as the U.S. Department of Education, influencing decisions about the best ways for kids to learn in schools across the nation.

In addition, an educational psychologist work in school or university administration. In all of these roles, they can influence educational methods and help students learn in a way that best suits them.

A bachelor's degree and master's degree are usually required for careers in this field; if you want to work at a university or in school administration, you may need to complete a doctorate as well.

Educational psychologists often work in school to help students and teachers improve the learning experience. Other professionals in this field work in research to investigate the learning process and to evaluate programs designed to foster learning.

History of Educational Psychology

Educational psychology is a relatively young subfield that has experienced a tremendous amount of growth. Psychology did not emerge as a separate science until the late 1800s, so earlier interest in educational psychology was largely fueled by educational philosophers.

Many regard philosopher Johann Herbart as the father of educational psychology.

Herbart believed that a student's interest in a topic had a tremendous influence on the learning outcome. He believed teachers should consider this when deciding which type of instruction is most appropriate.

Later, psychologist and philosopher William James made significant contributions to the field. His seminal 1899 text "Talks to Teachers on Psychology" is considered the first textbook on educational psychology.

Around this same period, French psychologist Alfred Binet was developing his famous IQ tests. The tests were originally designed to help the French government identify children who had developmental delays and create special education programs.

In the United States, John Dewey had a significant influence on education. Dewey's ideas were progressive; he believed schools should focus on students rather than on subjects. He advocated active learning, arguing that hands-on experience was an important part of the process.

More recently, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom developed an important taxonomy designed to categorize and describe different educational objectives. The three top-level domains he described were cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning objectives.

Significant Figures

Throughout history, a number of additional figures have played an important role in the development of educational psychology. Some of these well-known individuals include:

• John Locke : Locke is an English philosopher who suggested the concept of tabula rasa , or the idea that the mind is essentially a blank slate at birth. This means that knowledge is developed through experience and learning.
• Jean Piaget : A Swiss psychologist who is best known for his highly influential theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget's influence on educational psychology is still evident today.
• B.F. Skinner : Skinner was an American psychologist who introduced the concept of operant conditioning, which influences behaviorist perspectives. His research on reinforcement and punishment continues to play an important role in education.

Educational psychology has been influenced by a number of philosophers, psychologists, and educators. Some thinkers who had a significant influence include William James, Alfred Binet, John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Benjamin Bloom.

A Word From Verywell

Educational psychology offers valuable insights into how people learn and plays an important role in informing educational strategies and teaching methods. In addition to exploring the learning process itself, different areas of educational psychology explore the emotional, social, and cognitive factors that can influence how people learn. If you are interested in topics such as special education, curriculum design, and educational technology, then you might want to consider pursuing a career in the field of educational psychology.

A master's in educational psychology can prepare you for a career working in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, community organizations, and counseling practices. A career as an educational psychologist involves working with children, families, schools, and other community and government agencies to create programs and resources that enhance learning. 

The primary focus of educational psychology is the study of how people learn. This includes exploring the instructional processes, studying individual differences in how people learn, and developing teaching methods to help people learn more effectively.

Educational psychology is important because it has the potential to help both students and teachers. It provides important information for educators to help them create educational experiences, measure learning, and improve student motivation.

Educational psychology can aid teachers in better understanding the principles of learning in order to design more engaging and effective lesson plans and classroom experiences. It can also foster a better understanding of how learning environments, social factors, and student motivation can influence how students learn.

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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

Education can shape an individual's life, both in the classroom and outside of it. A quality education can lay the groundwork for a successful career , but that's far from its only purpose. Education—both formal and informal—imparts knowledge, critical thinking skills, and, in many cases, an improved ability to approach unfamiliar situations and subjects with an open mind.

Some of the pressures of modern education, by contrast, are thought to contribute to the increased incidence of mental health challenges among today’s children and young adults. Examining current approaches to education—and identifying the ways in which they may be counterproductive—can help parents, teachers, and other stakeholders better support students’ well-being.

To learn more about helping kids succeed in school, see Academic Problems and Skills .

• The Purpose of Education
• What Makes Education Effective?
• How Can We Improve Education?

Scholars and philosophers have debated the purpose of education throughout history. Some have argued that education was necessary for an engaged citizenry; some felt its purpose was to promote obedience and indoctrinate youth to dominant cultural ideas; still others believed that the pursuit of knowledge was in itself a virtuous or even spiritual goal. Today, conversations around the purpose of education tend to center around child development and the economy—that is, how education can help children grow into healthy, competent adults who are able to support themselves financially and contribute to society. Some experts warn, however, that excessive focus on the economic and pragmatic benefits of education deprives the process of joy. Humans—especially children—are natural learners, they argue, and learning may be most valuable when it’s pursued for its own sake.

Education, broadly defined, is valuable for teaching children the social, emotional, and cognitive skills needed to function in society. Formal education is thought to facilitate social learning , build executive functioning skills, and allow children to explore subjects they may not naturally be exposed to. Informal education typically allows them to cultivate their own interests and learn self-direction , itself an important life skill.

Ideally, in the modern world, education will teach both the technical skills needed for future success and cultivate the critical thinking abilities that allow humans to creatively approach problems, engage new perspectives, and innovate in an ever-changing world. Whether the current system of formal education does that effectively, however, is a source of great debate among the public and policymakers alike.

Most policymakers and educational psychologists agree that some kind of formal education is necessary to function in the modern world. But many experts argue its hyperfocus on grades, testing, and following a set curriculum, rather than children’s interests, can actually be counterproductive and interfere with the natural learning process that more informal education approaches often provide. Excessively rigid schooling is also thought to contribute to heightened anxiety among children, especially those who fall behind or are otherwise non-normative.

Homeschooling —in which a child is not enrolled in a formal school, but instead is educated by their parents or with other homeschoolers—has both strengths and drawbacks. Some common benefits reported by families include increased flexibility in what is studied, the ability to pace the curriculum to a child’s needs, and a supportive learning environment. Potential cons include reduced opportunities for socialization, limited diversity in the opinions and subjects that a child may be exposed to, and an emotional and intellectual burden placed on parents, who may struggle to keep their child engaged or update their own knowledge to ensure they’re imparting useful, up-to-date information.

Grades can be valuable tools in determining which children grasp the material and which are struggling. But despite widespread myths that good grades are necessary to succeed in life , high school and college grades do not necessarily correlate with long-term success. And hyperfocus on grades can have profoundly negative effects, as students who pursue perfect grades at all costs often struggle with anxiety , depression , or feelings of burnout .

Highly-ranked colleges are widely assumed to confer lifelong benefits to attendees, including higher incomes and more prestigious, satisfying careers. But this isn’t necessarily true. Indeed, evidence suggests that, when controlling for prior socioeconomic status and academic achievement, attending an elite college makes little difference in someone’s later income. Other research suggests that the type of college someone attends has no effect on their later life satisfaction; instead, having supportive professors or participating in meaningful activities during college best predicts someone’s future well-being.

Teachers, parents, and society at large have debated at length the criteria that denote a "good" education. In recent years, many educators have attempted to develop their curricula based on research and data, integrating the findings of developmental psychology and behavioral science into their lesson plans and teaching strategies. Recent debates have centered on how much information should be tailored to individual students vs. the class at large, and, increasingly, whether and how to integrate technology into classrooms. Students’ age, culture, individual strengths and weaknesses, and personal background—as well as any learning disabilities they may have—all play a role in the effectiveness of particular teachers and teaching methods.

The idea that education should be tailored to children’s different “learning styles”—typically categorized as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic—has been around for decades. But research has not found that creating targeted lessons based on children’s learning styles helps them learn more effectively ; some has even suggested that characterizing children as having one particular learning style could be unfairly limiting, and may stop them from tackling tasks outside of their comfort zone.

Children are by nature highly active, and an inability to move throughout the day often triggers inattention and poor mood—neither of which are conducive to learning. And moving during learning, not just before or after it, has been shown to be similarly beneficial; children who are allowed to move in class learn better , research shows, paying more attention and achieving higher outcomes.

Whether homework is beneficial is the subject of debate. Proponents argue that homework reinforces lessons and fosters time management and organizational skills. Opponents argue that excessive homework has been correlated with lower scores in critical subjects, like math and science, as well as worsened physical and mental health. Most experts argue that if homework is assigned, it should serve a specific purpose —rather than just being busywork—and should be tailored to a child’s age and needs. 

In general, evidence suggests that online-only courses are less effective than courses where students are able to meet in person. However, when in-person learning is not possible—such as during the COVID-19 pandemic—well-designed  distance learning  programs can bridge the gap. Research indicates that online programs that mix passive instruction with active practice, and that allow students to progress at their own pace, tend to be most effective.

Depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders appear to be significantly more common in today's college students than they once were. Nearly 1 in 5 university students suffer from anxiety or depression, research suggests, and many colleges—particularly larger ones—will face at least one student suicide per year. The reasons for this are complex, experts warn, but may be due to factors including the increased prevalence of social media , the financial and academic stress of college, reduced economic opportunity upon graduation, and decreased resilience among today's youth as a result of parental over-involvement.

The world is changing rapidly, and so are children’s educational needs. While many people agree that education should prepare children for a competitive global economy, there has also been a push to recognize that children's well-being should be taken into consideration when planning curricula and structuring the school day.

To this end, parents and educators are confronting pedagogical questions such as: What is the optimal time to start school to make sure students can learn effectively—and get enough rest? How many and what kind of breaks do students need during the day? What are the best ways for students to learn, and do they differ depending on the subject being taught—or the students themselves?

In some of these areas, big changes are already taking place. Some states, for instance, are considering or have already passed laws that would delay school start times, making them more conducive to children's sleeping schedules. Other states have passed laws requiring recess, ensuring that children have access to physical activity throughout the day. These reforms, along with others, aim to protect children's physical and mental health—in addition to making them better able to focus, learn, and grow.

Many experts now believe that starting school later—typically after 8:30 A.M.—is better for children than starting earlier. This is particularly true for middle and high school children, who naturally sleep later than adults and may struggle to function if made to wake too early. Many school districts have implemented later school start times to account for this biological reality.

First and foremost, school recess provides the physical activity that is critical to a child’s physical and mental health. But recess is also an opportunity for children to socialize without (excessive) adult interference, which allows them to learn cooperation and conflict resolution skills.

Kindergarten and preschool programs are increasingly focusing on teaching children academic skills like math and reading. But evidence suggests that because children are not yet cognitively or emotionally equipped to handle most academic material, such early academic training can produce lasting harm . Some research has found that children in such programs do worse over the long term than children who spent preschool and kindergarten playing and socializing.

Children and young adults today are significantly more likely to experience mental health problems—especially anxiety and depression—than in decades past, and many will require mental health interventions at school. Evidence suggests that schools of any level can best support and help treat students with mental health disorders by proactively identifying students who need help, fostering a school culture that makes mental well-being a priority, and working to decrease stigma surrounding mental health care, both among students and their families. For students without diagnosable mental illnesses, schools can still be supportive by ensuring workloads are reasonable; providing opportunities for movement, creativity , and social connection; and reminding children, teenagers , and young adults that it's OK to ask for help.

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What Is Educational Psychology? 6 Examples and Theories

Plato believed that learning is based on the mind’s innate capacity to receive information and judge its intellectual and moral value.

Plato’s foremost pupil, Aristotle, emphasized how learning involves building associations such as succession in time, contiguity in space, and similarities and/or contrasts.

Later thinkers would devote considerable attention to learning and memory processes, various teaching methods, and how learning can be optimized.

Together, these thinkers have formed the growing and diverse body of theory and practice of educational psychology, and this intriguing topic is what we will discuss below.

Before you continue, you might like to download three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is educational psychology and why is it important, a brief history of the field, job description and roles of an educational psychologist, 3 real-life examples, 3 popular theories, educational psychology research topics, educational psychology vs school psychology, a look into vygotsky’s ideas, positivepsychology.com’s relevant resources, a take-home message.

Educational psychology is dedicated to the study and improvement of human learning, across the lifespan, in whatever setting it occurs.

Such settings include not only schools, but also workplaces, organized sports, government agencies, and retirement communities – anywhere humans are engaged in instruction and learning of some type.

Educational psychology is important because of its focus on understanding and improving the crucial human capacity to learn.

In this mission of enhancing learning, educational psychologists seek to assist students and teachers alike.

However, it was not until later in history that educational psychology emerged as a field in its own right, distinct from philosophy.

John Locke (1632–1704), the influential British philosopher and “father of psychology,” famously described the human mind as a tabula rasa  (blank slate) that had no innate or inborn knowledge, but could only learn through the accumulation of experiences.

Johann Herbart (1776–1841) is considered the founder of educational psychology as a distinct field. He emphasized interest in a subject as a crucial component of learning.

He also proposed five formal steps of learning:

• Reviewing what is already known
• Previewing new material to be learned
• Presenting new material
• Relating new material to what is already known
• Showing how new knowledge can be usefully applied

Maria Montessori (1870–1952) was an Italian physician and educator who started by teaching disabled and underprivileged children. She then founded a network of schools that taught children of all backgrounds using a hands-on, multi-sensory, and often student-directed approach to learning.

Nathaniel Gage (1917–2008) was an influential educational psychologist who pioneered research on teaching. He served in the U.S. Army during WWII, where he developed aptitude tests for selecting airplane navigators and radar operators.

Gage went on to develop a research program that did much to advance the scientific study of teaching.

He believed that progress in learning highly depends on effective teaching and that a robust theory of effective teaching has to cover:

• The process of teaching
• Content to be taught
• Student abilities and motivation level
• Classroom management

The above is only a sample of the influential thinkers who have contributed over time to the field of educational psychology.

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Educational psychologists have typically earned either a master’s degree or doctorate in the field.

They work in a variety of teaching, research, and applied settings (e.g., K–12, universities, the military, and educational industries like textbook and test developers).

Those with a doctorate often teach and do research at colleges or universities.

They teach basic courses such as Introduction to Educational Psychology  and more advanced seminars such as Professional Ethics in Educational Psychology , or Research Methods in Educational Psychology .

They conduct research on topics such as the best measure of literacy skills for students in secondary education, the most effective method for teaching early career professionals in engineering, and the relationship between education level and emotional health in retirees.

Educational psychologists also work in various applied roles, such as consulting on curriculum design; evaluating educational programs at schools or training sites; and offering teachers the best instructional methods for a subject area, grade level, or population, be it mainstream students, those with disabilities, or gifted students.

This theory states that besides the traditionally measured verbal and visual–spatial forms of intelligence, there are also forms that include kinesthetic or athletic intelligence, interpersonal or social–emotional intelligence, musical or artistic intelligence, and perhaps other forms we have not yet learned to measure.

Dr. Gardner teaches, conducts research, and publishes. His many books include Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983) and The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, the Education That Every Child Deserves  (2000).

Mamie Phipps Clark (1917–1983), shown above, was the first African-American woman to receive a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University. She and her husband Kenneth Clark (1914–2005) were interested in development and self-esteem in African-American children.

Her doctoral work illustrated the dehumanizing effect of segregated schools on both African-American and white children, in the well-known “doll study” (Clark & Clark, 1939). She found that both African-American children and white children imputed more positive characteristics to white dolls than to Black dolls.

This work was used as evidence in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided that schools separated by race were not equal and must be desegregated.

She and her husband founded several institutions dedicated to providing counseling and educational services for underprivileged African-American children, including the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited project.

Irene Marie Montero Gil earned her master’s degree from the Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.

Ms. Montero Gil had been balancing subsequent doctoral studies with her role as the youngest member of Spain’s Congress of Deputies, representing Madrid. She later postponed her studies to become Spain’s Minister of Equality, an office that advocates for equal opportunity regardless of age, gender, or disability.

The above examples show just some contributions that educational psychologists can make in research, teaching, legal, and advocacy contexts.

Day in the life of an educational psychologist w/ Dr. Sarah Chestnut

Various theories have been developed to account for how humans learn. Some of the most enduring and representative modern-day theories are discussed below.

1. Behaviorism

Behaviorism equates learning with observable changes in activity (Skinner, 1938). For example, an assembly line worker might have “learned” to assemble a toy from parts, and after 10 practice sessions, the worker can do so without errors within 60 seconds.

In behaviorism, there is a focus on stimuli or prompts to action (your supervisor hands you a box of toy parts), followed by a behavior (you assemble the toy), followed by reinforcement or lack thereof (you receive a raise for the fastest toy assembly).

Behaviorism holds that the behavioral responses that are positively reinforced are more likely to recur in the future.

We should note that behaviorists believe in a pre-set, external reality that is progressively discovered by learning.

Some scholars have also held that from a behaviorist perspective, learners are more reactive to environmental stimuli than active or proactive in the learning process (Ertmer & Newby, 2013).

However, one of the most robust developments in the later behaviorist tradition is that of positive behavioral intervention and supports (PBIS), in which proactive techniques play a prominent role in enhancing learning within schools.

Such proactive behavioral supports include maximizing structure in classrooms, teaching clear behavioral expectations in advance, regularly using prompts with students, and actively supervising students (Simonsen & Myers, 2015).

Over 2,500 schools across the United States now apply the PBIS supportive behavioral framework, with documented improvements in both student behavior (Bradshaw, Waasdorp, & Leaf, 2012) and achievement (Madigan, Cross, Smolkowski, & Stryker, 2016).

2. Cognitivism

Cognitivism was partly inspired by the development of computers and an information-processing model believed to be applicable to human learning (Neisser, 1967).

It also developed partly as a reaction to the perceived limits of the behaviorist model of learning, which was thought not to account for mental processes.

In cognitivism, learning occurs when information is received, arranged, held in memory, and retrieved for use.

Cognitivists are keenly interested in a neuronal or a brain-to-behavior perspective on learning and memory. Their lines of research often include studies involving functional brain imaging (e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging) to see which brain circuits are activated during specific learning tasks.

Cognitivists are also keenly interested in “neuroplasticity,” or how learning causes new connections to be made between individual brain cells (neurons) and their broader neuronal networks.

From the cognitivist perspective, individuals are viewed as very active in the learning process, including how they organize information to make it personally meaningful and memorable.

Cognitivists, like behaviorists, believe that learning reflects an external reality, rather than shaping or constructing reality.

3. Constructivism

Constructivism holds that from childhood on, humans learn in successive stages (Piaget, 1955).

In these stages, we match our basic concepts, or “schemas,” of reality with experiences in the world and adjust our schemas accordingly.

For example, based on certain experiences as a child, you might form the schematic concept that all objects drop when you let them go. But let’s say you get a helium balloon that rises when you let go of it. You must then adjust your schema to capture this new reality that “most things drop when I let go of them, but at least one thing rises when I let go of it.”

For constructivists, there is always a subjective component to how reality is organized. From this perspective, learning cannot be said to reflect a pre-set external reality. Rather, reality is always an interplay between one’s active construction of the world and the world itself.

For example, Zysberg and Schwabsky (2020) examined the relationships between positive school culture or climate, students’ sense of self-efficacy, and academic achievement in Israeli middle and high school settings.

They found that school climate was positively associated with students’ sense of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, in turn, was positively associated with academic achievement in math and English.

This study reflects a constructivist approach, emphasizing how students create meaning out of their educational experiences.

Other recent research has focused on behavioral interventions to support online learning, which is increasingly prevalent as an educational option.

For example, Yeomans and Reich (2017) found that sending learners regular prompts to complete online work resulted in a 29% increase in courses completed. They concluded that sending regular reminder prompts is an inexpensive and effective way to enhance online course completion.

This study reflects a proactive behaviorist approach to improving educational outcomes.

Another current research domain in educational psychology involves the use of brain imaging techniques during learning activity.

For example, Takeuchi, Mori, Suzukamo, and Izumi (2019) studied brain activity in teachers and students while teachers provided hints for solving a visual–spatial problem (assembling puzzles).

They found that the prefrontal cortex of the brain, involved in planning and monitoring of complex cognitive activities, was significantly activated in teachers, not when they planned hints to be given, but only when they actually gave the hints.

For the student participants, the prefrontal cortex was significantly activated when they had solved the puzzle with hints provided.

This study emphasizes a cognitivist approach, focused on brain activity during learning.

For cognitivists, understanding how the brain converts instructional inputs into learning can lead to improved teaching strategies and better learning outcomes.

Educational and school psychologists overlap in their training and functions, to some extent, but also differ in important ways.

Educational psychologists are more involved in teaching and research at the college or university level. They also focus on larger and more diverse groups in their research and consulting activities.

As consultants, educational psychologists work with organizations such as school districts, militaries, or corporations in developing the best methods for instructional needs.

Some school psychologists are involved in teaching, research, and/or consulting with large groups such as a school district. However, most are more focused on working within a particular school and with individual students and their families.

About 80% of school psychologists work in public school settings and do direct interventions with individuals or small groups.

They help with testing and supporting students with special needs, helping teachers develop classroom management strategies, and engaging in individual or group counseling, which can include crisis counseling and emotional–behavioral support.

One idea central to Vygotsky’s learning theory is that of the zone of proximal development (ZPD).

The ZPD is the area between what a learner (student, adult trainee, rehabilitation patient, etc.) can already do on their own and what the learner can readily accomplish with the help of teachers or more advanced peers.

For example, a five-year-old might already know how to perform a given three-step manual task, but can they be taught to complete a four- or five-step task?

The ZPD is a zone of emerging skills, which calls for its own kind of exploration and measurement, in order to better understand a learner’s potential (Moll, 2014).

Vygotsky was also interested in the relationship between thought and language. He theorized that much of thought comprised internalized language or “inner speech.” Like Piaget, whose work he read with interest, Vygotsky came to see language as having social origins, which would then become internalized as inner speech.

In that sense, Vygotsky is often considered a (social) constructivist, where learning depends on social communication and norms. Learning thus reflects our connection to and agreement with others, more than a connection with a purely external or objective reality.

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

Expand your arsenal and impact with these 17 Positive Psychology Exercises [PDF] , scientifically designed to promote human flourishing, meaning, and wellbeing.

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As mentioned in the discussion of Nathaniel Gage’s theory of effective teaching, student motivation is an important component to assess and encourage.

The Who Am I Self-Reflection can help students and their teachers think about what they are good at, what significant challenges they have been confronted with, and what inspires them. This knowledge can help both teachers and students find ways to enhance motivation in specific cases.

As noted above, the cognitivist approach to educational psychology includes understanding how the brain learns by forming new connections between neurons. The Adopt A Growth Mindset activity is a simple guide to replacing fixed mindset thinking with growth statements. It can inspire adults to learn by referencing their inherent neuroplasticity.

The idea is that with enough effort and repetition, we can form new and durable connections within our brains of a positive and adaptive nature.

For parents and teachers, we recommend Dr. Gabriella Lancia’s article on Healthy Discipline Strategies for Teaching & Inspiring Children . This article offers basic and effective strategies and worksheets for creating a positive behavioral climate at home and school that is pro-social and pro-learning.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

The field of educational psychology has ancient roots and remains vibrant today.

