http://www.wcupa.edu/_ACADEMICS/sch_cas.psy/Career_Paths/Educational/Career04.

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Careers in Educational Psychology

Quick Links to Subsections on this Page

Introduction Education

Brief History Employment

Important Terms Learning More

Subfields Outlook

A Typical Day Summary

Pros and Cons Acknowledgments

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Introduction

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY focuses on the study of learning outcomes, student

attributes, and instructional processes directly related to the classroom and the school,
such as amount of instructional time or individual differences in school learning. An
educational psychologist helps gather information for teachers and parents when students
have academic or behavioral problems. They assist by evaluating students' thinking
abilities and assessing individual strengths and weaknesses. Together, the parents,
teachers, and educational psychologist formulate plans to help students learn more
effectively. Educational psychologists work mostly in elementary and secondary school
classrooms. They also may work in other settings such as colleges, consulting
organizations, corporations, industry, the military, and religious institutions.

Other career tracks within educational psychology include being a school psychologist or
a school counselor. A school psychologist works with students, teachers, parents, and
administrators to resolve students' learning and behavior problems. They evaluate the
effectiveness of academic programs, behavior management procedures, and other
services provided in school setting. School counselors help people to accommodate to
change or to make changes in their lifestyle. They use techniques such as interviewing
and testing to advise people how to deal with problems of everyday living. They work in
places like university counseling centers, hospitals, high schools, and individual or group
practices.
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A Brief History

Around 400 B.C., Aristotle and Plato considered many of the questions that still concern
educational psychologists and teachers: How do students learn? What are the purposes of
education? How much does home environment influence learning? Should different
students be educated differently? How much can instruction influence moral, physical
,and emotional development?

The debate over the relative influences of heredity and environment still concerns
educational psychologists today as it did in earlier times. Rene Descartes believed that
knowledge was derived from the ideas with which people were born, rather than
experience. Englishman John Locke had a dramatically different position, stating that
children begin life as a tabla rasa or blank slate, and all learning results from experience.

In the late 1800's, the formal study of psychology began in the U. S. Not all educators of
the day exactly welcomed the idea of psychology being linked to education and teaching.
William James, who is considered a central figure in the development of educational
psychology, is famous for his lecture series "Talk to Teachers About Psychology." One of
his students, G. Stanley Hall, wrote books about children and started the journal
Pedagogical Seminary and also developed child study courses for teachers. John Dewey,
who was a student of Hall's, is known for his philosophy of education. He is considered
to be the father of the progressive education movement in the United States.

E. L. Thorndike wrote the first educational psychology textbook in 1903. He was

responsible for shifting the study of educational issues into the laboratory from the
classroom. Thorndike developed popular methods for assessing students' skills and
teaching. At the same time in France, Alfred Binet and his associate Theopile Simon were
developing a test to measure general intelligence. It was brought to the U.S. and revised
by Lewis Terman at Stanford University and became the Stanford-Binet test. In Binet's
laboratory, in 1920, Jean Piaget did work focused on what kind of errors children made as
they completed mental tasks. He came up with a model of cognitive development which
stated that children go through a series of stages and develop the cognitive abilities to
solve increasingly difficult problems. At the same time in the Unites States, B. F. Skinner
concentrated on studying the effects of experience on overt behavior. He believed that
behavior was shaped as a function of two sets of factors: stimuli that precede it and
stimuli that follow it. His approach has been applied extensively to education.

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Important Terms and Definitions

Some Important Terms in Educational Psychology

Aptitude A combination of characteristics, whether native or

acquired, that are indicative of an individual's ability
to learn or to develop proficiency in some particular
area if appropriate education or training is provided.
Cooperative Working in small groups to complete goals and
Learning produce products interdependently.Two forms of it
are jigsaw and scripted cooperation.
Educational Focuses only on the intellectual functioning of
Evaluations individuals, with limited forays into areas that may
impact the educational requirements of the person.
Curriculum A course of study, especially the whole body of
courses offered in a school or university or in one of
its departments.
IQ A number denoting the intelligence of a person. It is
obtained by dividing mental age by chronological
age.

