BERA Opportunity
Opportunity to help address the challenging histories of UK education’s past
BERA is supporting the British Psychological Society (BPS) in creating a pilot teaching resource for secondary school students on the history of IQ testing in the UK education system. The resource will use IQ tests from the BPS archive to facilitate interactive sessions within schools to bring these stories to life for students. The project is being made possible with funding from the Academy of Social Sciences under their EDI fund.
The resource will explore how and why IQ testing led to many children of Black Caribbean descent being incorrectly sent to schools for the ‘Educational Subnormal’ (ESN schools) during the 1960s-1970s, and its detrimental legacy. This topic would fit into the UK curriculum as part of citizenship and/or PSHE, when looking at how education has changed over time or about educational inequality. It would also fit into KS3 and KS4 history curriculum, as well as Psychology GCSE.
The BPS and BERA are forming an expert panel of historians, psychologists and educational experts to develop the resource and add valuable insights. As part of BERA’s contribution, we are looking for two individuals with teaching and education backgrounds, with a good knowledge of the National secondary curriculum in England. The roles will be to advise on delivering the content and ensuring the content is accessible for students with varying abilities.
The roles will not require a large time commitment, with the main bulk taking place during February to May 2024. We are aiming to hold the first interactive session in July 2024, with two more taking place in September/October 2024.
If successful, BPS plan to develop the resource digitally to be available on their website and then build a series of educational resources on various challenging aspects of psychology’s history e.g., the treatment and experience of the LGBT+ community and individuals with intellectual disabilities.
If you have any questions, please contact Nick Johnson on director@bera.ac.uk
The deadline to express an interest is Friday 2nd February 2024
To express an interest please click here or click “Apply Now” at the top of the page. You will be asked to upload a personal statement (upto one page) explaining why you would be a good fit, including your background and experience in the area would make you suitable.