Today, there are many programs across the world providing quality training in educational psychology at the master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, career opportunities in psychology will grow at a healthy rate of about 14% over this decade, and educational psychology is expected to keep pace.

In addition, job satisfaction in educational psychology and related fields such as school psychology has traditionally been high, including as it concerns social impact, independence, and compensation (Worrell, Skaggs, & Brown, 2006).

Those with a doctorate in educational psychology have potential for a broad impact on learners of any and every type. They often teach at the college or university level, conduct research and publish on various topics in the field, or consult with various organizations about the best teaching and learning methods.

Researchers in educational psychology have made important contributions to contemporary education and culture, from learning paradigms (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructionism) and the theory of multiple intelligences, to proactive school-wide positive behavioral supports.

We hope you have learned more about the rich field of educational psychology from this brief article and will find the resources it contains useful. Don’t forget to download our free Positive Psychology Exercises .

• Brown v. Board of Education , 347 U.S. (1954).
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• Madigan, K., Cross, R. W., Smolkowski, K., & Stryker, L. A. (2016). Association between schoolwide positive behavioural interventions and supports and academic achievement: A 9-year evaluation. Educational Research and Evaluation , 22 (7–8), 402–421.
• Moll, L. C. (2014). L. S. Vygotsky and education . Routledge.
• Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology . Appleton-Century-Crofts.
• Piaget, J. (1955). The child’s construction of reality . Routledge & Kegan Paul.
• Simonsen, B., & Myers, D. (2015). Classwide positive behavior interventions and supports: A guide to proactive classroom management . Guilford Publications.
• Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis . B. F. Skinner Foundation.
• Takeuchi, N., Mori, T., Suzukamo, Y., & Izumi, S. I. (2019). Activity of prefrontal cortex in teachers and students during teaching of an insight problem. Mind, Brain, and Education , 13 , 167–175.
• Worrell, T. G., Skaggs, G. E., & Brown, M. B. (2006). School psychologists’ job satisfaction: A 22-year perspective in the USA. School Psychology International , 27 (2), 131–145.
• Yeomans, M., & Reich, J. (2017). Planning prompts increase and forecast course completion in massive open online courses. Conference: The Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference , pp. 464–473.
• Zysberg, L., & Schwabsky, N. (2020). School climate, academic self-efficacy and student achievement . Educational Psychology. Taylor & Francis Online.

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Educational Psychology

Developments and Contestations

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• Katie Wright 2 &
• Emma Buchanan 3  

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

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Educational psychology is a multifaceted and contested domain of knowledges and practices that resists simple definition. Its forms and foci have varied across time and place, and strands of knowledge and practice that have travelled under this disciplinary descriptor have been shaped by, and contributed to, shifting understandings of the problems and promises of education. Concepts of individual differences and forms of mental measurement are readily associated with the emergence of educational psychology. Yet, its history is broad in scope, including concerns with child development, adjustment, learning, and behavior. This chapter focuses on two major strands of historical studies of educational psychology: key figures and disciplinary developments; and critical analyses of its knowledges, practices, and impact. A concise overview of the history of educational psychology from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth century is provided. The chapter considers major strands of thought, contexts of emergence, and sites of development, as documented by historians. This includes exploration of foundational influences and examination of the role that various waves of psychological thought have played in shaping policy and in forming understandings about best practice in education, from compulsory schooling spaces to more informal educational sites such as child guidance clinics and preschools. Alongside this mapping of the historiography, central debates about the scope, promise, dangers, and effects of psychology as a foundational knowledge for education are outlined. Here, consideration is given to discussions in the past as well as more recent interpretations and critical angles.

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Wright, K., Buchanan, E. (2020). Educational Psychology. In: Fitzgerald, T. (eds) Handbook of Historical Studies in Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2362-0_32

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

How the psychology of education contributes to research with a social impact on the education of students with special needs: the case of successful educational actions.

• 1 Department of Theory and History of Education, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
• 2 Department of Pedagogy, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
• 3 Departament of Comparative Education and Education History, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

One current challenge in the psychology of education is identifying the teaching strategies and learning contexts that best contribute to the learning of all students, especially those whose individual characteristics make their learning process more difficult, as is the case for students with special needs. One main theory in the psychology of education is the sociocultural approach to learning, which highlights the key role of interaction in children’s learning. In the case of students with disabilities, this interactive understanding of learning is aligned with a social model of disability, which looks beyond individual students’ limitations or potentialities and focuses on contextual aspects that can enhance their learning experience and results. In recent years, the interactive view of learning based on this theory has led to the development of educational actions, such as interactive groups and dialogic literary gatherings, that have improved the learning results of diverse children, including those with disabilities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the social impact achieved by a line of research that has explored the benefits of such successful educational actions for the education of students with special needs. National and European research projects based on the communicative methodology of research have been conducted. This methodology entails drawing on egalitarian dialogue with the end-users of research – including teachers, students with and without disabilities, students’ relatives and other community members – to allow an intersubjective creation of knowledge that enables a deeper and more accurate understanding of the studied reality and its transformative potential. This line of research first allowed the identification of the benefits of interactive learning environments for students with disabilities educated in mainstream schools; later, it allowed the spreading of these actions to a greater number of mainstream schools; and more recently, it made it possible to transfer these actions to special schools and use these actions to create shared learning spaces between mainstream and special schools. The improvement of the educational opportunities for a greater number and greater diversity of students with special needs evidences the social impact of research based on key contributions of the psychology of education.

Introduction

Access to mainstream, inclusive and quality education for children with disabilities has not yet been fully achieved. Children with disabilities are still being educated in special schools in most countries, with varying percentages depending on the country, and therefore these schools attend diverse special needs ( World Health Organization, 2011 ). In addition, students with disabilities and special needs tend to leave school without adequate qualifications ( European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2017 ). Therefore, the appropriate inclusion of children with disabilities into the general education system is part of the European Disability Strategy 2010–2020 ( European Commission, 2010 ). In this context, one current challenge of the psychology of education is to identify the teaching strategies and learning contexts that best contribute to the education of students with special needs. In this endeavor, research in the psychology of education is focused on the strategies, actions and practices that enhance the learning of these students, taking into account their individual characteristics, however, importantly, research is also focused on the strategies, actions and programs that benefit the learning of all students, including those whose individual characteristics make the learning process more difficult, so that shared learning environments that promote successful learning for all can be created.

Instrumental learning, especially in regards to difficulties in reading and literacy, is one of the main concerns of research on the psychology of education ( Lloyd et al., 2009 ; Alanazi, 2017 ; Alenizi, 2019 ; Auphan et al., 2019 ; Hughes et al., 2018 ). Numerous programs for improving reading and/or reading difficulty prevention have emerged from research on reading and literacy from the perspective of the psychology of education, and their impact on improving children’s learning has been analyzed ( Vellutino and Scanlon, 2002 ; Papadopoulos et al., 2004 ; Hatcher et al., 2006 ). There are also specific studies about reading and literacy programs and their success with students with special needs ( Holliman and Hurry, 2013 ) and/or with students at risk for reading disabilities ( Lovett et al., 2017 ). Strategies to promote the learning of mathematics in children with special educational needs and disabilities have also been studied ( Pitchford et al., 2018 ), and programs based on these strategies have been developed ( Montague et al., 2014 ).

Research has also explored the association between learning difficulties and behavior problems ( Roberts et al., 2019 ), showing that lower academic achievement is a risk factor for developing behavior difficulties among students with special educational needs and disabilities ( Oldfield et al., 2017 ). The study of the learning context and the school environment, which facilitates or hinders learning, has shown that the expectations from teachers and their attitudes toward children with special needs are some of the most influential elements ( Anderson et al., 2014 ; Wilson et al., 2016 ; Bowles et al., 2018 ). Research has also found that teachers can have an important influence on the social acceptance of peers with special needs ( Schwab et al., 2016 ), which is important because the social exclusion of children can affect their learning difficulties and behavior problems ( Krull et al., 2018 ). The efficacy of peer network interventions for improving the social connections of students with severe disabilities has been highlighted ( Asmus et al., 2017 ), and programs and educational actions based on peer interaction, such as cooperative learning ( Velázquez Callado, 2012 ), have been developed to improve the school climate. Importantly, there are effective programs for improving peer acceptance and a positive coexistence related to curricular learning ( Law et al., 2017 ; Vuorinen et al., 2019 ), which is a key issue in facilitating inclusive education.

This body of research on effective actions and programs to enhance the learning and inclusion of students with disabilities and special needs shows the capacity that research in the psychology of education has for improving the education of these students. It also shows the importance that the learning context has, regarding both instruction and social relations, on the academic and social performance of students with special needs. This resonates with the social model of disability, an approach that has been claimed, from the perspective of human rights, to shift the focus from non-disabled centrism and to transcend the traditional and individualistic perspective of disabilities to focus on the improvement of educational experiences for these students ( Chun Sik Min, 2010 ; Park, 2015 ). This perspective assumes not only that children with disabilities should be included in mainstream education but also that inclusive education can be more effective ( Lindsay, 2007 ). This interactive understanding of learning allows seeing beyond individual students’ limitations or potentialities and focusing on contextual aspects that can enhance their learning experience and results ( Goodley, 2001 ; Haegele and Hodge, 2016 ).

The classical psychology of education already emphasized the importance of the social context for children’s learning. In particular, the sociocultural approach of learning developed by Vygotsky and Bruner highlighted the key role of interaction in children’s learning and development. Both authors agreed that what a child learns has been shared with other persons first, emphasizing the social construction of knowledge. While Vygotsky (1980) stated that in children’s development, higher psychological functions appear first on the interpsychological level and then on the intrapsychological level, Bruner (1996) refers to a social moment where there is interaction and then an individual moment when interiorization occurs.

Bruner evolved from a more cognitivist perspective of learning centered on individuals’ information processing ( Bruner, 1973 ) to a more sociocultural and interactive perspective ( Bruner, 1996 ) within the framework of which he conceptualized the idea of “scaffolding,” which enables novice learning in interaction with an expert, and “subcommunities of mutual learners,” where “learners help each other learn” and “scaffold for each other” ( Bruner, 1996 , p. 21). For Bruner, “It is principally through interacting with others that children find out what the culture is about and how it conceives of the world” (1996, p. 20); therefore, learning occurs through interaction within a community.

Vygotsky stated that learning precedes development, not the other way around, and he conceptualized the zone of proximal development (ZPD), which represents the opportunity that learning interactions with adults and more capable peers have to advance children’s development ( Vygotsky, 1980 ); beyond the actual level of development, the ZPD emphasizes the importance of interactions with others to solve problems and learn. He emphasized that this interaction is especially important for children with disabilities: “Precisely because retarded children, when left to themselves, will never achieve well elaborated forms of abstract thought, the school should make every effort to push them in that direction and to develop in them what is intrinsically lacking in their own development” ( Vygotsky, 1980 , p. 89). In this regard, he warned of the risks of working with children with disabilities from a perspective centered on biological processes and basic dysfunctions instead of working with higher psychological functions ( Vygotsky, 2018 ). Vygotsky’s focus on interaction provides new opportunities for learning and development for children with special needs to develop these higher psychological processes.

The sociocultural approach of learning developed by Vygotsky and Bruner has continued inspiring theory and research in the psychology of education to today. According to Dainez and Smolka (2014) , Vygotsky’s concept of compensation in relation to children with disabilities implies a social formation of mind and therefore the social responsibility of organizing an appropriate educational environment for these children. Vygotsky’s approach has been taken into account in studies about how peer mediation increases learning, especially when peers have different cognitive levels ( Tzuriel and Shamir, 2007 ), and research on children with disabilities, for instance, cerebral palsy, has been conducted based on Vygotsky’s contributions and showed improvements in these children’s spatial abilities, social interaction, autonomy, and participation in class activities ( Akhutina et al., 2003 ; Heidrich and Bassani, 2012 ).

In recent years, the interactive view of learning has led to the development of educational actions that have improved the learning results of diverse children, including those with disabilities. INCLUD-ED ( Flecha, 2006-2011 ) was an integrated project funded by the European Union under its 6th Framework Programme with the main objective of achieving both academic success and social cohesion for all children and communities in Europe, regardless of their socioeconomic status and/or ethnic background. INCLUD-ED identified successful educational actions (SEAs), that is, actions that can improve school success and contribute to social cohesion in every context where they are implemented ( Flecha, 2015 ). Some of the SEAs that have demonstrated improvements in reading, mathematics and peer relationships include interactive groups (IG) and dialogic literary gatherings (DLG). IG ( Valls and Kyriakides, 2013 ) consists of organizing classrooms in small heterogeneous groups that work on instrumental learning activities drawing on mutual support and dynamized by adult volunteers from the community; DLG ( Soler, 2015 ; Lopez de Aguileta, 2019 ) consists of reading and discussing classical works of literature based on the principles of dialogic learning, reaching deeper understanding of the texts as a result of sharing the participants’ interpretations and meanings. In both actions, learning interactions, as the main tool to promote learning, are facilitated among diverse persons in accordance with the contributions of the sociocultural theory of learning. In this regard, previous research has identified that Vygotsky’s and Bruner’s contributions are at the basis of these SEAs ( Elboj and Niemelä, 2010 ; Garcia et al., 2010 ).

Materials and Methods

The objective of this paper is to analyze the social impact achieved by a line of research that has explored the benefits of SEAs on the improvement of the education of students with special needs. For this purpose, the following data collection methods were used. First, existing data from case studies conducted within the four projects that compose this line of research have been analyzed to identify the impact of SEAs on students with special needs. These projects studied the benefits of SEAs for diverse students at different specific levels (i.e., school and classroom organization, community participation, interactions). In this paper, we aim to go beyond these specific aspects to understand in a more integrated and comprehensive manner how these different levels contribute to the impact that SEAs have, specifically on students with special needs. Second, new data were collected through in-depth interviews with teachers involved in the implementation of these actions in their schools as a consequence of this line of research. These interviews allowed the analysis of the subsequent impacts achieved as a result of conducting research on this topic from the perspective of the agents involved in the implementation of the results of this line of research.

All participants (teachers, volunteers, families, and children) agreed to provide researchers access to relevant data for the purpose of the study. Prior to data collection, they were informed of the nature of the research, and written informed consent was obtained. In the case of minors, informed consent was obtained from their parents or guardians. All participants were informed that their participation was anonymous and voluntary and that data would be treated confidentially and used solely for research purposes. Ethical requirements were addressed following the Ethics Review Procedure established by the European Commission (2013) for EU research, the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000/C 364/01). The study was fully approved by the Ethics Board of the Community of Researchers on Excellence for All (CREA) 1 .

Case Studies

The line of research that we analyze in terms of social impact is composed of four national and European research projects in which the authors have participated in the last 15 years. In these projects, a total of 36 case studies were conducted. Of these cases, 10 included data on the participation of students with special needs in SEAs (see Table 1 ), and these were analyzed for the purposes of this paper. These cases fulfilled two criteria: (1) the schools were implementing SEAs and (2) students with special needs participated in SEAs with their classmates. Overall, 60 data collection techniques were used in the 10 case studies. These included 36 interviews, 14 with class teachers (3 of them were also special education teachers), 4 with special education teachers, 3 with volunteers, 8 with students, and 7 with students’ relatives; 13 focus groups, 5 with teachers, 8 with students, and 1 with students’ relatives; and 10 observations, 9 in classrooms and 1 in a teachers’ meeting (see more details in Table 1 ).

Table 1. Summary of the data collection instruments and participants in the project case studies.

The different projects focused on different aspects of the SEAs and therefore entailed different layers of analysis throughout this line of research, which has allowed a comprehensive view of the benefits of SEAs for diverse students and specifically for students with special needs.

The doctoral project funded by the Catalan Government ( Molina, 2003-2007 ) was the first research to specifically focus on the inclusion of students with special needs in SEAs, and particularly analyzed the type of classroom interactions that facilitate students’ inclusion when classrooms are organized in IG. The project’s main objective was to analyze the influence that students’ participation in IG has on their educational inclusion. The main categories of analysis were peer interactions and community participation as components of IG and learning , participation and social inclusion as components of educational inclusion.

INCLUD-ED ( Flecha, 2006-2011 ) aimed to identify educational actions that contributed to overcoming segregation and promoted the inclusion of all students in schools across Europe, with a special focus on vulnerable groups of students. INCLUD-ED clarified the distinction between mixture, streaming and inclusion ( INCLUD-ED Consortium, 2009 ) as different ways of organizing student diversity and human resources with different consequences on students; distinguished different forms of family and community participation; identified educative, decisive, and evaluative forms of participation as those that had more impact on students’ success; and identified successful educational actions. The contribution of this project to this line of research was an analysis of SEAs at the level of school organization, resource management and community engagement. The main objective of the case studies within this project was to analyze components from educational practices that decrease the rates of school failure and those of the practices that increase them. The main categories of analysis were inclusive practices and community participation .

MIXSTRIN ( Valls, 2008-2011 ), as a continuation of the INCLUD-ED research in the Spanish context, deepened the analysis of the different forms and consequences of mixture, streaming and inclusion from a mixed methods approach. Thus, this project focused on analyzing SEAs at the level of classroom organization. The main objective of the case studies was to identify how different ways of grouping students are related to students’ learning results. The main categories of analysis were practices of mixture, streaming , and inclusion .

Finally, INTER-ACT ( Garcia-Carrion, 2018-2020 ) analyzes how SEAs are being implemented with students with disabilities in both mainstream schools and special schools, with the aim of transferring these actions and their benefits to new schools. The project’s focus of analysis is the interactions that occur in IG and DLG in both types of schools. The main objective of the case study conducted was to analyze in depth successful cases of schools implementing IG and DLG with students with disabilities to identify the best conditions for increasing the impact on the improvement of learning, development and relationships. The main categories of analysis were characteristics of the interactive learning environment and improvements achieved.

Within the different research projects, using the case study as a methodological approach has allowed understanding the reality of the object of study in context. Following Stake (2006) , case studies were selected based on what information they could provide about the issue explored, in this case, the increase in the educational quality provided to students in SEAs, especially to those with special needs. In this regard, case studies were instrumental in providing insight into this issue. As a sum of individual research projects, the line of research presented here constitutes multicase research ( Stake, 2006 ), where cases share similarities – e.g., data collection techniques, the population object of study and purpose – and allow understanding from the singularity of each case of the broader phenomenon that all of them are part of.

In-Depth Interviews

Five interviews were conducted with teachers who fulfilled two criteria: (1) they were implementing SEAs with their students, including students with special needs, and (2) they had started to implement these actions as a consequence of the research line on SEAs and special needs, that is, after becoming aware of the evidence obtained on the benefits of SEAs for these students. Two of the interviewees were teachers at one school where one of the case studies was conducted while the other interviews were not related to the case studies. The interviews were conducted by one of the researchers at the end of the 2018–2019 school year, and at that time, the participants had been implementing SEAs for a period of 4–6 years (see Table 2 ). The interviews lasted between 20 and 55 min and were conducted at times and in places that were convenient for the participants. We introduced the interviews as follows: “In the last 15 years, a line of research has been conducted on the educational inclusion of students with special needs through SEAs. We are interested in gathering information on the social impact of this line of research.” Sample questions were as follows: “Can you identify some of those impacts (e.g., improvements in the learning of students with special needs or improvements in the schools’ approach to responding to students’ diversity)?”; “How has the line of research led/contributed to such impacts?”; “Have these impacts been transferred to different contexts or students with different characteristics?”; and “Have the impacts been sustained over time?” All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for subsequent analysis.

Table 2. Profiles of the participants in the in-depth interviews.

Communicative Methodology

This line of research has been conducted based on the communicative methodology ( Gómez et al., 2011 ). The data collection and analysis of the social impact achieved has also been conducted based on this methodology. The communicative methodology entails drawing on egalitarian dialogue with the end-users of the research – including teachers, students with and without disabilities, students’ relatives and other community members – to allow an intersubjective creation of knowledge that enables a deeper and more accurate understanding of the studied reality and its transformative potential ( Gómez et al., 2012 ), therefore enabling greater social impact. Different studies have demonstrated the suitability of this methodology when researching vulnerable groups ( Puigvert et al., 2012 ; Gómez et al., 2019 ), as well as the social impact that this methodology produces.

Following the communicative methodology, in this line of research, data collection techniques were aimed not only at gathering the individuals’ experiences and perceptions but also to discussing these experiences and perceptions with them in light of previous scientific knowledge on the issue and with the purpose of identifying both the exclusionary and transformative components of the reality studied. While exclusionary components refer to the barriers encountered by certain persons or collectives, for instance, educational barriers encountered by persons with disabilities, transformative components are those elements that contribute to overcoming these barriers, for instance, certain types of classroom organization or learning interactions. The objective of the dialogues held with end-users and other stakeholders in the research process is to agree upon these exclusionary and transformative components, which strengthens the validity of the research results and its potential social impact.

Data Analysis

For this paper, the different case studies have been analyzed together to understand in an integrated manner how the different layers analyzed previously (school and classroom organization, community participation, interactions) contribute to the social impact of the implementation of SEAs with students with special needs. For this purpose, the existing data of the case studies were analyzed with a new set of categories that was created to examine this social impact. Taking into account that the main challenges in the education of children with special needs are their limited participation in normalized learning environments ( World Health Organization, 2011 ), their lower educational levels achieved ( European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2017 ) and their higher risk of being socially marginalized and bullied ( UNESCO, 2017 ), the improvements in these domains constitute the social impact of the educational intervention aimed at students with special needs; therefore, the following were the basis for creating the categories for the analysis of the social impact of SEAs:

(1) Impact on students’ participation: characteristics of the successful educational actions that enable the participation of students with special needs.

(2) Impact on the cognitive dimension: improvements achieved in instrumental learning and cognitive development.

(3) Impact on the socioemotional dimension: improvements achieved in social cohesion and emotional/affective development.

The newly conducted interviews on the social impact of the line of research were analyzed with categories that take into account the social impact criteria identified by IMPACT-EV (European Commission FP7, 2014-2017) and used in SIOR ( Flecha et al., 2015 ) regarding improvements, sustainability and transference. The fourth category emerged inductively from the data:

(1) Impact on students with special needs: improvements and sustainability,

(2) Impact on schools: improvements and sustainability,

(3) Transference to new contexts, and

(4) Factors supporting social impact.

The themes present in the transcripts were coded by the researchers on a line-by-line basis. A deductive, flexible approach was used for the coding to identify subthemes within the categories. Categories of analysis were applied to the transcripts by two independent coders to enhance the validity of the results. Consensus for the coding was achieved through discussion.

In the following, the social impact of the line of research is presented, which includes evidence on the benefits of SEAs for students with special needs and how such SEAs led to a new social impact on different schools, students, teachers and contexts. Three types of social impact are presented: (1) impact on students with special needs and their opportunities to participate, learn and have positive relationships in SEAs; (2) impact on schools’ and teachers’ approaches to meeting students’ special needs; and (3) the replicability of SEAs to new types of educational contexts and student populations. The factors that have enabled the achievement of these impacts are also reported.