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Some Interesting Subfields

If one were interested in pursuing an educational psychology career in a school setting,

below would be some informative areas to look into further:

Some Interesting Subfields Within Educational Psychology

Counseling Look here if you may possibly be interested in a

career as a counselor. It has links to some graduate
programs and places to get more information about
school counseling.
Discusses the behavioral, cognitive and constructivist
Approaches to
approaches to learning. Tells what each approach has
Learning
contributed to the field of education.
Learning Tells you about seven perceptual learning styles and
Styles the characteristics a person may possess for each
category. Also has some interesting links about other
learning styles and how a teacher can effectively use
them.
Effective Has interesting information pertaining to how
Teachers teachers' attitudes can affect the way they teach and
treat their students.

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A Typical Day Practicing Educational Psychology

An educational psychologist's day can surely never get boring or repetitive. Working in a
school setting, the days usually begin around 7:30 a.m. The work day consists of
meetings with faculty, students, administrators, and parents. One minute they could be
talking to a student, giving them advice about problems they may be having with classes.
Then they could be discussing curriculum changes with faculty and administrators in
order to tailor the curriculum to students' needs. Their day typically should end at the end
of the school day, but if they were interrupted frequently throughout the day, they may
have to stay to do paperwork or go to more meetings. Some educational psychologists
may operate private practices in the evenings.

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Pros and Cons of a Career in Educational Psychology

There are both potentially rewarding and frustrating aspects to work in Educational
Psychology that need to be carefully considered before pursuing a career in this field:

Some Potential Attractions of Careers in Educational Psychology

Usually If you like to have your evenings free for personal

Daytime time or family, usually working in a school would
Hours require daytime hours.
Make Own If you have your own practice or work
Hours independently, you can have flexibility with what
hours you choose to worky.
Summers Off Working in a school setting usually allows for
summers off..
Helping It is rewarding to see how you may help someone
Others change and make his/her life better.
Team Working together with teachers, parents, and
Environment students in order to make plans that can be
beneficial to all parties concerned.

Some Potential Drawbacks of Careers in Educational Psychology

 High Stress It can be frustrating to help others who may not
Levels want to be helped. Many educational psycholgists
encounter substantial conflict with teachers, parents,
or administrators.
Tight One may have to deal with a large number of tasks
Schedules and meetings that need to be attended to in any one
day.
Intense In order to make decent money, you may need a
Schooling doctorate degree, but you can still be a school
psychologist at the master's level.
Evening Having your own practice, you may have to have
Hours evening hours to accommodate patients or if you
have a practice other than a day job.
Daily Routine Emergencies may come up throughout a day that an
Interruptions educational psychologist needs to attend to
immediately.

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Education and Training for Careers in Educational Psychology

NEEDED SKILLS, ABILITIES, and KNOWLEDGE: Educational psychologists

require skills in evaluating needs, analyzing behavior in children, counseling, research,
report writing, and written and oral communication skills. They also need to have a good
decision-making ability and highly developed people skills. Additionally, they need to
have knowledge about child development, behavioral change, individual education
programming, counseling ,and assessment techniques. Some personal qualities they
should possess include patience, concern for others, and an ability to inspire confidence
in clients. They should also be able to work well under pressure and keep information
private. It is also important that they are observant, emotionally stable, mature, and able
to deal with effectively with others.

OPTIONS AND PAY RANGES WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE: Bachelor's

degree holders can expect very few opportunities directly related to psychology,
according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook (Bureau of Labor Statistics). You may
find jobs as assistants in rehabilitation centers or in other jobs involving data collection
and analysis. Those who meet state certification requirements may become high school
psychology teachers. In an entry-level position with the federal government, starting
salaries as a psychologist with a bachelor's degree was about $19,500 a year (1999 data);
with superior academic records you could start ar around $24,200 a year.
OPTIONS AND PAY RANGES WITH A MASTER'S DEGREE: People with master's
degrees can administer tests as psychological assistants. Under the supervision of a
doctoral level psychologist, they can administer psychological evaluations, counsel
patients, or perform administrative duties. They may also teach in high schools or two
year colleges or work as a school psychologist or counselor. School psychologist's
usually need a one year internship after receiving their master's degree. Vocational and
guidance counselors usually need two years of graduate work in counseling and one year
counseling experience. The median salary of a school psychologist is $60,000 a year
(1999 data). In counseling psychology the median is $38,000 a year.

