Psychology at IPS - An Introduction from Teacher Dom

Welcome to my first post. I will aim to write a post once a week, time permitting. I will also publish links to my Y12 Psychology blogs. My blog will feature mainly psychological concepts but I may occasionally post some personal experiences, so please follow our adventure.

This week my Y12 students had an introduction to Freud's Psychodynamic Theory. It is a theory that has caused considerable debate among academics. Freud almost 'sexualises' concepts from the early years, and I do apologise to my Y12s about this.

They have created a blog on the topic covered this week. In particular, the psychosexual stages and the case study of Little Hans. I also gave them a topic to debate about whether behaviourism or psychodynamic theory provides the best explanation of behaviour. It was interesting to read their responses, and the majority focused on behaviourism due to it's more scientific nature when compared with psychodynamic theory. However, I was also intrigued by one student who suggested that the psychodynamic theory provides a better explanation because it consists of nature AND nurture.


I have advised my students that their blogs should not be 'textbook' notes, but in fact, they are encouraged to include their own opinions/ideas where necessary to demonstrate understanding. It's mainly informal, and for their revision so I only check their blogs regarding content, structure and ideas. They may have exam questions to answer which I will give detailed verbal/written feedback so that they can fix it.
You can read their blogs below:

http://tashapsycheblog.blogspot.com/

http://yasminepsychologyial.blogspot.com/2018/03/yasmine-i.html

https://natnichanickypsychologyial.blogspot.com/

https://isabellepsychologyial.blogspot.com/

I encourage my students to become critical thinkers, and this is one way of achieving the goal. I like this quote from Steven C Reinhart - "A good teacher has changed from 'the one who explains things so well that students understand' to 'one who gets students to explain things so well that they can be understood'.
I use this concept throughout my teaching. An idea that I used with my Y7 English class is to 'explain to an alien'. I will take the role of an alien during class and ask them to explain concepts to this creature in a simple form. This encourages speaking skills and critical thinking, which is of great significance to our international students. This tip was shared with me by a tutor on my PGCE called Sara Davies. I loved this AoL strategy when it was introduced to me and will continue to use it throughout my teaching career.



I hope you follow my students blogs throughout the year as they prepare for their 'Edexcel International A-Level' in Psychology.