Social Impact 1: Enhanced Participation, Learning Opportunities, and Group Cohesion for Students With Special Needs in Successful Educational Actions

The social impact of seas.

Previous analyses of the case studies showed that SEAs entail a more efficient organization of classrooms and schools, allowing a more inclusive education for a diverse student body, including students with special needs, who can benefit from enhanced access to the content of the general curriculum in a shared learning environment ( Christou and Molina, 2009 ; Molina and Ríos, 2010 ). A key feature of the inclusive learning environments promoted in the SEAs is the diverse interactions promoted around learning among, on the one hand, students, as they are organized in heterogeneous groups and, on the other hand, relatives and other members of the community, who are welcome to participate in the students’ learning activities. These interactions are key components of the SEAs that have created new learning opportunities for students with special needs in mainstream schools and, more recently, in special schools ( García-Carrión et al., 2016 , 2018 ).

The analysis of the social impact of SEAs on students with special needs shows positive impacts in terms of the participation, learning and social inclusion of these students. Regarding student participation, the supportive peer interactions promoted within the SEAs and the participation of volunteers from the community, who ensured that these supportive interactions were implemented and provided assistance themselves when necessary, facilitated normalized and active participation in learning activities and natural support within the student group, which progressively made specific, individualized support less necessary ( Molina, 2003-2007 ). For this to occur, the case studies showed the importance of the activities that students worked on in the IG being the same for all of them and of students with special needs not being given different activities in any case. The same occurred with DLG: all students participating in the gathering read the same book. The analysis showed that this was important because both IG and DLG work based on interactions and, if one student was given an activity or a book that was different than that of the other students, interaction of this student with the group would be easily broken. In some cases, adaptations were made regarding the way students accessed the material, interacted with it or produced an output or regarding the level of complexity required. However, the learning content was always the same to allow the maximum benefit from interaction and the highest possible level of attainment. Across the case studies, teachers reported that supportive interactions within heterogeneous groups in successful educational actions had been more effective than differentiated individual attention separated from the class, even in the cases when additional human resources were used. Therefore, SEAs have prevented reducing learning opportunities related to the segregation and individualization of educational measures often aimed at these students ( Valls, 2008-2011 ; Flecha, 2015 ).

In terms of learning and cognitive development, the possibility of asking questions when necessary and constantly seeing and listening to peers working on the activity and talking about it helped students with special needs stay connected to the activity, understand it and do it ( Molina, 2003-2007 ; Valls, 2008-2011 ). Learning progress was more evident in instrumental learning subjects (literacy, math), which are prioritized in IG and DLG. Specifically, due to the interactive and dialogical nature of both IG and DLG, communicative ability is one learning and development area in which students show a clear improvement. In this regard, for these children, DLG have meant the opportunity to broaden their vocabulary and gain a better understanding of the language structure, as they are able to listen more proficient children and adults, who also model language and help the students with special needs express themselves better ( Garcia-Carrion, 2018-2020 ).

Regarding the social impact of SEAs on the social inclusion of students with special needs and group cohesion, it was observed that the participation of these students in regular class activities that IG and DLG facilitated contributed to considering these students as “one of the class” and not a “part-time student” who only shares part of their time and activities with their classmates. Beyond participation, SEAs gave students opportunities to interact with their peers and therefore to come to know better each other, ultimately building new friendships. Peer support and friendship that were learned in IG and DLG often extended beyond the class and beyond the context of school, creating new opportunities for both cognitive and social development, for instance, when students with special needs had the opportunity to share their doubts with their classmates when doing homework via telephone or social networks or to meet them at birthday parties ( Valls, 2008-2011 ; Garcia-Carrion, 2018-2020 ).

Extending Improvements to More Schools and Students

The case studies showed ways in which the education of students with special needs improved in SEAs, as well as key components of these actions that explained the results. Both findings were crucial to extend these actions and their benefits to more children with special needs and thus for the social impact of the research.

The first time that primary schools were transformed into learning communities and implemented SEAs was in 1995 in Spain. There were five schools at that time. Ten years later, in 2005, there were 22 schools. After 10 more years, in 2015, the number reached 120 schools in different countries ( Flecha, 2015 ). Today, 225 schools in Spain 2 , 49 schools in other European countries 3 , and 411 schools in Latin America 4 , each with diverse populations, have become learning communities through the application of successful educational actions. These data show that the INCLUD-ED project (2006–2011) was a turning point in the spread of SEAs in schools. The spread of the project also meant that these actions could reach more diverse students with special needs. The applicability of the SEAs with these students was usually a topic of debate among the teachers that incorporated these actions in their schools. When the knowledge of the evidence provided by the line of research reached the new schools, both teachers and the rest of community became more confident when including students with disabilities in IG, DLG, and other shared learning activities in the school. The different teachers interviewed explained that the implementation of SEAs in their schools has increased over time and so has the participation of students with special needs, which reaches 100% in some cases. As one teacher explained, the participation in SEAs prevents the need for individual support outside the classroom: “Out of all the classes, there is not any child that gets out of the classroom [to receive individual support] when they work on SEAs” (Sandra). The implementation of SEAs with students with special needs – as well as with the general population of students – has not only been sustained but has increased, as, for teachers, it is an efficient way to respond to these – and other – students’ needs:

In the school, almost all students with special needs participate in SEAs (.) From my experience I can tell you that I used to do an SEA session per week, then I did two, this year I have done three, and now I cannot imagine less than three, every time I need to do it more and more. (Carmen)

The benefits observed by research in the case studies then started to spread to more children in other schools. Two examples can illustrate these improvements. First, the case of a child with a severe neurological deficit, for whom participating in SEAs made it possible to transform the expectations that were imposed on his learning possibilities:

The neurologist said that he could not learn almost anything. literacy and all the learning, they saw it as impossible. but he has learnt to read (…) if we hadn’t known about it, that evidence about interactions… Last year we did 6 sessions [of IG] per week, plus DLG, we did as much as we could, and it is amazing what he has learnt. (Sandra)

Research has already shown that being able to participate and learn in IG and DLG changes the self-concept and learning expectations of the children with special needs as well as the concept and expectations their peers and adults have of them. In these interactive learning environments, students were often able to solve tasks that they could not solve alone or read books that could not read alone, going beyond teachers’ and families’ expectations for their learning ( Flecha, 2015 ). When SEAs reached new schools and students, these higher expectations, which create new learning opportunities, were created there too.

The second example is of a child with Down syndrome who could benefit from a more normalized learning environment where he could make progress in both learning and group belonging; this shows how the benefits that research had identified in group cohesion were replicated in other cases like this:

We had another child with a disability who was very isolated from the group, he did not have an emotional bond either, and the attention he received was too individualized; with the special education teacher, the speech therapist, he did not feel he belonged to the group. And when we started implementing SEAs, work in IG, DLG, the group changed very much, (…) and the child, who had Down syndrome, started to belong to the group: worked on the same activities as the others, and the others counted on that child. It was a huge change. (…) We achieved a lot of things. (Carmen)

Both teachers, Sandra and Carmen, clearly attributed the improvements observed to the students’ participation in IG and DLG. In some cases, looking for the participation of these children in SEAs has made teachers look for adaptations that enabled their participation. This was the case for a child in Irene’s school. He had not developed oral language, which made it difficult to participate in DLG, but the teachers adapted the book to pictograms and facilitated him in using a tablet with the pictograms and synthesized voice software installed so that he could communicate in the group. This had several impacts: first, the child could follow the reading, think of an idea to share and structure the idea; second, he could share the idea with the group and contribute to the gathering; third, the other children could realize that their classmate wanted and was able to communicate with the others, and even “heard his voice” for the first time; fourth: new opportunities for communication and the sharing of knowledge, experiences and thoughts appeared in the group. These changes did not occur until the teachers considered how they could improve the child’s participation in DLG, so it was the SEA that encouraged teachers to mobilize the resources that enabled the child’s participation and made these changes possible.

Importantly, the improvements achieved have been sustained and even increased through time as the implementation of SEAs also increased. Awareness of improvements has spread in their communities and that has led, in some cases, to an increased demand to enroll students with special needs in these schools, as Sandra explains in the quote below; this is another way in which the participation and learning opportunities of students with special needs in SEAs have been enhanced:

More families are coming with children with special needs that attended other schools. (…) Here, in the town, all the families know each other. (…) They talk and explain their experiences… and therefore many are requesting a change of school. (Sandra)

Social Impact 2: Transforming Schools’ Approaches to Meeting Students’ Diversity in Terms of Special Needs

The education of students with special needs has changed not only because of increased opportunities to participate in SEAs but also because the dialogic, interactive and transformative approach behind the SEAs has been assumed by the teachers and the entire community to change the way they approach the education of these students at every moment – within and outside SEAs – now being more dialogic, interactive and transformative as well.

Before implementing SEAs, schools tended to respond to students’ special needs through individual attention, often outside the classroom and based on low expectations; they understood the students’ disabilities as an indicator of what the students could achieve. The participation of students with special needs in SEAs has meant a turning point in the schools’ approach to diversity.

A Focus on Interactions to Enhance Students’ Learning Opportunities

Knowing SEAs and their scientific and theoretical bases, especially the relevance of interactions for learning, has meant that teachers who have incorporated SEAs in their schools focus on the interactions they promote. In mainstream schools, the more diverse and rich interactions students found in SEAs was an element that convinced teachers to include the participation of students with special needs and to do the necessary material adaptations to allow that interaction. They could observe improvements in typically developing children, both in learning and coexistence, as a consequence of participating in SEAs, which also encouraged them to include students with special needs and extend these benefits to them, overcoming previous ideas about special education, as Irene explained:

We were intoxicated with the idea that [mainstream] students make progress, but those with special needs need different things, need that we adapt to their learning level… But we have advanced in inclusion as we have been implementing SEAs, because we realized that children with special needs can participate too, and interactions with peers are positive for them to progress, besides self-esteem, seeing they are capable, and that they can improve. (Irene)

In the context of special schools, interactions are also a topic of discussion now, which helps teachers focus on providing their students with the best learning environment possible. For the professionals working there, this has meant an opportunity to give their students richer learning opportunities within their segregated placement:

In our school program, we include what the students will learn, but we also consider and talk very much about the interactions they will have, which is a topic we had never discussed before knowing about SEAs. We focus on the type of interactions they have, if they are quality interactions, if they can have more quality, how we can promote them through SEAs, IG, DLG… (Marta)

Evidence, the SEAs, which explain what is best for our students, give us confidence in our work. We know our way to advance in giving the best results to our students. Therefore, we think of interactions; since they are segregated, we consider which type of interactions we should offer to them. (Ana)

Development of Scientific Thinking About Education

Another consequence of being aware of the benefits of SEAs for students with special needs, as demonstrated by research, has been the development of a more scientific way of thinking among the teaching staff. The teachers interviewed, as well as other teachers in their schools, read scientific publications emerging from or related to this line of research and discussed them in dialogic pedagogical gatherings. This helped them become familiar with research and scientific evidence, and they now look for this evidence when they must make decisions on their students’ education:

Now we say: “But is there evidence for it? Let’s see who has written about that” (…) for instance, when we are working on autism, [we want to know] if what we implement is based on scientific evidence or not, and what the most recent research about autism says. It has emerged from having implemented evidence and talking about evidence. (Marta)

Once the teachers learned that there is scientific evidence behind the success achieved by SEAs, they looked for evidence-based actions, practices or programs in any aspect of their professional activity, which increased their chances of enhancing students’ education, not only when the students participate in SEAs but at any moment they are at school. SEA participation therefore increases the potential social impact that other research in education and psychology of education can have, as these teachers look for the evidence of previous improvements achieved and reported by this research to transfer them to their own context and achieve similar improvements.

Changing Teachers’ Minds and Talk About Students With Special Needs

In relation to the scientific view of education, teachers have changed the way they think and talk about their students, focusing not on the students’ disabilities but on what the teachers can do to transform the educational context and improve the education of such students. These teachers do not ask whether students with special needs can participate in SEAs; they start from the premise they can, and they think on the way they can facilitate their students’ participation through, for instance, necessary adaptations. These teachers believe that this way of thinking about their students has made them improve as teachers, as their professional performance is permeated by language of possibilities:

We realize that we have a different approach, I mean, [we think about] how are we going to include these students or how are we going to promote interactions with them. And we did not have this perspective before. As a school, having had scientific evidence within reach made us improve our teaching practice, reconsider many things, and find meaning. (Marta)

At the personal level, we have improved our dialogues about what is best for our students. We are advancing in this direction, always putting the focus on the students, on what we will achieve, on the fact that this is the best for them. (Ana)

Rethinking and Reorganizing Specialized Support Within and Beyond SEAs

Implementing SEAs with students with special needs entailed rethinking the role of special education teachers, speech therapists and other specialized support. While these professionals used to work outside the class to provide individualized support to students with special needs, usually based on different curricular material of lower academic level, when SEAs started to be implemented, teachers agreed with these specialists that students with special needs would not leave the classroom. Instead, these professionals started to enter the classroom to support students in IG. When the class was not organized in IG, teachers kept the criteria of organizing heterogeneous groups of students to facilitate the inclusion of students with special needs, and specialists also provided support there. Speech therapists, who, in some cases, were more reluctant to change their role into a more inclusive role, also agreed to participate in SEAs by preparing activities for IG or supporting students in DLG.

One of the first things we were clear about was that these students would not leave the classroom and would be distributed within the classroom in heterogeneous groups, and at the same time, we started working in IG and DLG. (…) In my school, all of them used to leave the classroom and had different curricular materials. Objectives were set with very low expectations, low academic objectives, and then we engaged in debates and there were several changes. (…) On the one hand, the role of the speech therapist changed, and this was difficult to achieve because they felt they had lost their identity, their role, (…) but now we work and plan children’s learning together. (Sandra)

In some cases, reading and discussing research publications, such as INCLUD-ED results ( INCLUD-ED Consortium, 2009 ), helped in organizing students and supporting them in a more inclusive way when working in SEAs and beyond, which supported the decision to maintain students with special needs in the class when SEAs were implemented:

Little by little, we saw that all students improved, and we started to do pedagogic gatherings. For instance, I remember that we discussed INCLUD-ED “Actions for success in schools in Europe,” and we emphasized the topic of groupings with the teaching staff because the special education teachers had the idea that they had to take the students with special needs out of the classroom. So, we agreed that when we worked in SEAs, these students would stay in the classroom so that they could participate in the same activities as everyone else. (Ines)

Higher Expectations and Enhanced Learning: Teachers Recovering Meaning in Their Profession

Being aware of SEAs and the improvements promoted and having the opportunity to discuss them and implement them in their school facilitated teachers’ enhanced belief about their students’ potential and, at the same time, gave them the tools to make that potential real; as teachers’ expectations were raised, students’ performances also raised and even surpassing these expectations. This has had an impact on students but also teachers, as some of the teachers reported rediscovering meaning in their profession as a result of being better able to facilitate the learning of students with more difficulties:

I think that the teachers who implement SEAs with our students have found more meaning in teaching, because we see that they learn. We have had high expectations, and even with these high expectations, many times, they have surprised us. We’ve said “I never imagined it could but it happened”, even if we always had high expectations. Sometimes, unintentionally, working with disabilities, we think, “well, we have high expectations, but we will get there one day”, and we are already there. (Marta)

The higher expectations and the possibilities enabled by them has meant a shift, especially in the context of special education, where low expectations and low educational levels predominate, as Ana reflected:

I think that in special schools we can easily find the “happiness curriculum”, that is to say, “poor kids, they have enough with their disability, instead of trying to learn more [let’s make them happier]”. I have worked in several special schools, and I always found colleagues with this attitude. Then, I think that implementing SEAs, and now with the line of research, I think we have realized that we have to change our minds, through dialogue: Why expect less? Let’s go for high expectations, for the best of each student, and see what we can achieve. I think it has been something that has spread in the school, as a result of starting to work in this way with students and other colleagues seeing the results. (Ana)

Importantly, the higher expectations supported by the previous evidence of improvement achieved through SEAs have made it possible for teachers to take on challenges that they would not have taken on before. For instance, Carmen explained that once she learned about the SEAs and their impact at a conference, she decided to implement these actions with the most challenging group at her school. The groups with most challenging students are often those that teachers do not choose to work with and are assigned to the least experienced teachers or those who arrived most recently at the school; however, SEAs make teachers more confident in their ability to improve these students’ educations and, as occurred in the case of Carmen, make them wish to teach precisely the most difficult groups because they know they can make a difference in the education of those students:

I could not understand how it was possible to respond to the diversity we had in the classrooms. I remember that when I arrived at the school I couldn’t, I was overwhelmed, and I remember going at the international conference and seeing it crystal clear. I saw it so clear that I remember we had a class in the school with much diversity, a very special group, and I went to the principal’s office and said, “I need to take this group and implement what I know, what the evidence says that works, to ascertain that it works, and to transform this group”. (…) And the change was amazing. (…) Now I cannot see it in any other way, because now, I feel that any challenge I face, I will succeed. And now, I feel very much like taking the group most in need, the most vulnerable one. For me, it has been awesome working like this. (Carmen)

Social Impact 3: From Mainstream to Special Education Settings: The Transference of SEAs

The expansion of SEAs to new schools has entailed SEAs reaching new educational contexts, some of which are specific contexts in special education. Reaching these new contexts has entailed the opportunity for more inclusive, quality education.

SEAs as a Way to Include Students Segregated in Special Education Classes in the Mainstream Class

As the teachers reported, the inclusion of all students with special needs in SEAs has sometimes been a process, especially when the school serves students with severe disabilities, which directly affects areas of curricular learning. Irene’s school contains a specific classroom for students with language and communication disorders (a communication and language classroom) related to the autism spectrum disorder, which serves students from different municipalities. These students have little or no development of oral language, which makes it difficult for them to participate in actions such as IG and DLG, as such methods are based on dialogue and interaction. Teachers relied from the beginning on research evidence for including in SEAs other students with special needs who attended the mainstream classes. Subsequently, guided by the evidence of the improvements achieved with these students in the school, the students from the communication and language classroom also started to be included in the SEAs.

The students of mainstream classrooms started to participate first. (…) At the beginning, the students with autism, who had many difficulties, who could not speak, did not participate in SEAs; we had not thought about that yet. (…) We still had to break with the idea that we had to teach students with special needs outside the classroom. Then, when we started to include them in the classroom, especially by participating in SEAs, and we saw that the students with difficulties – but who could speak – improved, then we said, “And the other students? The most difficult ones? Let’s see if it is possible”. And it is possible. (Irene)

In this case, the teacher highlighted the importance of adapting some aspects of the development of the activity to facilitate the progressive participation of these students. In the case of students with autism and little language development, the readings for the DLG were prepared with pictograms so that the children could follow the story and express themselves. The teachers prepared the reading and the contribution for the gathering with their families ahead of time. In IG, the students started participating in only one activity, with additional support if necessary, and progressively participated in two or more activities of the IG session.

IG and DLG have made the participation of students who previously shared little learning time with their peers possible in the mainstream classroom, which means that SEAs have had an impact on their educational inclusion and learning opportunities. Furthermore, some of these students have left the communication and language classroom and are now enrolled full time in the mainstream classroom. SEAs have helped to make the possibilities for these students to learn in mainstream inclusive settings more visible and, as a consequence, some students have left open places in the communication and language classroom that can be occupied by students who are now attending special schools. Therefore, in this case, SEAs not only promote the inclusion of students within that school but also open possibilities for more inclusive trajectories for students in other schools.

Pau is a child who came to the communication and language classroom as a child with autism. Today, after having worked with him in the mainstream classroom of peers of the same age, participating in SEAs with interactions has improved his performance at the social level, and now this child is in the mainstream classroom and has left an available place in the communication and language classroom for other children with language difficulties at special schools. That is, we have achieved students who were schooled in the communication and language classroom now being in the mainstream classroom. (Ines)

Transference of SEAs in Special Schools

In the context of Spain, where the research was conducted, 17% of students with special needs are enrolled in special schools ( World Health Organization, 2011 ). According to national law 5 , these are students with disabilities whose special educational needs cannot be met in mainstream schools, the most frequent types of disabilities including intellectual disabilities (36%), multiple disabilities (24%) and pervasive developmental disorder (19%) 6 . Some special schools concerned with providing the best education to their students have also wondered about the possibility of bringing to their schools the educational actions that transformed the education of students with disabilities in mainstream schools. Today, there are 4 special schools that implement SEAs. In Marta and Ana’s school, when the teaching staff started to implement SEAs, no one there had previous experience with implementing SEAs in special schools, so they had to recreate the SEAs in the new context. To ensure proper implementation to achieve the benefits that had already been observed in mainstream schools, they implemented the SEAs progressively and assessed the ongoing results:

In our school, we started with one classroom, and little by little, the number of classrooms that implemented DLG increased. Today, not only has this implementation been sustained, but the number of participants has increased, both in DLG and IG. (…) The results are very positive, because in primary education, at the beginning, only one classroom participated and now 5 entire classrooms participate. (Ana)

The transference of SEAs in their special school was not only sustained but, in time, also increased: similarly to what occurred with mainstream schools, more SEAs have been implemented in more groups and with more diverse children: “We included first children with more speech ability, and little by little we included students with less speech ability to see how we could manage to guarantee that all of them could participate in the SEA” (Marta). “Now, when you look at the timetable for the next school year, you can see that it is full of SEAs” (Ana). This extension in the implementation of SEAs in the school cannot be separated from the students’ progress: it is the improvements such work has achieved that encourages teachers to extend IG and DLG to new groups, students and learning content.

In some cases, preparing the activity with the children ahead of time facilitated their incorporation into the SEA. According to the teachers, using such strategies has made it possible for approximately 80% of the students of preprimary and primary education to participate in IG, and approximately 40% of the students to participate in DLG. In this context of special education and with this group of students, SEAs have also demonstrated improved learning. Language is an area in which most of these students present difficulties, and it is the area of improvement that the teachers have highlighted most, along with an improved coexistence between students:

With the SEAs, new language structures appeared in the students that we never imagined before that they could develop, reasoning, argumentation, first with much help and modeling, but finally, it appeared spontaneously. Then, reading books, which we did not foresee either (…). Expanding their vocabulary. (…) With the SEAs they gain richer vocabulary too. (Marta)

The main results we have seen are improvements in language competence and the quality of their contributions, sentence structures of greater complexity, improvement in explaining their opinions, improved coherence of discourse, taking into account the topic of the debate. (…) Then, an increase in the number of participants in the DLG, better knowledge of the other participants, the creation of new bonds and friendships, and the reduction of coexistence problems. (Ana)

This evidence suggests that SEAs are not limited to a particular type of school or student population but can be effective with very different types of student diversity and educational contexts. According to the teachers, the research on SEAs and special needs had an influence on these improvements achieved in their school:

I think that we could not have achieved it if we would not have this line of research and impact. I mean, it has given us much robustness, a great deal of science to say, “Okay, it has been studied, it works,” and this robustness helped us to transfer, sometimes we say “to recreate,” the SEAs. (Marta)

Building Collaboration Between Special and Mainstream Schools

The replicability of SEAs in special schools was accompanied by the previously mentioned transformation of teachers’ understanding of the education of students with special needs. The focus on learning interactions that both IG and DLG have led teachers in these schools not only to ensure maximum diversity in the interactions within the school by, for instance, grouping students with different disabilities and with different capabilities together, but also to look for interactions with typically developing peers who are educated in mainstream schools. Sharing learning activities with these children in an inclusive learning context entailed new learning opportunities for the special school students in a more normalized environment that could eventually help them prepare for a transition from special education to combined (special-mainstream) education. As Ana explained, in her school, the idea of collaborating with mainstream schools emerged from the high expectations developed and the will to pursue more ambitious objectives for their students. Now, the teachers want to establish this beneficial experience as a regular collaboration and extend it from DLG to IG.