Some Terminal Master's Degree Programs for Pursuing a Career

in Educational Psychology

Graduate Includes the Department of Education and the

School of Department of Information Studies, which together
Education at embody the school's commitment to understand and
University of improve educational practice, information policy,
California-LA and information systems in a diverse society.
Department of Eastern offers a Master's in Science in School
Psychology at Psychology and a Master in Arts in Educational
Eastern Counseling with a choice of concentrations in
College Elementary Counseling and Secondary Counseling.
Department of The focus of the this program is upon expanding
Educational knowledge in education and psychology and forging
Psychology at a link between these areas.
Rutgers
University
Psychology This program spans the School of Education and the
Department at Psychology Departments at Haverford College and
Haverford Bryn Mawr College.
College

OPTIONS AND PAY RANGES WITH A DOCTORAL DEGREE: A doctoral degree

is required to be a licensed counseling psychologist and usually requires five to seven
years of graduate study. Psychologist swith a Ph.D. qualify for a wide range of teaching
and counseling positions in universities, elementary ,and secondary schools, private
industry, and government. The median 1999 salary for a psychologist with a doctoral
degree in counseling psychology is $55,000 a year and $59,000 a year in school
psychology.

Some Doctoral Degree Programs for Pursuing a Career in

Educational Psychology
 School of This interdisciplinary doctoral training program
Education and encourages students to combine research and
Department of practice on significant issues in education and in
Psychology at psychology. Graduates are trained for teaching and
University of research careers in academic and non-academic
Michigan positions.
School of NYU offers a doctoral program in several areas of
Education at applied psychology, including counseling and
New York guidance, counseling psychology, educational
University psychology and school psychology.
College of This program stresses the application of
Education at psychological knowledge from a variety of
the University theoretical orientations to address educational and
of Maryland mental health issues of students and schools.

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Employment Resources for Educational Psychology

The Internet is the most accessible and informative way to find jobs in educational
psychology. Some positions may also be listed in your local newspaper such as The
Philadelphia Inquirer.

Some Resources for Exploring Careers and Career Prospects in

Educational Psychology

Psyc Careers Has lots of useful information and links pertaining

to graduate schools and careers in psychology.
Academic Allows one to do a job search using specific titles,
Position browse the APN job postings, and apply for
Network positions online.
 Online Has job listings for all areas of psychology, provides
Psychology career tips, and has information regarding student
Career Center aid and internships.
Chronicle of Gives advice for job seekers, has almost 1,000 job
Higher listings, and has news about the current job markets.
Education

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Learning More About Educational Psychology

Again, the Internet would be the most helpful and easily accessible way to learn more
about the field of educational psychology. Talking to someone in the field or holding a
position that you would be interested in would also be an informative way to learn more.

Some General Resources for Learning More about Educational

Psychology

Encyclopedia Has abundant nformation regarding getting a job in

of Psychology psychology, research careers, grad schools,
doctorate programs, accreditation, and career
outlooks
Psychology Has links for just about every aspect of psychology,
Online grad schools, career centers, research areas, and
Resource specialization areas. Good for students,
Central professionals, and teachers.
Psych Web Contains resources on books in psychology, careers
in psychology, psychology departments on the web,
psychology journals, and tips for psychology
majors.
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Outlook

People with doctorates in applied areas such as school, counseling and educational
psychology should have particularly good prospects compared to other specializations in
psychology. Graduates of master's degree programs in school psychology should have the
best job prospects, as schools are expected to increase student counseling and mental
health services. Bachelor's degree holders can expect very few opportunities directly
related to psychology.

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Summary

The field of educational psychology can offer a wide variety of career paths. If you are
someone who especially likes to work with others, specifically by giving guidance to
adolescents and young adults, this could be a rewarding career. It could take some time to
get to the position that you want because almost all jobs will require a master's or
doctorate degree. Educational psychology will probably tend to be an expanding field,
with the need for more staff at overcrowded schools and the need to deal with the
extreme problems that some children faced today.

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Acknowledgments

This web page was created by Colleen McLenaghan as a project for Senior Seminar in
Psychology class taught by Dr. Arvid Bloom at West Chester University in Spring 2000. I
am grateful for the assistance of Janette Kuhlberg and Chris Pardini.

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Some Resources for Exploring Careers and Career Prospects in

 Educational Psychology

Psyc Careers Has lots of useful information and links pertaining to

graduate schools and careers in psychology.
Academic Allows one to do a job search using specific titles,
Position browse the APN job postings, and apply for positions
Network online.
Online Has job listings for all areas of psychology, provides
Psychology career tips, and has information regarding student aid
Career and internships.
Center
Chronicle of Gives advice for job seekers, has almost 1,000 job
Higher listings, and has news about the current job markets.
Education

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