Since we started to work with DLG with our students, we have seen that our objectives in DLG are changing, the same way they are progressing and improving, there is an evolution. They start to structure sentences, ask questions, talk about the topic; then, we see the need to look for higher expectations, that is, there is always a bit more. Then, we thought that as we wanted a bit more, and the ones who could provide it as role models were students of their same age. We wanted them to participate in DLG in the most normalized way possible. (…) When we did it with the [mainstream] school it was a spectacular experience, because new dialogues emerged, our students participated very much spontaneously. (…) Then, the need to create these DLG as something periodical and systematic for the next years emerged, starting with DLG, and then we will continue with IG. Each time a bit more, more inclusion, more interactions, more communication, and more learning. (Ana)

According to the teachers’ experience, the students of both regular and mainstream schools benefited from this experience. The special education students could improve their language and academic learning and find new contexts where they could be accepted and respected, and the mainstream school students had the opportunity to learn more about people with disabilities, including their difficulties and capabilities and how to interact with them, which is learning for life. In one of the mainstream schools that had less experience in implementing DLG, students could even learn from the greater experience students from the special school had with DLG. For both groups of students, many of whom lived in the same town, this collaboration entailed the possibility of coming to know each other and creating bonds beyond the school context:

For the children of the mainstream school, it has brought the opportunity to know students with disabilities and learn how to interact with them; for instance, they live in the same municipality, and maybe they met in the street and they did not interact, they did not know how to talk to each other. The gatherings are above all respect, humanity, a climate of total acceptance, that many times we do not find in society. And our students were able to demonstrate what they knew and had no problem raising their hands and sharing what they knew. Although they needed help, they asked questions to their peers at the mainstream school. I mean, their concerns, their language improvement, I think that apart from the academic and the language improvement, regarding human values it is helping both the mainstream and the special school. (Ana)

The fact that SEAs have been replicated in special schools and there are therefore mainstream and special schools that implement SEAs in the same geographical context has made these collaborations and new learning opportunities for both groups of students possible.

Reaching Other Educational Contexts in the Community

The research on SEAs and students with special needs has also had an impact in other places of the community beyond the school context. An illustrative example explained by Sandra is an association dedicated to people with disabilities that offers activities for children with disabilities. The fact that SEAs are open to the community facilitated the president of the association participating in IG in Sandra’s school, showing how both learning and coexistence improve in IG. In addition, the mother of a child with special needs at Sandra’s school is an active member of the association. These connections with members of this association have caused a change in the association, which is now more oriented toward promoting academic learning among the children and is more impregnated with high expectations, creating new contexts where learning and inclusion can be enhanced:

This summer, the association is promoting instrumental learning for the first time; they are doing homework, which they had done never before, and they are very satisfied. And also, the issue of the evidence (…) she told me the other day that a girl with autism had come, the family explained that she had behaviors such as pulling hair, pushing, and she told them, “Don’t worry, we are changing it”, and the mother was very happy, and she was happy too (…) They are learning to read and write since preprimary, and the families are really satisfied… This has been a big change, because they did not think like this before. (Sandra)

Factors Supporting Social Impact

The interviews held with teachers about the impacts achieved have also shown several factors that contributed to these impacts, mainly via supporting the sustainability and replicability of the actions and the promoted improvements. It is important to summarize these factors here because taking them into account may contribute to an enhanced social impact of the research.

Teachers’ Permanent Training Based on Scientific Evidence

As mentioned above, a more scientific approach to education was one of the impacts achieved for teachers. This was translated into the practice of regularly reading scientific texts related to their profession, which, in turn, reinforced this scientific view. Some schools organized seminars in which the teaching staff debated these texts, and in other cases, teachers attended seminars or meetings with teachers from other schools. The texts that they read and debated included articles, books and reports resulting from this line of research and other scientific publications related to teaching and learning that could help them solve problems they encountered and improve their practice. According to the interviewed teachers, sharing this space of learning and debate has been a help in replicating the SEAs in new classes or schools and in bringing the SEAs to more students; it has also been a source of sustainability when the barriers found in the implementation of SEAs were shared and discussed:

Training is essential. As we read about the evidence and debated it, if we had a preconceived idea, we said, “No, this is true, it is as you say, this girl may be able to do that”. I think that training has been and still is essential for all this, because theory gives us a clue to put everything into practice. If we know the theory, then it is very easy. (…) We have to know first, we have to learn first. And then we see it very clearly. (Carmen)

Gaining confidence and feeling empowered to implement the actions that are supported by research has also been an effect of the teachers having access to scientific knowledge:

We emphasized very much that evidence says that children improve more with inclusion, that is, not taking them out of the classroom, if you do not group them separately… Then, you get empowered, and say, “This is really what we have to do; every time, if we could do that it would be ideal”. Then, you change your outlook a bit. (…) Because we came from another paradigm, we had another trajectory, and with the training we started to see things more clearly; we got empowered and said, “It has to be done this way, it is demonstrated that it is best, so let’s do it”. (Ines)

Teamwork and Networks of Support

Another facilitator of social impact highlighted by the teachers was the availability of a network of support among teachers and schools. The previously mentioned seminars are one place where some of these networks have been created. The previous experiences of other colleagues that are shared in these spaces have encouraged new teachers to implement SEAs and have also helped solve doubts and difficulties in the implementation of SEAs. These networks of support have made possible, for instance, collaborations between special and mainstream schools in sharing SEAs. Irene explained that this was an important factor in her case; the same way that special schools took the progress achieved in mainstream schools as a reference to replicate the SEAs in their context, Irene’s school took one special school as evidence of the possibilities for successfully implementing SEAs in her school:

The more positive, inclusive, rich, high expectations and interactions you have in more contexts with other professionals that are implementing SEAs in other schools and see that it is possible, that a special school is doing it and it is possible, and they improve… the more things like that you listen to throughout your professional life, and the more people you can share these spaces with, the more you empower yourself… and finally, you do it, because you believe it is true that it is possible and that you are going to make it. (Irene)

Recording Results and Being Aware of the Improvements Achieved

For teachers, it was also important to have a record of the students’ results related to the SEAs so that they could register progress and be fully aware of the improvements achieved. Some schools had more systematic records than others, and some of them were aware that they had to improve their recordkeeping, but all of them agreed on the importance of gathering this evidence, as it demonstrates teachers they are doing well and encourages the continuance of their work:

Results, because in daily life the inertia doesn’t let us see progress, but it is very important to talk about it with colleagues: “Look at what we have achieved,” “Look, this child could not do that and now he does”. When we verbalize it, we realize all we are achieving. (Carmen)

Sharing the Impact of SEAs With Families

When schools share the development and outcomes of SEAs not only among teachers but also with students’ families, the latter also become active supporters of these actions. This information can be shared in the schools’ seminars or assemblies that are open to families, in individual meetings with the family of a particular student, or while developing the SEAs if families participate, for example, as volunteers in IG. This information has led, for instance, to families not authorizing their children with special needs to receive support outside the classroom – because they know their children can progress further by participating in SEAs in their classroom—or agreeing that their child can stay in the school one more year so as to continue taking advantage of learning in SEAs.

Within education, I think that special education is the great forgotten area, and, with this research, I really believe that now is our time. I think that special education is starting to be visible and show that with them [students with disabilities], it is also possible. (…) I believe that it is our moment and I hope that this research helps all students and that finally, inclusion becomes a reality that we achieve between all. (Ana, teacher at a special school)

Ana, with these words, tried to synthesize what the actual and potential social impact of the line of research was for teachers such as her. Research conducted on SEAs and students with disabilities and other special educational needs allowed the identification of benefits that these educational actions entailed for these children in the schools that were already implementing them. Subsequently, this evidence has reached new schools, bringing these improvements to new student populations and improving teachers’ professional experiences, thus achieving a social impact that, as Ana said, is contributing to transforming special education.

This line of research is an example of the body of research in the psychology of education that studies several aspects of the education of students with special needs, creating interventions that improve their learning and coexistence with peers or bringing forth scientific evidence on which effective educational programs can be based. As interaction and dialogue are key components of SEAs, we argue that the evidence collected on the impact of SEAs on students with special needs shows the transformative potential of the sociocultural approach of learning ( Vygotsky, 1980 ; Bruner, 1996 ) for the education of these students. Because evidence on the social impact of this line of research was obtained from a limited number of interviews, conclusions must be cautiously made. However, there is evidence supporting the achievement of social impact. The criteria defined by SIOR 7 , the Social Impact Open Repository that aims at monitoring, evaluating and improving the impact of research, enables the analysis of how social impact is approached, as well as the limitations that can be addressed to further enhance social impact achievements.

(1) Connection of research with the social priority goals of sustainable development. The line of research responds to UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Therefore, the research is aligned with one of the social priorities.

(2) Percentage of improvement achieved regarding the departure situation. The interviews conducted allowed the collection of evidence on the improvements achieved in terms of the students’ learning and improved coexistence and the schools’ more efficient response to student diversity. However, an accurate and quantified record of the academic and/or social improvements of these students has not been systematized. Therefore, evidence of the social impact would be enhanced with a more systematic procedure to collect and quantify the improvements.

(3) Transferability of the impact: the actions based on the project’s results have been successfully applied in more than one context. Transferability has been achieved in different directions: first, replicating the SEAs in mainstream schools with the participation of students with special needs in these schools; second, recreating the SEAs in special schools, thus transferring the actions to a new student population; and third, transferring the SEAs to other out-of-school educational contexts in the community.

(4) Scientific, political, and social dissemination. The benefits of SEAs for students with disabilities and other special needs have been disseminated through scientific publications, conferences and training for teachers and schools. Importantly, this dissemination has been a key component for the transferability and sustainability of the impact, according to the evidence collected and is associated with the scientific training of teachers, who used such publications to learn from and discuss the evidence and transform their own professional practice.

(5) Sustainability of the impact achieved. According to the evidence collected, in all the new contexts and new populations of students where SEAs have been transferred, the intensity of the implementation has not only been sustained but also increased, and the same occurred with the improvements achieved. Although an accurate quantification of the improvement is not yet available, the experience of the sample of teachers who were involved in the transference of the SEAs and still implement them in their own context points in this direction.

Taking this into account, further research on SEAs and students with special needs with social impact could cover four aspects. First, to analyze how SEAs put into practice contributions from theory in the psychology of education to support the learning and development of children with special needs more in depth. Second, to define a procedure to collect and quantify the improvements achieved by the students as a result of participating in SEAs. The INTER-ACT project, which is currently advancing this line of research, will contribute to quantifying this improvement and strengthening the evidence of the research’s social impact. Third, to support the transference of the SEAs and the improvements associated with them to new schools. Additional impact is foreseen in this regard, as the ongoing INTER-ACT project will transfer SEAs to new mainstream and special schools and will add further evidence on the key elements for the transferability of SEAs to new contexts with students with special needs and those without. Finally, to extend the interactive understanding of learning and development beyond schools and the teaching and learning contexts, reaching other related professionals and activities, such as evaluation, attention and counseling related to special needs; these areas of intervention are still very much impregnated with an individualistic perspective more aligned with the medical model than with the social model of disability, and students and schools would benefit from coordinated work based on the evidence of the benefits of the interactive approach of SEAs.

Data Availability Statement

The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.

Ethics Statement

The study was fully approved by the Ethics Board of the Community of Researchers on Excellence for All (CREA). The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

SM conceived the original idea with the support of ER. ED conducted the literature review. SM with the support of RG analyzed the results of the line of research (case studies) from the perspective of social impact. ER coordinated the data collection (interviews) on social impact. SM conducted the interviews, and transcribed and analyzed them with the support of RG and ED. SM wrote a full draft of the manuscript. ED, ER, and RG revised it and included corrections. SM revised the final version of the manuscript.

This work was supported by the INTER-ACT, Interactive Learning Environments for the Inclusion of Students With and Without Disabilities: Improving Learning, Development and Relationships. Spanish National Programme for Research Aimed at the Challenges of Society, Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. Reference Number: EDU2017-88666-R.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

• ^ The Ethics Board was composed of Dr. Marta Soler (president), who has expertise in the evaluation of projects from the European Framework Programme of Research of the European Union and of European projects in the area of ethics; Dr. Teresa Sordé, who has expertise in the evaluation of projects from the European Framework Programme of Research and is researcher in the area of Roma studies; Dr. Patricia Melgar, a founding member of the Catalan Platform Against Gender Violence and a researcher in the area of gender and gender violence; Dr. Sandra Racionero, a former secretary and member of the Ethics Board at Loyola University Andalusia (2016-2018) and a review panel member for COST action proposals in the area of health; Dr. Cristina Pulido, an expert in data protection policies and child protection in research and communication and a researcher in communication studies; Dr. Oriol Rios, a founding member of the “Men in Dialogue” association, a researcher in the area of masculinities, and the editor of “Masculinities and Social Change,” a journal indexed in WoS and Scopus; and Dr. Esther Oliver, who has expertise in the evaluation of projects from the European Framework Programme of Research and is a researcher in the area of gender violence.
• ^ Schools as Learning Communities in Spain: http://utopiadream.info/ca/centros-en-funcionamiento/caracteristicas/
• ^ Schools as Learning Communities in Europe: Successful Educational Actions for all (SEAS4ALL). ERASMUS + Programme. Record number: 2015-1-ES01-KA201-016327. https://seas4all.eu/ ; Social transformation through Educational Policies based on Successful Educational Actions (STEP4SEAS). ERASMUS + Programme. Record number: 11. 580432-EPP-1-2016-1-ES-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN. https://www.step4seas.eu/
• ^ 2018 Report of the Schools as Learning Communities network in Latin America https://www.comunidaddeaprendizaje.com.es/uploads/materials/579/352de6fce741a0d1e6d17c67944cec2c.pdf
• ^ Ley Orgánica de Educación [Organic Law of Education] (LOE), of 2006, amended by the Ley Orgánica para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa [Organic Law for the Improvement of Quality of Education] (LOMCE), of 2013.
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Keywords : social impact, psychology of education, special educational needs, interactive groups, dialogic literary gatherings

Citation: Duque E, Gairal R, Molina S and Roca E (2020) How the Psychology of Education Contributes to Research With a Social Impact on the Education of Students With Special Needs: The Case of Successful Educational Actions. Front. Psychol. 11:439. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00439

Received: 23 September 2019; Accepted: 25 February 2020; Published: 13 March 2020.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2020 Duque, Gairal, Molina and Roca. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Silvia Molina, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Educational Psychology, Its Role in Improving How You Learn

The Track Record of Educational Psychology in Improving How You Learn The research and literature address track record of how educational psychology can improve learning. For example, Deemer (2009) discussed a study that explored the concept of using psychology tenants to address problems that arise in education settings. In this 2009 study, participants who were graduate level students enrolled in an educational psychology course reported that educational psychology knowledge could be used to solve problems that arise in classroom settings. A 2011 study explored the question of the extent to which pre-service teachers could integrate principles of educational psychology in instructional practices Participants reported that they could recognize “implications of educational psychology within teacher strategies” (Faircloth & He, 2011, p. 12). Wrapping Up Whether you are a teacher, a preservice teacher, a lifelong learner, or both, you are involved in a complex journey. Why venture forward without a chart, or a boat for that matter? The pillars of educational psychology might be both the chart and the boat to support you on your learning journey. Views and opinions stated herein are the individual's and not necessarily those of the University.

References:

Belmonte, L. (2015). Refining pedagogy with a humanistic psychology of cognitive mediation. Transylvanian Journal of Psychology, 16(1), 71-84.

Buehl, M. M., & Fives, H. (2011). Best Practices in Educational Psychology: Using Evolving Concept Maps as Instructional and Assessment Tools. Teaching Educational Psychology, 7(1), 62-87. Calder Stegemann, K. J. (2014). Confessions of an educational psychologist. Frontiers in Psychology, 51-6. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00892 Deemer, S. A. (2009). Using Action Research Methodology to Unite Theory and Practice. Teaching Educational Psychology, 3(3). Retrieved from ERIC Dembro, M. H. (1978). Parent education: Implications for educational psychology. Paper presented at annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Ontario. Educational Psychology. (2014). Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia, 1p. 1. Faircloth, B., He, Y., & Higgins, H. (2011). The Impact of Service-Learning-Type Experiences on Preservice Teachers' Integration of Principles of Educational Psychology. Teaching Educational Psychology, 7(1), 1-26. Retrieved from ERIC Krull, E., Koni, I., & Oras, K. (2013). Impact on student teachers' conception of learning and teaching from studying a course in educational psychology. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 41(2), 218-231. Moreno, R. (2010). Educational psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Noh, N. M., Siraj, S., Jamil, M. M., Husin, Z., & Sapar, A. A. (2015). Design of Guidelines on the Learning Psychology in the Use of Facebook as a Medium for Teaching & Learning in Secondary School. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology - TOJET, 14(1), 39-44. Patrick, H., Anderman, L. H., Bruening, P. S., & Duffin, L. C. (2011).The Role of Educational Psychology in Teacher Education: Three Challenges for Educational Psychologists. Educational Psychologist, 46(2), 71-83. Psychology. (2015). In Columbia University and P. Lagasse, The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.  Smith, P.L.,& Ragan, T.J. (2005). Instructional Design (3rd ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Jossey-Bass Education Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). Ed Psych. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

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What Is Educational Psychology and Why Is It Important

Educational psychology can be summed up as the set of methods and strategies that strive for an improvement of how education is perceived by teachers, parents, and students. The purpose is to offer help and solutions that work as one creates certain educational experiences, adjusts existing learning methods, and keeps the learners inspired. The pandemic times and online learning have helped to set new objectives by addressing limitations and explaining what could be done and how exactly. It is the essence of educational psychology – to suggest, analyze and achieve educational aims in the most efficient way. 

Why is Educational Psychology Important?

Before exploring the benefits and the importance of educational psychology, one must realize that each student is an individual who may not be able to adjust to the common identifier. We all understand things differently and may not be able to follow the same instructions. This is where educational psychology enters the equation by addressing the best ways an educator can help a student learn and understand the concepts and overcome personal challenges, fears, and apprehensions. 

Educational Psychology Explores How Students Learn

It often involves compare-and-contrast methods as an individual is compared to the rest of the group or two bright students are compared to identify the differences. It helps educators to see what might require an urgent change or what methods have proved themselves as efficient. Such a method requires analytical work and time to identify the sample group and take relevant notes that make the research balanced and less partial. 

Remember the difficulties that may occur while teaching ESL students. Sometimes they may not properly garb the idea of the task or complete it incorrectly. In case any teacher needs help with the translation of the curriculum into another language, it is wise to get professional translation help from services like TheWordPoint . An expert translator will translate any educational materials you need and will save you from miscommunication with your ESL students. It is also a great idea to hire a translator permanently for some school needs. You can discuss this idea with a head teacher.

It Offers Introspection or Self-Observation Methods

This method is mostly aimed at educators and the parents of the students that require specific learning assistance (think autistic or special needs learners), yet more and more learners turn to reflective writing and special journals to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Starting with an observation task may seem a bit challenging at first, which is why many students choose to seek online help as they overcome various learning difficulties. The psychological effect of such an action is easy to explain, as students eliminate the factor of stress and of being identified as they ask for help. 

Clinical Psychology Aspect

Also known as the “case study analysis”, this branch of educational psychology focuses on the mental health of students. It has been especially important during times of social isolation and online learning when most students had confidence-related challenges as they did not feel comfortable when learning at home. The educators also relate here if one takes a look at the technical gap or inability to work with the latest technology. Clinical psychology in education also addresses exam stress issues or college depression cases, among other things. The purpose here is to identify the reasons and explain why the fears and anxiety take place. 

New Development Methods and Observations

Flexibility is one of the most important elements of modern educational psychology. While it studies the behavioral patterns of a student, it also helps to identify and develop new learning methods that can help to inspire. It is especially relevant when one is dealing with the younger learners or first-year college students, who are still used to the teacher’s control and the strict school guidelines. As a rule, it still includes observation and analysis of the changes, since developmental psychology must be approached in retrospect or through the lens of prognosis. 

Experimental Methods

This branch of educational psychology relates to a method when educators implement an independent variable when dealing with a dependent variable. In other words, teachers address more than one learning method to identify how they can have a positive impact on the cognitive functions of students as a group. As an experimental approach, it helps to increase the motivation and involvement of students in various team projects. The primary purpose of experimental psychology in education is to find out what learning methods can assist students as they learn about cooperation.

Accessibility Issues

Educational psychology also addresses various accessibility issues that go beyond having access to technology. It helps to address mental health issues and learning challenges that aren’t always identified. It also addresses negative learning aspects like bullying or classroom harassment. The purpose of educators is to identify the triggers and take action by doing so privately and in a way that will not make the problem an issue that is widely discussed by other students. 

Summing things up, one can see that educational psychology helps to identify the learning potentials of the learners and make relevant changes to the educational process. It also allows teachers to assess students and track their progress in a less biased way. Another important aspect worth mentioning is an adjustment of the curriculum based on the demands of the learners. It paves the way for solving educational problems as the cognitive functions are being addressed. Most importantly, educational psychology helps to identify and overcome the mental barriers that prevent students from learning and processing information. 

Emotional Commitment and Sense of Belonging

The primary purpose of educational psychology is to show how one can learn and retain knowledge by feeling emotional attachment. Psychological science is applied as a way to address the difficulties of the learning process. When a hypothetical learning model remains static, students do not feel motivated and cannot connect the proverbial dots that help them to belong. Educational psychology turns to more engaging learning methods that implement examples and let students take the lead. Once such a method is used in the classroom, the learners use various social factors as a way to voice their opinion. It brings in the element of flexibility, thus affecting the psycho-emotional state of the learner. 

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What is educational psychology and its types?

Educational psychology.

Educational psychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on the study of how individuals learn and develop in educational settings. It seeks to understand the cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral processes that influence learning and educational outcomes. Educational psychologists apply their knowledge to improve teaching methods, curriculum development, student assessment, and overall educational practices.

There are several types or areas of focus within educational psychology:

• Cognitive Development: This area of educational psychology examines how individuals acquire, process, and retain information. It explores topics such as memory, problem-solving, critical thinking, and the development of intelligence.
• Learning Theories: Educational psychologists study various theories of learning, including behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. These theories help educators understand how students acquire knowledge and skills and how teaching methods can be tailored to different learning styles.
• Motivation and Learning: Understanding what motivates students to engage in learning is crucial. Educational psychologists explore factors that influence motivation, such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, goal setting, and self-efficacy.
• Developmental Psychology: This area focuses on the psychological and emotional development of individuals throughout their lifespan. It considers how developmental stages and milestones affect learning and educational outcomes.
• Social and Cultural Influences: Educational psychologists study the impact of social and cultural factors on learning and development. This includes examining how social interactions, peer relationships, family dynamics, and cultural background influence a student’s educational experience.
• Assessment and Evaluation: Educational psychologists develop and analyze assessment tools and techniques to measure students’ knowledge, skills, and abilities. They also research the validity and reliability of assessment methods.

Extra Types

• Instructional Design: Educational psychologists play a role in designing effective instructional materials and strategies. They aim to create learning environments that cater to diverse learners and optimize the teaching and learning process.
• Special Education: Special education psychologists focus on understanding and supporting individuals with disabilities or special educational needs. They work with teachers and schools to develop individualized education plans (IEPs) and provide strategies for inclusive education.
• Educational Technology: As technology continues to play a significant role in education, some educational psychologists specialize in studying the impact of digital tools and online learning environments on student learning and engagement.
• Policy Educational Leadership: This area looks at the leadership and administrative aspects of education. Educational psychologists may advise educational institutions and policymakers on implementing effective educational policies and practices.
• School Counseling: School counselors often have backgrounds in educational psychology and help students with personal and academic issues, career planning, and social-emotional development.

Educational psychology is a diverse field, and professionals in this field may specialize in one or more of these areas to contribute to the improvement of educational practices and outcomes for students of all ages.

What is the role of educational psychology?

The role of educational psychology is multifaceted and encompasses various functions aimed at understanding and improving the educational process. Here are some key roles and contributions of educational psychology:

• Understanding Learning Processes: Educational psychologists study how individuals acquire knowledge and skills. They investigate cognitive processes, memory, problem-solving, and learning styles to better understand how students learn.
• Improving Teaching Methods: Educational psychologists provide insights into effective teaching strategies and instructional design. They help educators develop techniques and materials that cater to diverse learning needs and styles.
• Assessment and Evaluation: They design and analyze assessments to measure student performance and growth. This includes developing standardized tests, evaluating their validity and reliability, and ensuring fair and unbiased assessment practices.
• Identifying Learning Disabilities and Special Needs: Educational psychologists play a crucial role in identifying and assessing students with learning disabilities and special educational needs. They collaborate with educators and parents to develop individualized education plans (IEPs) and provide support strategies.
• Motivating and Engaging Students: They study motivational factors that influence student engagement and achievement. Educational psychologists explore intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, goal setting, and self-efficacy to help educators foster a positive learning environment.
• Promoting Inclusive Education: Educational psychologists advocate for inclusive education, ensuring that students with diverse backgrounds and abilities have access to quality education. They work to remove barriers to learning and promote equity in education.
• Child and Adolescent Development: Understanding the psychological and emotional development of students is essential for effective teaching. Educational psychologists consider developmental stages and milestones when designing educational programs and interventions.
• Counseling and Guidance: Some educational psychologists serve as school counselors, helping students with personal and academic issues, career planning, and social-emotional development. They provide support to students facing challenges that may affect their learning.
• Educational Policy and Advocacy: Educational psychologists may contribute to the development of educational policies and advocate for evidence-based practices in schools. They conduct research to inform educational decision-making at the institutional, local, and national levels.
• Professional Development: Educational psychologists often offer training and professional development opportunities for teachers and other education professionals. They help educators stay updated on the latest research and best practices in education.
• Parent and Community Engagement: Educational psychologists may facilitate communication and collaboration between schools, parents, and the community. They provide resources and guidance to parents to support their children’s education.
• Research and Innovation: They conduct research to advance the field of education, explore new teaching methods, and assess the effectiveness of educational interventions. Their research informs evidence-based practices in education.

In summary, the role of educational psychology is to bridge the gap between psychology and education by applying psychological principles and research to improve educational practices, enhance learning outcomes, and support the well-being of students in various educational settings. Educational psychologists collaborate with educators, parents, policymakers, and other stakeholders to create a more effective and inclusive learning environment.

Summary Educational Psychology

Educational psychology is a branch of psychology dedicated to understanding how individuals learn and develop in educational settings. Its key roles include:

• Studying Learning Processes: Investigating how students acquire knowledge and skills.
• Enhancing Teaching Methods: Providing insights into effective teaching strategies and instructional design.
• Assessment and Evaluation: Designing assessments, evaluating their fairness, and measuring student performance.
• Supporting Special Needs: Identifying and assisting students with disabilities and special educational needs.
• Motivation and Engagement: Exploring factors influencing student motivation and engagement in learning.
• Promoting Inclusion: Advocating for inclusive education and equity in access to quality education.
• Child and Adolescent Development: Considering psychological and emotional development in education.
• Counseling and Guidance: Providing support for students’ personal, academic, and social-emotional development.
• Educational Policy and Advocacy: Informing educational policies and advocating for evidence-based practices.
• Professional Development: Offering training and resources for educators’ continuous growth.
• Parent and Community Engagement: Facilitating collaboration between schools, parents, and communities.
• Research and Innovation: Conducting research to improve educational practices and advance the field.

In essence, educational psychology aims to enhance the educational experience, promote effective teaching and learning, and support the holistic development of students in diverse educational environments.

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Posted In Additional support needs , November 14th, 2017

What’s their role? Educational psychologists

This article explains how educational psychologists support children with additional support needs and answers common questions we hear about from parents and carers about their role. (It was written with input from members of the Scottish Division of Educational Psychologists and the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists. Practice may differ in some local authority areas.)

What is the role of an educational psychologist?

Educational psychologists work within local authorities, in partnership with families and other professionals, to help children and young people achieve their full potential. Educational psychologists support schools and the local authority to improve all children’s experiences of learning.

They use their training in psychology and knowledge of child development to assess difficulties children may be having with their learning. They provide advice and training on how schools might help children to learn and develop. They recommend methods, or develop strategies in partnership with schools, to help a child learn more effectively. Strategies may include teaching approaches, improvements to learning environments, advice on curriculum materials and behaviour support.

Educational psychologists also keep up-to-date with best practice, policy and research relating to how children learn and make sure this informs local policy and practice.

Educational psychologists may also be involved in, and advise, local authority groups considering additional support for learning policy or provision. For more detailed information see the SDEP website.

How are educational psychology services organised?

Educational psychology services may differ from area to area. In many cases a school, cluster of schools or local area will be assigned an educational psychologist or team of psychologists who work closely with school staff to support them.

In most areas a practice agreement between the school/s and the educational psychology service is drawn up, setting out the services that will be provided throughout the school year. This is reviewed and checked to make sure it is working for everyone involved.

How do educational psychologists get involved with a child?

A child may come to the attention of an educational psychologist in a number of ways. If a child is born with a condition that means they may have learning difficulties, or it is clear from an early age they may need extra support to learn or develop, an educational psychologist may be part of an early years multi-agency assessment team.

Once a child is attending pre-school or school a child’s additional support needs may be picked up during play, normal classroom teaching or the school’s own assessment processes. A teacher may raise concerns with the educational psychologist and request further assessment, advice or support. Any direct work with a child is done with the full consent of a child’s parents or carers.

If a parent is concerned their child is struggling at school, they have the right to ask their education authority to find out whether their child has additional support needs and to request a specific assessment (which can include an educational psychology assessment). To find out more information see The parents’ guide to additional support for learning.

How do educational psychologists assess a child?

The assessment of a child’s additional support needs is not a one-off activity carried out by an educational psychologist. Assessment is part of the day-to day routine of learning and teaching. In some cases, an educational psychologist will carry out further investigation of a child’s needs. Assessment is not separate from the strategies that are put in place to support a child. The information which educational psychologists gather contributes to the planning, action and review process.

If further investigation is needed, the educational psychologist will collect information about the child’s learning and development. This may be done by:

• talking to the child’s current or previous teachers
• talking to the child’s parents
• analysing the child’s school work and approach to learning
• observing the child in the classroom
• considering the child’s emotional and social development and behaviour
• talking to the child themselves.

In some cases an assessment may be carried out without involving the child directly.

How do educational psychologists support schools?

Educational psychologists work with schools to help them look at the needs of the whole child so they are able to be included fully in class, school and community life.

They provide advice to head teachers and school staff where needed and provide training to help staff to develop skills to support children with specific needs and enhance all children’s learning. They provide advice on target setting for children’s learning plans. They are not responsible for drawing up or implementing plans in schools.

They help schools to communicate about a child’s needs and support them to fully involve parents.

Do educational psychologists only work with school age children?

Educational psychologists do not just work with children and young people in school, they work with families with very young children in early years settings and in planning for young people leaving school and moving on to employment or further education.

Do educational psychologists decide which school a child attends?

Educational psychologists work for the local authority providing their analysis of children’s needs and how these can be met in particular environments. They may be involved in discussion, and consultation with parents, relating to which type of school placement would best meet a child’s educational needs. The final decision about where a child is placed lies with the local authority.

Parents have the right to make a placing request for their child to attend a particular school and to appeal this if refused. More information can be found in our Placing Request factsheet.

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{{item.title}}, my essentials, ask for help, contact edconnect, directory a to z, how to guides, roles and locations, staffing procedure.

This procedure describes the principles, methods and process to be applied to recruit, promote or transfer members of the teaching service to teacher positions in NSW public schools. The procedure applies to vacant permanent teacher positions in NSW public schools; defined as teacher (including school counsellors, teacher librarians, careers advisors, learning and support teachers and itinerant teachers), executive (assistant principals, head teachers, senior psychologist education, deputy principals, leader, psychology practice) and principal positions.

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1. Introduction

The Staffing Procedure for the Teaching Service in NSW Public Schools (the Staffing Procedure) describes the requirements to recruit, promote or transfer teaching service staff in NSW public schools and is in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Education and the NSW Teachers Federation on the Staffing of NSW Public Schools 2024-2029 (the Staffing Agreement).

The procedure describes how the Staffing Agreement must be implemented by principals, directors or their delegates in filling teaching service positions in NSW public schools and may be updated and amended from time to time in accordance with operational system changes, or changes to the Staffing Agreement, government policy and legislation, or the Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award 2022 .

2. Audience and Application

The procedure applies to vacant permanent teacher positions in NSW public schools; defined as teacher (including school counsellors, teacher librarians, careers advisors, learning and support teachers and itinerant teachers), executive (assistant principals, head teachers, senior psychologist education, deputy principals, leader, psychology practice) and principal positions.

The procedure applies to principals, Directors Educational Leadership and their delegates and the relevant School Workforce recruitment teams who may be responsible for these activities. The procedure will apply from the start of Term 2, 2024 to the end of Term 4 2028 summer school holidays (that is, 28 January 2029).

This procedure rescinds and replaces all previous versions of any document titled Staffing Procedure for the Teaching Service in NSW Public Schools, including the most recent version, dated 16 August 2021.

3. Responsibilities and Delegations

The NSW Department of Education (the department) will maintain this procedure and oversee ongoing compliance.

Principals, Directors, Educational Leadership and their delegates and the relevant School Workforce recruitment teams will comply with the procedure for all activities to recruit, promote and transfer members of the teaching service to teacher positions within NSW public schools.

Members of the teaching service will follow the procedure when applying for recruitment, promotion or transfer to a teacher, executive or principal position in NSW public schools.

4. NSW Teaching Service Staffing Procedure

4.1 staffing principles, 4.1.1 staffing cycle.

The department staffs NSW public schools throughout the annual staffing operation period, starting Day 1, Term 1 and ending on the last day of the Term 4 vacation period, prior to the commencement of the new school year.

Entry on duty

Where a current permanent teacher is appointed to a new permanent position under this procedure, they generally will begin duty in the new position at the start of either Term 1 or Term 2 (whichever is the closest) unless otherwise negotiated and agreed by the current principal, the receiving principal, where relevant the Director, Educational Leadership or delegated authority and the teacher in question. Any agreed variation to the entry on duty of a current permanent teacher to a new permanent position must be recorded in writing, with all parties included.

However, where the current permanent teacher is being appointed to a new permanent position via nominated transfer (that is, where the teacher is above establishment), the entry on duty date should occur as soon as possible, taking account of any impacts on continuity of student learning, unless there are extenuating circumstances. Where the appointment of a teacher by nominated transfer will impact the temporary engagement of a temporary teacher, a minimum 4 school week notice period will apply.

Where the appointment relates to a scholarship holder, a targeted graduate or an applicant from the employment list, the entry on duty date will typically be the commencement of the next school term, unless otherwise negotiated and agreed by all parties. Where the appointment of a scholarship holder, targeted graduate or applicant from the employment list will impact an existing temporary engagement, a minimum 4 school week notice period will apply.

Variations to entry on duty dates may also apply to the appointment of teachers to new schools prior to the official opening date. This will be case managed by the relevant recruitment team in consultation with the principal of the new school.

4.1.2 Centrally Identified Positions

The department provides every school with a centrally identified staffing entitlement (teacher, executive and principal) based on student enrolment numbers. The staffing entitlement establishes the number and type of Centrally Identified Positions (CIPs) the department will fund at each school. Staffing entitlements are established in accordance with the NSW Department of Education Teacher Staffing Entitlements , available in OMSEE.

The department recognises that permanent employment is a key recruitment and retention incentive for teaching in NSW public schools. Centrally identified positions; full time and part time, are permanent positions and, as such, will be filled on a permanent basis.

When a centrally identified vacancy occurs, the principal is required to act within 4 school weeks, typically to fill on a permanent basis. On some occasions, based on the genuine needs of students and local workforce planning, a principal may determine it best to fill a permanent vacancy on a temporary basis for a limited period of up to 4 school terms.

In accordance with Clause 7.1 of the Staffing Agreement , a vacant centrally identified position may only be filled on a temporary basis when one or more of the following conditions are met:

• the enrolments at the school have been and/or are projected to decline;
• the enrolments at the school have been fluctuating;
• the curriculum offerings at a secondary or central school are changing and/or some subjects have been and/or are expected to decline;
• part-time positions are required to target specific whole of school programs which are intended to occur for no more than two (2) years and with approval required on an annual basis.

Where a school engages a temporary teacher to fill a centrally identified position, the principal must certify that the engagement complies with one or more of the reasons listed above and provide a brief supporting statement. These requests are made in OMSEE.

Where a principal requests to fill a permanent position on a temporary basis, the request will first be considered by the Director, Educational Leadership. The Director, Educational Leadership will either endorse or decline the request.

All endorsed requests will then be considered by the central panel consisting of senior officers of School Workforce and Public Schools which meets three times per term for the purposes of approving or declining endorsed requests and other matters.

The department and NSW Teachers Federation monitors temporary appointments to centrally identified positions on a regular and ongoing basis as part of the Joint Monitoring Review Committee, which meets on a quarterly basis.

4.1.3 Above Centrally Identified Positions

Under the Resource Allocation Model (RAM) schools have a wider discretion to allocate additional funding to establish permanent positions above the school’s centrally identified staffing entitlement to meet the needs of the school.

Consistent with the Principles for Determining the Mix of Staff in Schools , a principal may make a local decision to utilise additional funding provided above the school’s centrally identified staffing establishment to create additional positions for filling by permanent appointment.

To give school principals clear guidance on the procedures for staffing Above Centrally Identified Positions, the department has produced a Procedure for Determining the Mix of Staff in NSW Public Schools .

Applications to establish such positions should take into account that funding sources, such as equity loadings to meet the additional needs of identified students, may vary over time. Flexible funding for all costs associated with the permanent ACIP should be reasonably expected to continue for at least the next three years.

An Above Centrally Identified Position (ACIP) may be established on a permanent basis:

• through application by the principal;
• after consultation with the school community; and
• with the approval of the director, educational leadership.
• In determining the case for a permanent position, consideration should be given to:
• the amount and continuity of funding;
• the ongoing requirement for the role; and

The principal will be able to choose the selection method to fill the permanent position from the range of recruitment methods described in this procedure.

If the permanent position is at executive level, the role description must include general selection criteria relevant to the position level, in addition to any specific criteria determined by the school. This will provide relative status at the executive level in the state-wide teaching service.

If after three years a decision is made to disestablish an ACIP role, whether due to changes in available funds or if the role is no longer required, or if there has been a significant and unexpected change to the school’s flexible funding within the three years which requires the early disestablishment of the role, the school will be required to continue to fund the position until such time as the teacher is appointed to another school via nominated transfer.

4.1.4 Longer Term Temporary Appointments

Temporary teachers are defined as persons employed in one engagement full time for four weeks or more or in one engagement for one to four days per week for two terms or more. Temporary engagements can generally only occur within a school year and be for a maximum of a school year.

A longer-term temporary engagement of up to three (3) years can be offered to fill a vacant position where:

• a permanent teacher will be absent from the school and has right of return to the position; or
• the position is above the centrally identified staffing establishment.
• Should circumstances change, for example:
• the substantive teacher decides to return to their position before the originally planned time;
• the program to which the substantive teacher was engaged does not continue; or
• school enrolments require a reduction in staff that could be offset by the placing of a permanent teacher against the leave vacancy;

then normal early cessation conditions such as four weeks’ notice apply.

The temporary engagement will match the length of time that the position is temporarily vacant.

4.1.5 Qualifications and Essential Requirements

All Teachers in NSW public schools must hold qualifications that meet the requirements of the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and the provisions of the Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award 2022 or its successor.

Teachers must demonstrate a level of professional expertise consistent with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and hold accreditation with NESA as required. A condition of NESA accreditation and employment in NSW public schools is that a teacher must also possess a current Working with Children Check (WWCC).

Teachers must also meet the following essential requirements:

• understand and be sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and students from non-English speaking backgrounds;
• understand the educational needs of students from low socio-economic status communities and schools in isolated rural locations;
• understand the educational needs of gifted and talented students;
• be aware of gender equity issues; and
• be able to integrate technology into effective classroom practice.

4.1.6 Approved to Teach

The department maintains an Approved to Teach list, which establishes a candidate’s eligibility to be considered for employment as a teacher in a NSW public school. Candidates apply to the Teacher Approvals team for approval to teach and are evaluated based on qualification/s and essential requirements. Teachers must be on the approved to teach list in order to be considered for permanent appointment to a teacher position or temporary or casual employment as a teacher in a NSW public school.

Through the Teacher Employment Priority Scheme (TEPS), teachers on the Approved to Teach list will have their priority date for permanent employment enhanced for every 50 days of casual or temporary teaching service in NSW public schools. Temporary teaching undertaken in schools with 2, 4, 6 or 8 transfer points will result in a greater enhancement of the teacher’s priority date.

4.1.7 Staffing Codes

The department appoints teachers based on their current staffing codes. For the purposes of permanent appointment, staffing codes identify subject/teaching area qualifications and teaching skills based on verified experience, position level and areas of responsibility (Appendix 1 – Staffing Codes).

Staffing codes used for matching appointments to vacant positions must align to timetabled school offerings and student/school current and/or demonstrated future needs to ensure transparency in the matching process.

When declaring vacant positions principals can utilise a maximum of four (4) subject/teaching area staffing codes. Where there is a justifiable need in the school’s timetable for cross-faculty key learning area staffing codes and/or specialist codes, such as secondary technological and applied studies positions, positions in Central schools, and/or positions in special education settings, a principal may seek approval from School Recruitment and Placement to utilise up to five (5) subject/teaching area staffing codes.

If a match cannot be made at Step 1 based on the approved subject/teaching area staffing codes submitted, the principal will be required to select from the combinations of staffing codes which result in a Step 1 match on all but one of the submitted staffing codes. This same process also applies to Step 2 matches for vacant positions based on all staffing codes submitted.

Where more than one teacher can be matched to the vacancy after the removal of one of the required subject/teaching area staffing codes, the principal will choose the most appropriate subject/teaching area staffing code to be removed still ensuring a Step 1 or 2 match based on the requirements.

Staffing codes used in declaring vacancies will be monitored by School Recruitment and Placement and reported to the Joint Monitoring and Review Committee each term.

Teachers will be appointed on Approved to Teach subject / teaching area staffing codes.

Approved means approved by the Department on the basis of qualifications or recognised and verified experience. Teachers can be required to teach any subject/teaching areas which they are approved to teach.

Willing to Teach means whilst the teacher is not approved in the subject/teaching area, they are prepared to teach that subject/teaching area, willing to do so if requested by a principal and are confident that they can do so with an acceptable level of success. Failure to do so may render the application invalid and lead to withdrawal of an appointment.

The department and the NSW Teachers Federation will, as required, review subject/teaching area staffing codes to ensure currency and alignment with the NESA Curriculum and current key learning areas.

Teachers employed on a permanent or temporary basis in a NSW public school may submit applications for new staffing codes through the employee self-service (ESS) function accessible via the Staff Portal.

All other teachers may apply to add new staffing codes by sending an email with supporting documentation to Teacher Approvals at [email protected]

Staffing codes are categorised as primary (preschool to Year 6) and secondary (Years 7 to 12). Teachers are approved in individual subject/teaching areas according to their teaching methodology. Staffing codes for specialist education settings can be selected from either category (primary or secondary) to provide teachers appropriate to the student age profile and curriculum of the school.

Schools may request a teacher approved in a different level of schooling if required. For example, a secondary school may require a primary teacher to teach students in Years 7 and 8, or a primary school may require a secondary teacher to conduct a particular program. Where a teacher is appointed in these circumstances, any future movement by transfer will continue to be based on approved to teach codes only.

4.1.8 Extended Hours of Educational Delivery

Where the Department establishes a new school, re-purposes an existing school or establishes a specialist school such as a virtual high school, provision for the timetabling of classes beyond the core hours of operation of a school and for teachers to work within those extended hours may be made provided that the overall hours of duty of teachers shall not be exceeded.

Such provision is to be made in accordance with the Crown Employees (Teachers in Schools and Related Employees) Salaries and Conditions Award 2022 or its successor.

Consideration is to be given to equity, gender and family issues involved in any proposal to implement flexible hours.

The Department will continue to trial and review pilots on flexible work organisation in schools arising from strategies that aim to enhance public education, with appropriate consultation.

4.1.9 Staffing of Multi-Campus Colleges

A multi-campus college is a secondary school which includes campuses at several different locations overseen by a single College Principal. Multi-campus colleges are staffed according to these procedures (Appendix 4 - Staffing Multi-Campus Colleges) .

4.2 Staffing Methods

The Department uses two (2) staffing methods to fill vacant positions on a permanent basis:

• Central Appointment
• Local Choice

In the first instance the Central Appointment process is utilised to recruit for vacancies and maintain curriculum consistency across schools. The Central Appointment process ensures security in teacher employment and provides career mobility.

Where a vacancy is not recruited via the Central Appointment process the Local Choice option is applied. Local Choice allows schools flexibility to choose how they select teachers who best meet the local needs of the school.

Teachers appointed to a school based position may be eligible for compensation as prescribed by the Transferred Officers' Compensation Determination No 1 of 2001 .

All appointments are subject to the teacher, at the time of appointment:

• being able to fulfil the inherent requirements of the role; and
• in the case of an existing employee, demonstrating satisfactory performance.

4.2.1 Central Appointments

For all vacancies, a series of central appointment types will be reviewed to identify a suitable applicant to appoint to the position. Consideration of applicants in each appointment type will be considered in the specific order outlined below.

4.2.1.1 Filling Classroom Teacher vacancies

In accordance with Clause 3 of the Staffing Agreement, the Department can appoint permanent teachers through a Central Appointment method, in the following explicit order:

Step 1 candidates (based only on approved to teach codes)

i) Section 51A (non-compassionate) or Part 4A appointments required under the Teaching Service Act 1980

ii) Incentive transfer applicant

iii) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicants

iv) Approved Section 51A transfer (compassionate) applicant

v) Teacher appointed permanently at the school through the 2023 Temporary Workforce Transition initiative

vi) Nominated transfer applicant

vii) Transfer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher or a teacher from a special education setting

viii) Service transfer applicant (including regression by service transfer or permanent part-time teachers seeking an increase to a permanent full-time position and/or an increase to the FTE of their permanent part-time position where this can be operationally accommodated)

ix) A permanent teacher appointed to an equivalent ACIP at the school, regardless of the service of the teacher in the ACIP

x) Where they are not otherwise eligible for a service transfer, a permanent part-time teacher appointed to the school seeking an increase to a permanent full-time position and/or an increase to the FTE of their permanent part-time position where this can be operationally accommodated

Step 2 candidates

i) Scholarship holders/sponsored teacher and targeted graduate teacher (via the graduate recruitment program), prioritising high performing graduates (matched only on approved to teach codes)

ii) Approved to teach (employment) list, with priority status for eligible temporary teachers in 4, 6 and 8 transfer point schools, only for the school in which they are currently working (matched on approved to teach and willing to teach codes)

4.2.1.2 Filling Executive vacancies

Step 1 candidates.

i) Section 51A (non-compassionate) or Part 4A appointment required under the Teaching Service Act 1980

iii) Approved Section 51A transfer (compassionate) applicant

iv) Nominated transfer applicant

v) Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander executive teacher transfer applicant or a special education settings executive transfer applicant

vi) Executive Service transfer applicant* (including regression executive service transfer to a lower-level executive and permanent part time executive teacher appointed to the school seeking an increase to a permanent full-time position and/or an increase to the FTE of their permanent part-time position where this can be operationally accommodated)

vii) A permanent executive teacher appointed to an equivalent ACIP position at the school

*Note: Will apply from Day 1, Term 3 2024. From this date all executive teachers with a minimum of 4 years’ service in their current executive role at their current school will be eligible to apply for an executive service transfer. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander executives will need to have completed a minimum of 3 years’ service in their current executive role at their current school to be eligible to apply for transfer.

For all executive vacancies declared from Day 1, Term 3 2024, Teacher Recruitment will run a match against the vacancy. A re-match will also be conducted on all existing executive vacancies where the position remains vacant following an unsuccessful recruitment action (including open merit)

4.2.1.3 Filling Principal vacancies

v) Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander principal transfer applicant or a special education settings principal transfer applicant

*Note : Will apply from Day 1, Term 3 2024. From this date Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander principals with a minimum of 3 years’ service as principal in their current school will be eligible to apply for transfer.

To be eligible for a central appointment transfer, permanent teachers must apply through the department’s employee self-service system (ESS) (Appendix 2 – Transfer System, C. Applying for a Transfer).

Transfer applications, while needing review or recertification on a two-yearly basis, remain active until they are actioned or withdrawn (see notes below). It is the responsibility of the teacher to check and maintain their transfer/employment preferences and application status. If individual circumstances mean that a candidate cannot accept a central appointment at the present time, they should withdraw (make inactive) their application until their circumstances are conducive to an appointment.

• Nominated transfers cannot be withdrawn by the nominated teacher as they are identified and managed centrally by the department. Nominated transfer candidates will be appointed to a suitable vacancy within the default staffing areas. ( NB. These Guidelines are currently subject to review and will be revised and re-published by Term 3, 2024)
• The Section 51A Compassionate Transfer Guidelines provide information on the additional review process for this transfer application type. ( NB. These Guidelines are currently subject to review and will be revised and re-published by Term 3, 2024)
• Teachers and principals (and directors in the case of principal transfers) are required to recertify transfers every 24 months.
• Sponsored teachers will be appointed within the service commitment area of their deed.
• Teachers on the approved to teach list, including pre-service teachers will be appointed to schools in line with the locations nominated on their application for approval to teach and to which they express an interest.
• School counsellors that are transferring into a teaching position will be remunerated at the relevant rate as a teacher, they will not remain on their school counsellor rate of pay.
• Senior Psychologists Education and Leaders, Psychology Practice who have previously been executive teachers and are transferring into non counselling executive positions will be remunerated at the relevant executive rates of pay and will not remain on their counselling service rates of pay.

Central appointment candidates who are permanent employees moving by transfer, or who are sponsored by the department at the time of the appointment must take up the appointment as notified. Unless there are exceptional and compelling reasons which establish that a teacher or executive teacher cannot accept an appointment by a service-based transfer, should a teacher refuse a service-based transfer appointment, the department will withdraw the transfer and the teacher will not be considered eligible for another service-based transfer for a period of up to two years.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicants are made an offer of employment, which they may accept or decline.

Graduate/pre-service teachers are made an offer of employment. Where a graduates/preservice teacher declines an offer of permanent employment, their priority date will be reset to the date after completion of studies, if the offer is made and rejected before the preservice teacher completed their studies.

Candidates on the approved to teach list will be given the opportunity to express their interest in vacant classroom positions which match their approved to teach and willing to teach codes, and the schools they are seeking to be matched to. Where such a candidate, having indicated they wished to be appointed to that position subsequently declines it, or does not take up the central appointment, they will have their priority date reset to the date they subsequently declined the appointment*, unless a written submission for exceptional and compelling circumstances is approved by the relevant Manager, School Recruitment and Placement.

4.2.2 Types of Central Appointment

I. incentive transfer.

The Department provides higher incentive transfer point ratings to harder to staff schools, typically in rural and remote areas of NSW. Permanent teachers who complete a minimum required period of service in 4, 6 and 8 point incentive schools or Connected Communities Schools can apply for Incentive Transfer to another school (Appendix 2 – Transfer System, B. Schools Attracting Incentive Transfer Benefits) .

Where a vacancy arises in a school and an incentive transfer applicant matches the required approved to teach codes, Teacher Recruitment will appoint that candidate as a priority appointment. During recruitment, incentive transfer candidates are matched on approved subject/teaching area staffing codes only for teachers and area of responsibility staffing code for executive (where relevant).

Teaching partners, who are permanently employed as a teacher, of teachers, executives and principals appointed to, or on incentive transfer out of an incentive transfer benefit school are eligible to be transferred under Section 51A, transfer on compassionate grounds . Transfer of teaching partners depends on a suitable vacant position being available.

*Special Provision for Principals eligible for incentive transfer

A principal who is eligible for an incentive transfer may apply for consideration to also be matched to principal vacancies at one principal classification level above their current substantive position.

Following endorsement from their Director Educational Leadership and approval from the relevant Executive Director, Public Schools, the principal will then be considered for a transfer either at their current principal classification and/or at a classification which is one level higher. A principal with this approval may wish to only be considered for higher classification positions or can choose to have both classifications considered. Further, if a principal is not approved for the higher classification, they will continue to be eligible for an incentive transfer at their substantive level.

When considering incentive transfer matches, a principal who is already at the classification of the vacancy will take precedence over a principal approved for ‘one level up’.

Note: Incentive transfer applications can be submitted no earlier than Day 1, Term 2 where the candidate is eligible for an incentive appointment from the commencement of the following school year. Where applicants are not eligible for an incentive transfer appointment until the commencement of the following school year, they will only be matched to positions with an entry on duty date on or after Day 1, Term 1 of the following school year.

ii. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicants

The Department provides incentives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers to work in NSW public schools. This is consistent with and supports the Department’s objectives to make the Department an employer of choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and increase the diversity of our workforce to better engage and partner with communities across NSW.

Where a vacancy arises in a school and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicant matches the required codes, Teacher Recruitment will appoint that candidate as a priority appointment. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicants are matched on approved to teach subject/teaching area staffing codes only.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicants are identified from the Department’s centrally managed Approved to Teach list. Eligibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicant status is based on the three-tiered criteria used by the NSW Government and as defined by the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) , section 3:

Aboriginal person means a person who:

(a) is a member of the Aboriginal race of Australia, and

(b) identifies as an Aboriginal person, and

(c) is accepted by the Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal person.

Appointments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment applicants are case managed by the Aboriginal Employment team, School Workforce Directorate. This case managed approach ensures that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers are appointed to permanent positions that are culturally appropriate.

iii. Approved Section 51A transfer (compassionate)

Compassionate transfers are managed under s51A of the Teaching Service Act 1980 on a case-by-case basis.

Where teachers, executives and principals have exceptional and/or compelling circumstances requiring transfer from their current school, an application for a Section 51A Transfer on Compassionate Grounds can be submitted via their principal to the local Director, Educational Leadership. In the case of principals seeking a Section 51A Transfer on Compassionate Grounds, the application is made directly to the local Director, Educational Leadership. Delegated authority for approval of Section 51A Transfer on Compassionate Grounds rests with the relevant Executive Director, School Performance.

• The Compassionate Transfer Guidelines are currently under revision, with revised guidelines to be published by Term 3, 2024. This section will be updated to reflect the new Guidelines at that time. The revised Guidelines will reflect a new decision-making process, where a central panel consisting of senior officers of School Workforce and Public Schools which meets three times per term for the purposes of approving or declining endorsed requests and other matters.
• Teachers who have had a compassionate transfer application declined in the past, or up to the commencement of Term 3, 2024, may re-submit the compassionate transfer application to be considered by the central panel.

On lodgement, an application will be considered as a matter of priority and will remain active unless the circumstances which led to the application alter or at review the application is not re-approved. Applicants must notify the Director, Educational Leadership, if their circumstances change or if they wish the application to be withdrawn. Section 51A Compassionate Transfer Guidelines provide information on the review process for Section 51A Transfer on Compassionate Grounds applications.

An application for Section 51A Transfer on Compassionate Grounds will be approved only on the basis of exceptional and/or compelling circumstances, which can include where a teacher is permanently unable to return to their school based on medical restrictions which are accepted by the department. Applications must contain substantiated grounds and supporting documentation. These circumstances need to justify not only the request to move from the school to which the teacher, executive staff member or principal is presently appointed, but also the reasons for requesting the schools to which the teacher, executive staff member or principal is seeking transfer.

A principal or executive who is seeking a transfer regression to a lower level position and who does not have the required service to do so as a service transfer may seek such a transfer via a compassionate transfer application.

Each case is to be assessed individually and supporting evidence weighted to arrive at a considered determination as to whether the case meets the threshold of exceptional and/or compelling circumstances. Where the application is approved, the Teacher Recruitment team will work with the Director, Educational Leadership, to case manage the transfer. In the event a transfer has not been made within two years, the application will be reviewed to confirm it is still required.

Where a teacher is eligible for any other transfer type, it is recommended that they also lodge a transfer application for that transfer type (if not already done so). This will enable the teacher to continue to be considered at the appropriate central appointment step should a suitable vacancy arise prior to an outcome on their Section 51A Transfer on Compassionate Grounds application.

iv. Teacher appointed permanently at the school through the 2023 Temporary Workforce Transition (TWT) initiative

Teachers permanently appointed to the school through the 2023 TWT initiative, and who continue to be in a TWT initiative position, will be considered for appointment to a Centrally Identified position vacancy at the school of appointment when a permanent vacancy occurs, as detailed at 4.2.1. The mechanism to appoint a permanent teacher initially appointed to the school under the 2023 TWT initiative will operate for a period not exceeding the last day of Term 4 2026 (ie. 17 December 2026).

Where there are two or more permanent teachers initially appointed to the school through the TWT initiative who match the approved to teach subject/teaching area staffing codes of the vacancy, the teacher with the oldest priority date at the time of their TWT initiative permanent appointment will be placed into the vacancy.

v. Nominated Transfer

Permanency is a key recruitment and retention incentive for teaching in NSW public schools. Permanent Teachers with nominated transfer status retain permanent employment in the state-wide Teaching Service.

Where a vacancy arises in a school and a nominated transfer applicant matches the required codes, Teacher Recruitment will appoint that candidate as a priority appointment. During recruitment, nominated transfer Teacher candidates are matched on subject/teaching area staffing codes only and executive will be matched on the area of responsibility staffing code and executive level.

Teachers receive nominated transfer status* where the teaching service position they hold substantively is affected by:

• school closure, amalgamation or reclassification;
• reduction in student numbers;
• changed curriculum needs.

* not applicable to P1-P5 principals except where their school falls below P1 or ceases to operate. This means that a non-teaching principal cannot change to a teaching principal or associate principal unless they elect to remain at the school which will result in a lower salary.

Permanent teachers who hold a temporary non-school based teaching service (NSBTS) role who formerly held a permanent position as a teacher in the department, but no longer have right of return to a school teacher position, are required to submit a nominated transfer through the Online Transfer System, the earlier of two terms before the end date of their non-school based temporary appointment or as soon as they are aware of their non-school based appointment will be ceasing, unless they have received an appointment on merit to a permanent position within the department.

Teacher Recruitment will appoint nominated transfer candidates to the nearest suitable vacancy within approximately one hour from their current residential address, as recorded in SAP at the time of submitting their transfer*, as per the chosen nominated default staffing areas for nominated transfer purposes. Teachers returning from a non-school based position will be appointed to the nearest suitable vacancy within approximately one hour from their residential address as recorded in SAP at the time of submitting their nominated transfer*, or within an hour of their last school based permanent appointment, as per the chosen nominated default school areas for nominated transfer purposes.

* The department will require a teacher to provide documentary evidence (such as driver’s license, utility bill, rates notice etc) verifying they are living at the address recorded in SAP if the commuting time from that address to their current school exceeds one hour and/or there has been a recent change of address submitted by the teacher coinciding with their nominated transfer being submitted.

While they may be appointed to any school which matches the parameters outlined above, teachers with nominated transfer status can notify specific school preferences (school name and school code) within their default staffing area to Teacher Recruitment at [email protected] . If the Teacher wants to be reappointed to their current school if a vacancy occurs, they must ensure the current school is listed as their first employment preference by advising Teacher Recruitment at [email protected]

If no suitable position is immediately available, Teacher Recruitment will place a nominated transfer candidate in a temporary vacancy or above establishment position.

Teachers with nominated transfer status can also apply for other transfer types for which they are eligible where they have met the service period requirements. Teachers with nominated transfer status are deemed to have continuity of service from the school of nomination when considering the service period eligibility required for the transfer type involved. When calculating transfer points, they are credited full points for the school they are nominated from and the school they are appointed to.

vi. Priority Transfer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers

In addition to the priority employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, the Department also supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, executive and principals with priority transfer status.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers, executive or principals who have undertaken relevant service in their current permanent school-based position can apply for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher, executive or principal transfer.

Teachers must serve at least three years in their current school from the time of entry on duty to their current position, to the time of entry on duty to a new position at another school.

Teachers who are appointed to non-school based teaching positions will be considered to have continuity of service for the purpose of transfer eligibility requirements to lodge a transfer.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander executive and principals must serve at least three years in their current school, at the current level, to be eligible for a priority transfer.

In instances where a teacher enters on duty in a school on or before Day 1, Term 2, that year counts as a full year of service in that school.

vii. Priority Transfer of teachers from a special education setting

Teachers who have served at least three years in a specialist educational setting listed below can apply for transfer to the nearest suitable vacancy.

• Education Training Unit (ETU) in a juvenile justice centre;
• Special schools/units/tutorial programs for students with behaviour difficulties;
• Classes for students with behaviour difficulties, emotional disturbance or autism;
• Special schools and classes for students with mild, moderate and severe intellectual disabilities;
• Special schools and classes for students with physical disabilities, and hearing or vision impairment.

viii. Service Transfer, including:

• regression by service transfer,
• a permanent part-time teacher appointed to the school seeking an increase to a permanent full-time position, and/or
• a permanent part-time teacher appointed to the school seeking an increase to the FTE of their permanent part-time position where this can be operationally accommodated.

Teachers and school counsellors who have served at least three years in their current permanent school-based position can apply for a s ervice transfer .

Teachers who are appointed to non-school based teaching positions will be considered to have continuity of service for the purpose of service eligibility requirements to lodge a service transfer.

A principal or executive who has served at least three years in their current permanent principal or executive position may seek a transfer to a classroom teacher position (regression) as a service transfer.

ix. Executive s ervice transfer applicant, including:

• regression service transfer to a lower-level executive,
• a permanent part-time executive teacher appointed to the school seeking an increase to a permanent full-time position, and/or
• a permanent part-time executive teacher appointed to the school seeking an increase to the FTE of their permanent part-time position where this can be operationally accommodated.

Executive teachers (including Senior Psychologist Education and Leader, Psychology Practice) who have served at least four years in their current permanent school-based position can apply for Executive Service Transfer .

Executive teachers must serve at least four years in their current school from the time of entry on duty to their current position, to the time of entry on duty to a new position at another school.

Executive teachers who are appointed to non-school based teaching positions will be considered to have continuity of service for the purpose of service eligibility requirements to be able to apply for executive service transfer.

A principal or deputy principal who has served at least four years in their current permanent principal or deputy principal position may seek a transfer to a lower level executive position (regression) as an executive service transfer.

In instances where an executive teacher enters on duty in a school on or before Day 1, Term 2, that year counts as a full year of service in that school.

x. Scholarship holders/sponsored teachers

The Department is committed to maintaining a diverse and dynamic workforce and ensuring that quality teachers are attracted and retained for the benefit of all students in NSW Public Schools. The Department offers targeted employment programs to support these commitments, for example teacher education scholarships, rural and remote scholarships, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) scholarships, school counsellor in training scholarships, sponsored training (retraining) programs, and special education sponsorships.

In addition, the Department identifies high performing pre-service teachers under the graduate recruitment program in their final 12 months of study, targeting them up to 12 months prior to completion of their studies for early appointment in a NSW public school in an initial appointment area.

Further information on the Department’s scholarship and sponsorship programs is available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/teach-nsw .

xi. Targeted graduate teachers (via the graduate recruitment program), prioritising high performing graduates (approved to teach codes only)

The Department runs a Graduate Employment Program to recruit outstanding graduates to become Teachers in NSW Public Schools.

A high performing graduate may be identified for an early priority appointment to an initial appointment area up to 12 months prior to the completion of studies. Any graduate targeted for such an appointment will be required to have met all course requirements and all elements of the approval process prior to the permanent appointment being finalised.

To facilitate appointment of Graduates, only approved subject/teaching area codes are used to match them to positions.

xii. Approved to teach (employment) list, with priority status for eligible temporary teachers in 4, 6 and 8 transfer point schools only

The NSW Department of Education recognises the important contribution of temporary and casual teachers in maintaining a high-standard of education for all students in NSW public schools. The Department maintains an Approved to Teach list, which establishes a candidate’s eligibility to be considered for employment as a Teacher in a NSW Public School. Candidates apply to the Teacher Approvals team for approval to teach and are evaluated on the basis of qualification/s and essential requirements.

Generally, approved to teach candidates will be provided an opportunity to express interest in matching vacancies at Step 2. A candidate is not obliged to express interest, however an expression of interest will be considered a genuine intent of the applicant to accept the offer of permanent employment if it is made.

When matching a vacancy at Step 2, the approved to teach candidate, who has an active permanent employment application:

• matches all the subject/teaching areas (approved and willing to teach) and has listed the school as one of their employment preferences; and
• has the highest priority date,

will be considered for the permanent vacancy.

In the following circumstances, a temporary teacher already engaged in the school who expresses interest in being appointed to the vacant position will be prioritised for the permanent appointment:

• in a 4 transfer point school, where the teacher matches the approved to teach codes AND has undertaken at least two (2) years of continuous service* as a temporary teacher;
• in a 6 or 8 transfer point school, where the teacher matches the approved to teach codes AND has undertaken at least one (1) year of continuous service*;

Note: *continuous service consists of full-time or part-time temporary engagements (including any periods of paid leave and school vacations) and periods of casual employment which average 0.4 FTE or greater at the one school. Periods of unpaid leave and breaks in work of no more than 4 term weeks will not break continuity of service but will not be counted as service.

In all cases, an offer of employment to a teacher on the approved to teach list is contingent on that teacher holding full approval to teach, and otherwise eligible for permanent employment.

Candidates on the approved to teach list who accept and then do not take up an offer of permanent appointment will have their priority date reset to the date they decline the appointment*, unless a written submission for exceptional and compelling circumstances is approved by the Manager, Teacher Recruitment.

Note: *In the case of graduates/preservice teachers, the reset priority date will be the date after completion of studies, if the offer is made and rejected before the preservice teacher completed their studies.

4.2.4 Exemption from Central Appointment

I) limited access to local choice.

Where the last five vacancies at any level at a school were filled by central appointment, the Principal (or Director Educational Leadership if the next vacancy is the principal position) will be provided an exemption from the central appointment for their next vacancy. Teacher Recruitment will confirm eligibility for exemption and facilitate a Local Choice for the next recruitment action. The local choice can be from any of the recruitment options available under the Staffing Agreement, including central appointments under Step 1 and Step 2 of clause 3 of the Staffing Agreement if desired.

ii) Staffing of Connected Communities Schools

The Department has recognised Connected Communities schools as unique settings for the purpose of filling vacant Executive and Teacher positions. This is in recognition of the importance of including the local community, as represented by the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group in all permanent recruitment decisions in the school.

All vacant Executive and Teacher positions at Connected Communities Schools to be filled on a permanent basis will be filled in accordance with the steps outlined within the Staffing Agreement, however, any central appointment matches will be required to undertake a local suitability assessment before confirming the appointment.

A candidate matched centrally for a vacancy in a Connected Communities school is not obliged to proceed with the appointment if they do not wish to participate in the local suitability assessment and can withdraw without prejudice or penalty.

Executive Principals of Connected Communities Schools will conduct an interview of the matched candidate/s with a local nominated NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) panel member and confirm candidate suitability prior to appointment.

Executive Principal appointments in Connected Communities schools are temporary appointments, and are filled via an open merit process.

iii) Staffing of Residential Agricultural High Schools

The Department recognises that employment in Residential Agricultural High Schools brings with it specific working conditions. All vacant permanent Principal, Executive and Teacher positions at Residential Agricultural High schools will be filled in accordance with the steps outlined within the Staffing Agreement, however, any central appointment matches will be informed of the Special Conditions Covering Teachers at Residential Agricultural High Schools as outlined in schedule 11 of the Award before confirming the appointment.

A candidate matched centrally for a vacancy in a Residential Agricultural High School is not obliged to proceed with the appointment if they do not wish to and can withdraw without prejudice or penalty.

4.2.5 Local Choice

The Department also appoints teachers through Local Choice appointments. Candidates selected under Local Choice will receive an offer of employment for acceptance. Local choice methods include:

• Closed Merit
• Top of list
• Temporary Teacher Appointment to Permanent Status

The principal, director or delegate has the discretion to select the Local Choice method applicable to the position level.

4.2.6 Types of Local Choice

Typically, these options will be available for a teacher vacancy after Step 1 and Step 2 are exhausted, or for an executive or principal vacancy, after Step 1 is exhausted.

In the event a school has had 5 consecutive central appointments, the principal has “local choice” and in that case, is not restricted to the options below, but may choose any of the recruitment methods available under the Staffing Agreement, including central appointments under Step 1 and Step 2 of clause 3 of the Staffing Agreement.

i) Open Merit

A principal, director or their delegate can request Teacher Recruitment to advertise a Teacher vacancy openly on iworkfor.nsw and other appropriate media.

The principal, director or their delegate can access all applications via iworkfor.nsw and advise of the selection panel’s preferred candidate.

Any current member of the Teaching Service and qualified teachers external to the department can apply via iworkfor.nsw . Applications for and selection to positions on open merit are to be undertaken in accordance with the Merit Selection Procedure .

ii) Closed Merit

Only where a school is exempt from central appointment following five consecutive appointments, the Principal, Director or their delegate can request a closed advertisement to candidates from any or a combination of the following centrally managed lists to fill a teacher position:

• Service transfer for teacher vacancies and executive service transfer for executive vacancies
• Targeted graduate
• Approved to Teach (employment)

Teacher Recruitment will use iworkfor.nsw to notify all suitably qualified candidates on the appropriate list matching the position criteria as follows:

Individual candidates are responsible for maintaining their current contact and transfer/employment preference details. Contact details need to be updated through SAP ESS provides advice on how employment candidates can update application preferences. Permanent teachers need to update transfer application preferences through legacy ESS.

Candidates must submit an online application through iworkfor.nsw addressing the specific criteria together with contact details for two referees by the prescribed deadline.

The principal, director or delegate can access applications through iworkfor.nsw . A school based selection panel shortlists and interviews the applicants according to the Merit Selection Procedure .

iii) Top of List

Only where a school is exempt from central appointment following five consecutive appointments, the principal, director or their delegate can request Teacher Recruitment to appoint a candidate to a teacher position from the top of a list. In these instances, an offer is made as follows:

Note: Principals of Connected Communities Schools who choose Top of the List will be required to conduct an interview of the matched candidate with a NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) panel member and confirm candidate suitability prior to appointment.

iv) Temporary Teacher Appointment to Permanent Status

Note : 1 Executive Principals of Connected Communities Schools who seek to use this type of local choice method will be required to conduct an interview of the matched candidate/s with a NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) panel member and confirm candidate suitability prior to appointment.

a) Permanent part time or full-time teacher vacancy

Where a permanent full time or part time teacher vacancy arises at a school, and a temporary teacher has been engaged at that school:

• for the required minimum continuous service period;
• has a Performance and Development Plan and has been satisfactorily participating in the Performance and Development cycle; and
• where the temporary teacher is deemed suitable for appointment to the position;

The principal or their delegate must notify Teacher Recruitment of the proposed appointment of a temporary teacher to a permanent position through Online Management of School Entitlements and Enrolments (OMSEE ) . Principals or their delegates must also get the temporary teacher to complete the Change of Employment Type form and return it to them. The form can be accessed via the My Transfer section of ESS . The completed form must be forwarded to Teacher Recruitment.

Such appointment will be subject to the eligibility of the position to be filled by local choice, and the temporary teacher matching the staffing codes required in the permanent full time or part time vacancy to meet the educational needs of the school.

Where more than one temporary teacher at the school meets the eligibility requirements, the principal will conduct a candidate assessment process in determining the appointment.

The candidate assessment process will include the following as a minimum:

• The principal or delegate invites all eligible temporary teachers to submit an application for the position, including a one-page cover letter and a resume of no more than two pages.
• Review the applications;
• Conduct an interview of the applicants;
• Assess each applicant against the position requirements; and
• Determine a recommended candidate for appointment.

Following eligibility confirmation, Teacher Recruitment will notify the principal or their delegate to proceed with a verbal offer to the recommended candidate. Once the recommended candidate notifies their acceptance of offer in writing to Teacher Recruitment they will be appointed to the position.

In 8-point incentive schools principals and/or executive principals have the option of permanently appointing temporary teachers above establishment (if there is no vacant position at the school) where the temporary teacher has been engaged at that school:

• for a minimum of 12 months’ continuous service, and
• has a Performance and Development Plan and has satisfactorily participated in the Performance and Development cycle, and
• where the temporary teacher is deemed suitable for appointment to the position.

b) Permanent Appointment to a substantive School Executive (excluding Executive Principal) Role

Enables the permanent appointment of a teacher, to be considered, who has been undertaking a substantive school executive (excluding Executive Principal) role in an eligible 6 or 8 point classified school or a Connected Communities school

This type of local choice method provides incentives for teachers to undertake executive roles on a temporary basis in harder-to-staff rural and remote schools.

Where a permanent school executive vacancy arises at an eligible 6 or 8 point classified school or a Connected Communities school, and the teacher has been acting or relieving in that position:

• for a minimum of 12 months’ continuous service , and
• has a Performance and Development Plan and has satisfactorily participated in the Performance and Development cycle relevant to the executive position to which they are to be appointed, and
• where the school executive is deemed suitable for appointment to the position; the Principal (or Director, Educational Leadership, in the case of a principal position) may elect to permanently appoint the teacher to the substantive vacancy.

Such appointment will be subject to:

• the eligibility of the position to be filled by local choice
• the initial temporary acting or relieving arrangement being filled through an open expression of interest (EOI) merit selection process which included an interview, undertaken in accordance with the Merit Selection Procedure
• the teacher holding the required academic qualifications for the executive position to which they are to be appointed
• the Director Educational Leadership’s (Executive Director School Performance in the case of a principal position) endorsement of the proposed appointment

Principals or their delegates must notify Teacher Recruitment of proposed appointments of temporary teachers to permanent positions through Online Management of School Entitlements and Enrolments (OMSEE). Principals or their delegates must also get the temporary teacher to complete the Change of Employment Type form and return it to them. The form can be accessed via the My Transfer section of ESS. The completed form must be forwarded to Teacher Recruitment.

Note : Executive Principals of Connected Communities Schools who seek to use this type of local choice method will be required to conduct an interview of the teacher with a NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) panel member and confirm the teacher’s suitability prior to appointment.

4.3 Staffing Process

4.3.1 filling a centrally identified position on a permanent basis, a. submission of position requirements.

To fill a vacant centrally identified teacher position on a permanent basis, the principal, director or their delegate must submit the position requirements to School Recruitment and Placement via OMSEE using relevant staffing codes within four (4) school weeks of the position becoming vacant.

Staffing codes used in declaring vacancies will be monitored by School Recruitment and Placement.

In the event that a principal does not take any action within four (4) school weeks, School Recruitment and Placement will undertake appropriate action and follow up and will ultimately move to recruit and fill the position based on the profile of the position when last filled if no advice is provided.

Teacher Recruitment will first confirm whether the position is exempt from central appointment, as per 4.2.4 of this procedure. If the vacant position is exempt from central appointment, Teacher Recruitment will advise the Principal, Director or delegate that they may proceed directly to Local Choice selection.

Summary tables outlining the recruitment process for each vacancy type will be inserted pending confirmation or prior content.

1. When filling a Connected Communities School position via step 1, step 2 or step 3, Top of the List or Temporary Teacher Appointment to Permanent Status, Principals will be required to interview the matched candidate with a NSW AECG panel member to determine suitability prior to appointment.

When filling school counselling positions by Open Merit, the positions will be advertised in the first instance as School Counsellor or Senior Psychologist Education positions.

2. Applications for school counselling positions will be accepted and considered on merit from all candidates who hold:

• Provisional registration as a minimum with the Psychology Board of Australia (for School Counsellor / School Psychologist positions).
• General registration with the Psychology Board of Australia (for Senior Psychologist Education positions).

3. For school counselling positions, if the successful applicant for the position is:

• Currently permanently employed by the Department as a School Counsellor / School Psychologist or Senior Psychologist Education there will be no change to their classification in the new appointment.
• An external applicant who has teaching qualifications, will be appointed to the position as a School Counsellor or Senior Psychologist Education (as relevant).
• An external applicant who does not have teaching qualifications, will be appointed to the position as a School Psychologist.

4.3.2 Filling a Centrally Identified Position on a Temporary Basis

Where a school has been approved to fill a permanent position on a temporary basis as per Clause 7 of the Staffing Agreement, the school must:

• source a temporary Teacher from the Department’s Approved to Teach list;
• proceed to secure a temporary teacher and complete the Temporary Teacher Engagement Notice , including certification that the position meets the criteria for temporary appointment; and
• submit the completed form signed by the principal and temporary teacher to HR Shared Services.

4.3.3 Filling an Above Centrally Identified Position on a Permanent Basis

To establish and fill an Above Centrally Identified Position on a permanent basis, the Principal or delegate must:

• consult with the school community;
• obtain approval from the Director, Educational Leadership; and
• submit an application by notifying Teacher Recruitment through OMSEE. In determining the case for a permanent position the Principal and Director must ensure compliance with 4.1.3 of this procedure.

The position will be filled in the same manner as the Step 2: Local Choice Options process for Centrally Identified positions described in this procedure.

Where an Above Establishment executive position is being filled on a permanent basis, the Teacher Recruitment team will confirm that the role description includes general selection criteria relevant to the position level, together with the specific criteria determined by the school.

4.3.4 Filling an Above Centrally Identified Position on a Temporary Basis

To fill an above centrally identified school vacancy on a temporary basis the Principal, Director or delegate must:

• complete the Temporary Teacher Engagement Notice ; and
• submit the completed form to HR Shared Services together with teacher details and funding source for the position.

4.4 Professional Development Placements

The Department supports professional development of Teachers within NSW Public Schools through local mobility arrangements. The following programs are designed to facilitate professional development of teachers and executive and are only applicable on the basis of mutual exchange, i.e. not applicable to vacant positions for filling in accord with this staffing procedure.

a) Local Transfer Scheme

The local transfer scheme provides opportunities for permanent teachers and executive staff to gain new skills, experiences and professional understandings through permanent transfer to another position at the same level in a different school. Teachers and executive staff need to satisfy the eligibility criteria for the position to which they are seeking transfer.

Information about this scheme is available on the Department’s website .

b) Rural Teacher Exchange Program

The rural teacher exchange program provides an opportunity for teachers in rural and remote schools to exchange with teachers in other schools for one year at a time. Participating teachers would return to their substantive school at the end of the year. Through this program teachers in rural and remote schools can experience teaching in a different environment and other teachers are able to consider through direct experience whether teaching in a rural or remote school is a longer term option for them.

c) Teachers’ Professional Exchange Program

The Teachers’ Professional Exchange Program enables permanent teachers and executive staff in NSW government schools (including permanent part time teachers and teachers on part time leave without pay) to gain new skills, experiences and professional understandings by working in a different school setting for a set period of one school year.

Further information about these programs are available at https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/careers-at-education/scholarships-and-programs .

5. Monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements

5.1 appeals.

Permanent Teachers who apply on merit for a promotion position (more senior than their current position) may appeal against an appointment decision on the grounds that the appointment process was irregular or improper. More information about the appeals process is available in the Merit Selection Procedure .

Where an applicant for an advertised classroom teacher position (or a promotion position if not currently a permanent teacher) believes there has been an irregular or improper selection process, they may submit their concerns as a complaint to School Workforce within 10 calendar days of being notified.

5.2 Compliance Monitoring and Reporting

Compliance with the Staffing Agreement will be monitored by a state level Joint Monitoring and Review Committee (JMRC). This committee will comprise representatives of the Department and Federation, with equal representation from both parties.

The department's representation will include representative/s from the Public Schools division. The JMRC will be responsible for ensuring that the highest standards of probity, accountability and transparency apply to the staffing of NSW public schools.

The parties will participate in a JMRC forum each term to monitor and resolve compliance matters. Prior to each term's JMRC forum, the department will produce a Compliance Monitoring Report that shows each school's FTE entitlement, permanent FTE establishment, the difference between the two (unfilled entitlement), the difference expressed as a percentage, and FTE positions held in accordance with clause 7 of the Staffing Agreement. The Compliance Monitoring Report will also identify the number of executive positions within this data. This report will be sorted by field Executive Director locations and will highlight schools for detailed review.

Where the JMRC identifies a school requiring further review, the Director, Educational Leadership will discuss the level of temporary employment with the relevant principal to ascertain reasons and any necessary action to rectify the situation.

The Compliance Monitoring Report will also include data and analysis for the preceding school term, including:

• executive entitlement changes, specifically Head Teacher curriculum and non curriculum trends, and
• approved to teach codes which have been used to match against each vacant position filled.

Separate to the JMRC, the following matters will be reported in Term 4 of each year, commencing 2024:

• the number positions which having been declared and were unable to be filled through the recruitment provisions outlined in the Staffing Agreement, and
• the number of positions filled via each appointment mechanism for the system as a whole and by Public Schools location.

6. More information

For further information on this procedure, please contact, Teacher Recruitment on 1300 32 32 32 and select appropriate options.

7. Document links

Legislation and regulation.

Key relevant legislation and regulation that determines influences or defines this procedure:

8. Terms and definitions

Definitions of terms that are contained in this procedure:

8. Appendices

• Appendix 1 - Staffing Codes
• Appendix 2 - Transfer System
• Appendix 3 - Staffing Multi-Campus Colleges

• Open access
• Published: 26 April 2024

A systematic review on the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and emotional disorder symptoms during Covid-19: unearthing the potential role of economic concerns and financial strain

• Jee Kei Chan 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Aleya A. Marzuki 2 ,
• Samira Vafa 2 ,
• Arjun Thanaraju 2 ,
• Jie Yap 2 ,
• Xiou Wen Chan 1 ,
• Hanis Atasha Harris 1 ,
• Khushi Todi 1 &
• Alexandre Schaefer 2  

BMC Psychology volume  12 , Article number:  237 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Covid-19 has disrupted the lives of many and resulted in high prevalence rates of mental disorders. Despite a vast amount of research into the social determinants of mental health during Covid-19, little is known about whether the results are consistent with the social gradient in mental health. Here we report a systematic review of studies that investigated how socioeconomic condition (SEC)—a multifaceted construct that measures a person’s socioeconomic standing in society, using indicators such as education and income, predicts emotional health (depression and anxiety) risk during the pandemic. Furthermore, we examined which classes of SEC indicators would best predict symptoms of emotional disorders.

Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted search over six databases, including Scopus, PubMed, etc., between November 4, 2021 and November 11, 2021 for studies that investigated how SEC indicators predict emotional health risks during Covid-19, after obtaining approval from PROSPERO (ID: CRD42021288508). Using Covidence as the platform, 362 articles (324 cross-sectional/repeated cross-sectional and 38 longitudinal) were included in this review according to the eligibility criteria. We categorized SEC indicators into ‘actual versus perceived’ and ‘static versus fluid’ classes to explore their differential effects on emotional health.

Out of the 1479 SEC indicators used in these 362 studies, our results showed that 43.68% of the SEC indicators showed ‘expected’ results (i.e., higher SEC predicting better emotional health outcomes); 51.86% reported non-significant results and 4.46% reported the reverse. Economic concerns (67.16% expected results) and financial strains (64.16%) emerged as the best predictors while education (26.85%) and living conditions (30.14%) were the worst.

Conclusions

This review summarizes how different SEC indicators influenced emotional health risks across 98 countries, with a total of 5,677,007 participants, ranging from high to low-income countries. Our findings showed that not all SEC indicators were strongly predictive of emotional health risks. In fact, over half of the SEC indicators studied showed a null effect. We found that perceived and fluid SEC indicators, particularly economic concerns and financial strain could best predict depressive and anxiety symptoms. These findings have implications for policymakers to further understand how different SEC classes affect mental health during a pandemic in order to tackle associated social issues effectively.

Peer Review reports

Covid-19, caused by the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first discovered in December 2019 in the Wuhan city of China. The World Health Organization (WHO) first declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020 [ 1 ] and, soon after, a pandemic on March 11, 2020 [ 1 ]. In addition to collective fear of the virus exacerbated by its high infectiousness and growing death rate, emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic also led to a worldwide socioeconomic crisis [ 2 , 3 ]. Many countries were forced to implement movement restrictions and instantaneous lockdown measures to contain the virus and doing so has greatly crippled the global economy [ 4 ]. Thus, Covid-19 has emerged as a common stressor to all, as it affected businesses, trades, and production of goods, which has consequently affected the income of a large number of individuals [ 5 ].

Covid-19 has been recognized as the worst pandemic of the century, in terms of scale and infection rate [ 6 ], and has profoundly impacted people’s mental health [ 7 ]. Given this, it is of great relevance to consider whether the social gradient in mental health would continue to be shown in a crisis of such magnitude. Defined as an inverse linear relationship between one’s socioeconomic status and/or conditions and mental health status, the social gradient in mental health theory posits that an individuals’ mental health follows a gradient that is in-line with his or her socioeconomic position in society, and such a relationship exists along a continuum [ 8 ]. Indeed, the relationship between SEC and mental health has been well-documented (e.g., [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]), with studies reporting moderate-to-strong associations between socioeconomic standing and subjective well-being and/or mental health (e.g., [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]). However, few have investigated whether specific SEC indicators are more predictive of mental health conditions over others [ 16 ].

Social Economic Conditions (SEC) Indicators

SEC has been defined as an umbrella concept that encompasses both actual (objective) and perceived (subjective) status of a person or a group in a given social context [ 17 ]. This should include different facets, such as economic, education, occupation [ 18 ], and subjective self-evaluation [ 19 ]: (a) economic here refers to traditional material metrics, such as income and assets, which should include both individually- and family-owned (e.g., household income, family assets etc.); (b) education typically refers to years of education attained by an individuals or their parents; (c) occupation is used to reflect the complexity and the intellectual demands of jobs held [ 17 ]; and (d) self-evaluated SEC, measured using tools such as the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status (MSS) [ 19 ], relies on individuals’ self-assessment of their socioeconomic standing in the context of their countries or communities.

However, even if SEC is defined as an overarching concept that includes multiple components, many SEC indicators (e.g., income, education, occupation etc.) do not seem to correlate strongly with one another [ 20 ]. Using the example provided in Farah [ 20 ], a plumber may not have attained as high an education level as an adjunct professor, but it is the plumber who could be earning a much higher income due to the shortage in this profession. A similar situation can be seen in traditional business owners who may not be highly educated, but could be earning much more than the average population. Thus, it is not surprising that past surveys have found a correlation of only between 0.2 and 0.7 (generally below 0.5) among SEC measures such as income, education, and occupation [ 21 , 22 ].

In relation, studies have suggested that different SEC indicators are separate, standalone constructs that represent different dimensions of one’s socioeconomic position in society [ 23 ]. Relevant to our review, different SEC indicators exhibit differential effects on our emotional health. For instance, higher education (typically viewed as a proxy for good socioeconomic standing) has been linked to higher depressive symptoms, while the opposite was shown for income [ 24 ]. Hence, although SEC indicators may overlap, it is valuable for them to be investigated as separate variables to better elucidate their unique effects on emotional health. To-date, it is equivocal as to whether there is a specific SEC measure or cluster of measures that best predicts changes in emotional health, and hence this warrants further investigation, especially with the unique contextual opportunity brought about by Covid-19 as a natural global stressor.

Actual versus perceived SEC indicators

The basic tenet of social inequalities of mental health is the consequences of an uneven distribution of resources across social domains [ 25 ]. The fact that the social gradient in health is so robustly observed for a wide range of mental and physical health outcomes [ 26 , 27 ] and has persisted since the early nineteenth century [ 28 ] across both developing and developed nations [ 29 ] suggests that the ‘fundamental’ cause of health inequalities is due to SEC disparities [ 30 ].

‘Resources’, referred to in the theory of fundamental causes, include tangible material possessions (e.g., wealth, income, assets, social capitals), and intangible ones (e.g., knowledge, power, prestige), which are disproportionately owned by the upper economic classes (e.g., [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]). More importantly, these resources are deemed to be ‘flexible” in that individuals can utilize them in “different ways and in different situations” [30 pS29]. For example, elite individuals have the privilege of choosing world-class treatment for psychiatric conditions, even if that means travelling overseas, and moreover high SEC individuals in positions of power can choose to reduce their workloads (or change jobs for the matter) if they feel that their mental health has been compromised by their work environment. All these privileges and flexibilities endowed by possession of key resources are posited to be the reason for the existence of the social gradient in mental health.

However, studies have shown that in addition to the ‘actual’ possession, the ‘perceived’ lack of such SEC resources could also play a role in the social inequalities in health [ 35 , 36 ]. Numerous studies using various form of perceived SEC indicators, such as financial threat [ 37 ], debt stress [ 38 ], and money-management stress [ 39 ], perceived financial strain [ 40 ], have reported that such perceived financial well-being indicators could affect subjective well-being and mental health. More importantly, recent studies have provided evidence that such financial well-being indicators could potentially mediate the relationship between actual SEC indicators and emotional health [ 37 , 39 ].

Although actual and perceived SEC indicators are interrelated, as individuals from low SEC backgrounds are more likely to have more concerns about their financial situations [ 41 , 42 ], there are studies reporting otherwise. For example, individuals from objectively high-SEC backgrounds may still perceive themselves as ‘poor’ [ 43 ]. Additionally, there are individuals who do not consider themselves poor despite actually being objectively low in SEC as indicated by traditional income or asset-based measures [ 44 ]. In a study by Wang et al. [ 45 ] in rural China, 29% of households perceived and reported feeling poor even though they do not meet the objective criteria for poverty. Interestingly, a study by Chang et al. [ 46 ] which investigated 1,605 households in Hong Kong, showed that while only 29.06% of the respondents meet the criteria as living below the poverty line, more than 50% of them perceived themselves as poor.

Thus, in this review, we investigated how ‘actual’ and ‘perceived’ SEC categories may be differentially associated with emotional health symptoms in the context of Covid-19.

Static versus fluid SEC indicators

Aside from objectivity of one’s socioeconomic position, it may also be important to compare SEC indicators that are either stagnant or change over time. Past studies have showed that negative changes to one’s socioeconomic position could affect mental health [ 47 , 48 ]. As a matter fact, the socioeconomic disruptions following disasters, be it man-made or natural, have been shown to be detrimental to mental well-being, as the financial disturbances would result in stress escalation, leading to various mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety [ 49 ]. More importantly, such negative consequences are usually more prominent in the low SEC population, as they are likely to lack resources that are needed to cope with the changes following crisis [ 49 ].

However, not all SEC indicators are capable to reflect such changes. For instance, education and occupation class are relatively time-invariant and may remain static even in a global health crisis while variables such as income are subject to change. More importantly, research typically compared low and high SEC between individuals, but few have explored how individual’s changes in SEC over time can impact mental well-being [ 50 ]. For the few studies which have investigated how changes in SEC influence mental health, the results were mixed.

First, Sareen et al. [ 47 ] showed that in addition to having a low income, a decline (i.e., change) in household income was significantly related to a higher risk of mood disorders. This was echoed in a systematic review and meta-analysis by Thomson et al. [ 48 ], and in a longitudinal study by Lorant et al. [ 50 ], where short-term fluid changes to one’s SEC was associated with greater depression symptoms—although the effects of SEC on mental health was more apparent between subjects instead of within. Conversely, another longitudinal study by Benzeval and Judge [ 51 ] in Britain found that a decline in income had only a minor effect on mental health. Similarly, Levesque et al. [ 52 ] reported a lack of evidence to support that changes in SEC has any unique effect on mental health separate from the effects of static or current SEC.

In this review, we aimed to investigate how different measurements of one’s SEC, be it static or fluid, are associated with emotional health symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety), within the context of Covid-19.

Current review

We conducted this systematic review with the aim of answering three pertinent research questions. First, in light of the socioeconomic disruptions brought about by the Covid-19 crisis, we sought to investigate how various classes of SEC indicators were associated with emotional health symptoms (i.e., anxiety and depression). Secondly, we aimed to compare SEC indicators to evaluate whether there were differences in how strongly specific indicators predicted mental health outcomes. Lastly, we assessed whether different groups of SEC indicators (static vs fluid, perceived vs actual) show dissociable effects on emotional health symptoms.

Materials and method

This article constitutes a systematic review, which follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and statement [ 53 ]. This work has also been registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42021288508).

Article search was conducted over six popular databases (Scopus, ProQuest, PubMed, PsyInfo, OvidMedline, Web of Science), from November 4, 2021 after PROSPERO approved the registration, till November 11, 2021. Five keywords were used: (a) depression or anxiety; (b) Covid-19; (c) socioeconomic; (d) financial; and (e) economic. The combination of the keywords used in the searches was ((depression OR anxiety) AND covid* AND (socioeconomic* OR ses OR financ* OR economic*)) . To ensure that only articles conducted on Covid-19 were retrieved, we restricted the publication date to be January 1, 2020 and beyond. The search strategy was developed by the lead author and was used consistently for each database. All subsequent reviews, extraction and consensus were jointly decided by the teams comprising eight reviewers and three assistants. Any disagreements between review authors were resolved through discussion. We used the Covidence, a web-based collaboration software platform that streamlines the production of systematic and other literature reviews, to assist us in the whole process of the systematic review. The characteristics of the qualitative data based on the PICO model are shown in Table  1 .

Eligibility criteria

As we are only 20 months into the pandemic at the time of this review, and in consideration of articles that may still be in the pipeline of publishing, we have decided to include, in addition to published articles, preprints as long as they fulfil our inclusion criteria, which includes: (a) depression and/or anxiety must be studied as the main outcome and measured using validated inventories or scales, such as the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Patient Health Questionnaire  (PHQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), etc.; (b) socioeconomic status and/or conditions must be studied as a predictor of depression and/or anxiety; articles using SEC as demographic information were excluded; (c) only quantitative studies were included; personal narrative, qualitative, case studies, meta-analyses or review articles were excluded. However, mixed-method studies were included; (d) only articles published on or after January 1, 2020 were included to ensure studies are COVID-19 related; and (e) English version must have been available.

Screening and data extraction

The review process, including screening and data extraction, was carried out on Covidence. For each stage of the screening (title/abstract and full-text reviews), all studies were carefully reviewed by a team comprised of eight members, working independently. Two votes were required for each article to be decided as included or excluded. In case of any conflict, the lead author (JKC) was tasked to resolve it. Data extraction for each article was similarly carried out by any two members of the team independently. A consensus was reached between the two reviewers should there be any conflict.

Quality appraisal

The methodological quality and risk of bias of studies eligible for review were assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools for cross-sectional [ 54 ] and cohort studies [ 55 ]. The tool assesses the trustworthiness, relevance, and results of published papers [ 54 , 55 ]. The assessment was conducted and verified independently by any two reviewers. Any disagreements between reviewers regarding the qualification and analysis of articles were resolved through discussion.

Data synthesis and coding

In consideration of the diverse ways SEC were measured and used in various studies, we have developed a coding scheme to assist us in data synthesis (Table  2 ).

In addition, we further categorized the SEC indicators into ‘static/fluid’ and ‘actual/perceived’ categories depending on how they were measured. ‘Static’ refers to measurements that assessed SEC at a single time-point whereas ‘fluid’ measurements assessed the changes in SEC. ‘Actual’ and ‘perceived’ categorized the measurements in accordance to whether SEC was quantitatively or subjectively assessed. To clarify our point and intention, we used an example listed in Table  3 to illustrate.

Thus, all SEC variables used in articles included in this systematic review were categorized into three levels. Firstly, according to the coding scheme listed in Table  1 . Secondly, they were categorized as static or fluid according to the measurement method. Lastly, the SEC variables were further classified as actual or perceived, depending on how they were assessed. The intention for the three levels of categorization was to investigate which method or class of SEC measurements would yield the best result in predicting emotional health risks during the pandemic era.

With the classification, we would then assess how each class of SEC indicators was related to depression and anxiety. For each study, if the SEC class was associated with depression and/or anxiety in accordance with the theory of the social gradient in mental health, as per hypothesized (e.g., higher income/education was associated with lower depression/anxiety), we would count the finding as ‘Expected’. However, if the SEC class was showing the opposite result (e.g., higher income/education was associated with high depression/anxiety), we would count the finding as ‘Contrasting’. In the case that the SEC was not associated with depression and/or anxiety significantly, we would count it as ‘Non-significant’.

Search results

Initially, 7295 studies were imported to Covidence. After removing the duplicate studies ( n  = 3351), the abstracts of 3944 studies have been screened via Covidence in line with the defined including/exclusion criteria. Next, 717 studies have been found eligible for the full-text review, out of which, 355 studies were excluded. The main reasons for exclusion at the full-text review stage were as follows: (a) socioeconomic conditions have not been examined as primary predictors; (b) depression or anxiety were not studied as the main outcome variables; (c) mental health has not been assessed using a validated scale; (d) not being a quantitative study; (e) duplicate; and (f) the English version was not available, or the study has been retracted. Eventually, 362 studies were included in the data extraction stage. The details of the search and selection process are illustrated in the PRISMA diagram (Fig.  1 ).

PRISMA flow diagram for the article identification and selection process

The articles included in this review involved 324 cross-sectional and repeated cross-sectional studies with 38 longitudinal studies. The total number of participants sampled in these 362 articles was 5,677,007, including 2,342,848 (41.27%) female and 3,334,159 (58.73%) male. The countries where these studies were conducted was summarized in Appendix A [see Supplementary file]. The characteristics and main outcomes of these articles were tabulated as Supplementary Material  2 and Table  4 .

Quality appraisal findings

Among 324 cross-sectional/repeated cross-sectional studies included in the review, 242 articles (74.69%) obtained the maximum score of 8 on JBI criteria for the cross-sectional study, 67 articles (20.68%) got a score of 7, and 15 articles (4.63%) scored 6 and below. Of the 38 longitudinal studies, 24 articles (63.16%) received the maximum of 11 points on JBI criteria for the cohort study, 5 (13.16%) got 10 points, 3 (7.89%) obtained a score of 9, 6 studies got a score of 8 and below (15.79%). Details of the quality appraisal were tabulated as Tables 5 and 6 .

The relationship between SEC classes and depression/anxiety

As nearly all article used multiple SEC variables in their study, the frequency for each class of SEC used in these studies was first tabulated. In addition, the relationship found between each class of SEC with depression and/or anxiety illustrated in these articles was summarized. The results were showed in Tables 7 , 8 , 9 and 10 .

Our results showed that not all SEC indicators were consistently predicting emotional health outcomes during the Covid-19 pandemic, with some (e.g., economic concerns) performing better than others (e.g., education). From Table  8 , we can see that across 362 studies with a total of 1479 SEC indicators used, there were only 646 (43.68%) ‘expected’ (i.e., higher SEC predicting better mental health outcomes) results. Conversely, there were 767 (51.86%) non-significant and 66 (4.46%) ‘contrasting’ (i.e., higher SEC predicting worse mental health outcomes) results. Interestingly, this trend was found in both high income, upper-middle and lower-middle income countries, with 48.63% of studies in high income countries, 56.86% in upper-middle and 55.29% in lower-middle income countries finding non-significant results. This trend was also found in low-income countries, with 55.56% of studies in these countries finding non-significant results (please see Table  10 ). However, the number of studies conducted in low-income countries was notably limited and therefore, should be interpreted with caution.

SEC Categories and mental health outcomes

In terms of SEC categories (please refer to Table  2 ), economic concerns as well as financial strain clusters were found to be the most likely predictors of emotional health outcomes. To illustrate, 67.16% of studies reported that economic concerns, such as financial worry [ 57 ], financial security stress [ 58 ], and concerns about future economic scenario [ 59 ] had a significant ‘expected’ relationship with depression/anxiety outcomes. Similarly, 64.13% of studies reported that financial strain, such as economic burden [ 60 ], financial problems [ 61 ], and ability to meet expenses during lockdown [ 62 ] had a significant ‘expected’ relationship with depression/anxiety outcomes.

Conversely, living conditions and education were found to be the least likely to predict emotional health outcomes. 67.12% of studies reported that living conditions such as size of house [ 63 ], area of residence (urban or rural) [ 64 ], and neighborhood overall environment quality level [ 65 ] had no significant relationship with depression/anxiety outcomes. Similarly, 64.11% of studies reported that educational attainment including number of years of education received [ 66 ] and having been to college or not [ 67 ] had no significant relationship with depression/anxiety outcomes.

Static and fluid SEC indicators and emotional health outcomes

From Table  9 , we can see that ‘fluid’ SEC indicators (i.e., measurements that assessed changes in SEC over a period of time) were more likely to predict depression/ anxiety outcomes compared to ‘static’ SEC indicators (i.e., measurements that assessed SEC at a single time-point). To illustrate, 58.59% of studies reported that ‘fluid’ SEC indicators such as loss of employment [ 68 ] and reduced family income [ 69 ] had a significant ‘expected’ relationship with depression/anxiety outcomes, whereas only 39.59% of studies reported the same for ‘static’ SEC indicators such as current employment status [ 70 ] and monthly income [ 71 ].

Actual and perceived SEC indicators and emotional health outcomes

From Table  9 , ‘Perceived’ (i.e., subjectively assessed) SEC indicators were found to be more likely to predict depression/anxiety compared to ‘actual’ (i.e., objectively assessed) SEC indicators. 60.64% of studies reported that ‘perceived’ SEC indicators such as self-reported food insecurity [ 72 ] and SEC assessed by the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status [ 73 ] had a significant ‘expected’ relationship with depression/anxiety outcomes, whereas only 36.04% of studies reported the same for ‘actual’ SEC indicators such as food security measured by Household Food Security Survey Module [ 74 ] and SEC assessed by an asset-based index [ 75 ].

Our comprehensive systematic review has identified a wide-array of studies using heterogeneous indicators to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression throughout Covid-19. Despite the variability in measures, our results revealed general patterns that seem to challenge the widely accepted social gradient in mental health and theory of fundamental causes.

Differences in predictive power of sec indicators

First, we have uncovered that not all SEC indicators were strongly predictive of emotional health symptoms during Covid-19, as majority of studies conducted across the globe reported non-significant relationships between the two variables regardless of country income classification. This contradicts pre-Covid-19 findings reporting moderate-to-strong associations between socioeconomic standing and subjective well-being and/or mental health [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Overall, around 40% of studies aligned with the social gradient in mental health theory, but more than 50% revealed no significant results. However, using economic concerns as a measure of SEC showed that the social gradient theory is still applicable for most studies.

These findings suggest that the relationship between SEC and mental health may vary in accordance to how SEC was assessed and measured. Our findings are corroborated by one pre-pandemic study [ 76 ], which report that self-reported physical health is more intertwined with SEC compared to mental health. This could be due to mental health being more influenced by internal factors such as psychological state or personality, compared to external factors such as SEC.

In the context of Covid-19, lockdown measures may have equalised the risk for mental health conditions as those from higher social classes would have been unable to utilise economic resources to mitigate health concerns and loss of freedom. This is a notion consistent with the theory of fundamental causes described in the introduction section of this review. Indeed, pandemic related stressors may have impacted individuals regardless of socioeconomic class. Uncertainty caused by the pandemic may have been more detrimental to mental health compared to one’s SEC [ 77 ], and difficulty coping with uncertainty is a common trait across various mood and anxiety disorders [ 78 , 79 ].

Reduced access to and availability of mental health services may have also played a role in people of all social classes developing symptoms of anxiety and depression. At the height of the pandemic, countries and health organisations were forced to redirect funding, space, equipment, and facilities towards treating patients experiencing Covid-19 complications. Indeed, a survey by the WHO [ 80 ] found that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide. Moreover, due to social distancing measures, 67% saw disruptions to counselling and psychotherapy appointments, 65% to critical harm reduction services, and 45% to opioid agonist maintenance treatment for opioid dependence. Thus, those with a history of mental health conditions likely experienced worsened symptoms, while those who developed symptoms during the pandemic were unable to access urgent care and treatment, leading to a global mental health crisis transcending SEC.

Economic concerns and financial strain

In our systematic review, the SEC category, ‘economic concerns’, emerged as being most predictive of emotional health during Covid-19, based on percentage of papers reporting significant relationships. Relevant papers revealed that the construct assessed under this category centred around ‘concerns, worries or stress arising from current or future uncertainty about one’s economic position’, although the items can be phased quite differently, e.g., ‘fear of job loss’, ‘financial insecurity’ etc. This construct may be closely linked with worrying, a transdiagnostic construct that has been shown to be robustly predictive of depression and anxiety [ 81 , 82 ], though in this aspect, such worrying is economically-induced.

Defined as the tendency to dwell on uncertainty of future problems or events in an obsessive, repetitive and negative manner [ 83 ], worrying, particularly pathological worrying, is associated with the onset and intensity of mood and anxiety disorders [ 84 , 85 , 86 ]. Constant worrying functions like rumination, which takes up variable cognitive resources, resulting in depleted cognitive functioning abilities that are necessary for daily life [ 87 , 88 , 89 ]. Such cognitive deficits are expected to result in reduced problem-solving abilities, leading to adverse life circumstances, which would consequently affect one’s mental health. As illustrated by allostatic load theory, when cumulative effects of life stressors exceed a person’s buffer to cope or adapt, an allostatic overload occurs which results in poorer physical and mental health [ 90 ].

In conjunction, several studies in our review reported significant links between emotional health and the financial strain cluster, which encompasses one’s ability to pay bills/rent/mortgage, having sufficient funds to retire, as well as one’s perceived financial state, and financial wellbeing. This is consistent with pre-Covid 19 studies reporting that perceived inability to pay bills or afford food is associated with greater anxiety, depression, stress, feelings of isolation, and alcohol dependence [ 91 , 92 , 93 ].

Financial strain may serve as a superior predictor of mental health as it intersects both objective and subjective SEC measures. This means it reflects changes in one’s objective circumstances (e.g., ability to pay bills), while also encompassing subjective measures (e.g., satisfaction with finances) that exerts influence over mental health [ 94 ].

Empirically, decreased objective financial resources was found to be associated with increased financial strain, and in turn, financial strain emerged as a strong and robust predictor of poor mental health in older adults [ 94 ]. Financial strain and economic concerns being perceived measures also likely strengthens their ability to predict mental health since our review has found that perceived indicators are more correlated with anxiety and depression than objective ones. This will be discussed further in the section entitled ‘Perceived and Objective SEC Indicators’.

Fluid and static SEC indicators

Research done prior to Covid-19 has reported that fluid indicators of SEC (e.g., job loss or income loss) are highly predictive of poor mental health outcomes [ 95 , 96 , 97 ]. The inverse has also been observed, wherein income gains (via, for instance, increasing minimum wage) lead to stark improvement in mental health symptoms [ 98 ]. However, to our knowledge, our review is the first to clarify that fluid SEC indicators may be more informative of changes in emotional health compared to static indicators (e.g., current income or occupation) during Covid-19.

A sudden negative change in income or employment would profoundly impact one’s lifestyle; affected individuals would be forced to alter spending habits, cut back on leisure to focus on saving for essential goods, or even resort to drastic measures such as removing their children from school. This period of adjustment can culminate in severe stress. In addition, the shame and stigma associated with job loss or unemployment can also lead to depressive feelings [ 99 ]. By contrast, people who have had consistently low income or have been unemployed pre-pandemic may be more resilient to declines in mental health linked to Covid-19 as they are more accustomed to lifestyles associated with poverty.

Perceived and objective SEC indicators

Next, consistent with prior literature we report that perceived SEC indicators (e.g., measures used for financial strain) correlate more with emotional health outcomes compared to objective indicators. This phenomenon has been observed across continents including in Asia and Europe [ 76 , 100 , 101 ]. Additionally, a current meta-analysis across 357 studies found that subjective SEC corresponded to subjective well-being better than income or educational attainment [ 15 ]. Research also reports that objective SEC only affects mental health via promoting changes in subjective SEC [ 100 ] suggesting that subjective or perceived SEC serves as an important mediating variable.

One potential reason for perceived SEC being a superior predictor of mental health outcomes is that it perhaps serves as a more precise measure of social position. This is because perceived SEC considers not only current social standing, but past contexts and future prospects [ 102 ]. As an example, two individuals with post-graduate qualifications may be considered similar in social standing based on objective measures of SEC. However, if one of them graduated from a less prestigious university, they may rate their subjective SEC as being lower due to future financial and career prospects not being as lucrative.

Another reason is that subjective SEC appears to have more of an influence over physiological stress pathways, as perceiving oneself as financially disadvantaged impacts the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis leading to enhanced production of cortisol [ 103 , 104 , 105 ]. Dysregulated HPA is also observed in clinical depression [ 106 ]. Thus, poor SEC may be elevating mental health symptoms via dysregulating the HPA axis [ 101 ].

Living conditions and education

Lastly, we have observed that living conditions and education level appear weakly predictive of anxiety and depression symptoms. Work published prior to Covid-19 congruently report mixed findings pertaining to these indicators. On one hand, education, particularly parental education, and crowding (an indicator of living condition) is reported to predict children and adolescent mental health outcomes [ 107 , 108 ]. In contrast, other systematic reviews and meta-analysis report that education and neighbourhood living conditions do not strongly predict mental-health and well-being [ 76 , 109 ]. The lack of predictive power may be attributed to these being objective SEC measures which, as highlighted above, do not influence emotional health as strongly as perceived indicators.

The weak link we have observed between education and emotional health may be considered surprising at first as high educational attainment typically leads to lower rates of unemployment and occupations that provide economic resources beneficial to quality of life [ 110 ]. Nevertheless, the association between emotional health and education is unlikely to be linear. Research has instead revealed that at higher levels of educational attainment, additional increases in formal education is decreasingly beneficial for mental health [ 111 ]. For instance, advancing from an undergraduate to a post-graduate qualification is less significant for mental health compared to going from primary to secondary level of education [ 111 ]. Moreover, being overeducated is reported to lead to diminishing mental health, as it is associated with decreased job satisfaction, increased job stress, and greater prevalence of depressive symptoms [ 24 , 111 , 112 , 113 ]. This may, in part, be due to a skills mismatch and overeducated people feeling under-challenged in their careers [ 114 ].

Additionally, it is perhaps difficult to detect a strong effect of living conditions on emotional health due to the studies in our review using extremely varied measures that may not be capturing the same construct or even indeed socioeconomic constructs, including rural versus urban housing, crowding, noise levels, presence of balcony or garden, number of rooms, area of house, etc. Hence, it is difficult to isolate a specific variable that could be most predictive of emotional health within this SEC indicator.

In conclusion, our systematic review revealed that there are differential effects of various classes of SEC indicators in predicting emotional health. Notably, the economic concerns and financial strain clusters emerged as stronger predictors of depression and anxiety. Surprisingly, classic SEC measures, such as education and income, did not exhibit strong predictability during this period. In addition, ‘fluid’ and ‘perceived’ class of SEC indicators have been shown to display better predictive power on depression and anxiety as compared to ‘static’ and ‘actual’. These findings suggest that the strength of the association between SEC and mental health is dependent upon the class of SEC indicator used.

Limitations

While our systematic review has compellingly unveiled how diverse SEC indicators differentially affect emotional health during Covid-19, it is not without limitations. First, because of the heterogeneity in measures, we were unable to conduct a meta-analysis to elucidate whether observed trends in studies show statistical significance. Next, our review only included studies with data collected during the pandemic, and hence we could not compare pre-Covid and post-Covid findings in more detail to truly determine whether Covid-19 has resulted in differences in how SEC indicators are predictive of emotional health symptoms. In addition, since our review has only included articles on depression and/or anxiety as the overall gauge of the emotional health status of the general population, we could have missed out articles that studied on other specific mental health disorders during the pandemic, and we could not rule out the linkages between SEC with these specific mental disorders might be different compared to general emotional health as revealed in our review. Thus, though our review has interrogated an important link between SEC and anxiety/depressive symptoms, we acknowledge that it would be imperative in future work to probe other mental health disorders that were also affected by the pandemic. Also, our review only includes articles that were published in journals or in pre-print servers as of November 11, 2021. Articles published after this date were not included in this review.

Articles included in this review

Availability of data and materials.

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in Supplementary Material 2 and Tables 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 and 10 .

Abbreviations

Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition

Economic-worries

Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal

International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision

Joanna Briggs Institute

Patient Health Questionnaire

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

• Socioeconomic conditions

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

World health organization

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Acknowledgements

AS and AT are supported by a grant from the Malaysian Ministry of higher education (LRGS/1/2019/SYUC/02/1/2). Special thanks go to Dexter Shee, Wang Junyi, Leila Nair for their support during the initial phase of this study by helping out in the title and abstract screening. AT, SV and JY are funded by Sunway scholarship. JKC, XWC, HAH and KT are funded by Monash scholarship.

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JKC conceptualized, designed and initiated the study, searched the databases, conducted the review and analyses, prepared and revised the manuscript. AAM conducted the review and analyses, helped prepare and revise the manuscript. SV, AT, JY conducted the review and analyses, helped prepare the manuscript. XWC, HAH, KT helped in review and analyses. AS helped revise the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Chan, J.K., Marzuki, A.A., Vafa, S. et al. A systematic review on the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and emotional disorder symptoms during Covid-19: unearthing the potential role of economic concerns and financial strain. BMC Psychol 12 , 237 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01715-8

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