Agents of Hope

The final episode of the Understanding Voices mini-series with me, Ella Mansfield. In this episode, I talk to Bambi French, a SENDCo, coach and podcaster who takes an activist stance in changing the lives of people with visual impairments, something that she has personal experience of.

Bambi and I discuss the story of her visual impairment and how she has come to want to help people who are newly diagnosed. We discuss how diagnosis has an impact on identity and how her experiences have influenced her practice as a SENDCo.  Finally, we talk about how EPs can work inclusively with schools and find a role in supporting young people with visual impairments.

Bambi French - Bio

Bambi French is wife, mum of one and special needs teacher to many! When she was 15 years old, Bambi was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called Stargardt Disease. Over the years, her level of vision has deteriorated and even though the challenges of sight loss have on many occasions caused her to want to give up, with determination and support from those closest to her she has been able to achieve more than she ever thought would be possible.

Over the last 25 years, her personal and professional experience has taught her that it is possible to live this life well, in spite of the limitations we might be facing. But she also recognises and understands that there are still so many who need the support and encouragement that will help them believe this for themselves.

In response to this need, Bambi is building a coaching practice and is the host of The She is a VIP Podcast, where the central mission is to help visually impaired women and girls embrace all that they are, discover their purpose and make an impact in the lives of others.

WEBSITE
www.sheisavip.com

INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/she_isavip/

FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/sheisavip1

The second episode of the Understanding Voices mini-series with me, Ella Mansfield. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Laura Gray, a Senior Practitioner Educational Psychologist with South Tyneside.

Laura and I discuss how girls with Autism Spectrum Condition slip through the net during their school years, resulting in problems accessing appropriate support. We discuss how the symptomology for girls is different from that of boys with Autism and she tells me about her research exploring the views of parents and SENDCos about how they feel about the support available for girls with ASD in educational settings. We conclude by discussing how EPs can help to support schools to understand how male and female presentations of ASD may differ.

Related reading:

Laura Gray, Ella Bownas, Lucy Hicks, Emma Hutcheson-Galbraith & Sandra Harrison (2021) Towards a better understanding of girls on the Autism spectrum: educational support and parental perspectives, Educational Psychology in Practice, 37:1, 74-93, DOI: 10.1080/02667363.2020.1863188

Cridland, E. K., Jones, S. C., Caputi, P., & Magee, C. A. (2014). Being a girl in a boys’ world: Investigating the experiences of girls with autism spectrum disorders during adolescence. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(6), 1261–1274.

Critchley, S.-J. (2019). Supported teachers supporting girls. In B., Carpenter, F., Happe & J. Egerton (Eds.), Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives (1st ed., pp 164–170). Routledge.

The first episode of the Understanding Voices mini-series with me, Ella Mansfield. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Cora Sargeant, an Educational Psychologist and  Academic and Professional Tutor for the initial EP training programme at the University of Southampton.

Cora and I discuss gender and alternatives to the bimodal system of male and female identities. She discusses her personal gender journey as a transgender woman and talks about how her experiences influence her practice as an Educational Psychologist. We discuss what gender is and how it can be defined. Cora highlights the societal barriers that non-binary and transgender people face and we talk about how these may arise within educational settings. We conclude by discussing how EPs and other professionals working with children and young people can challenge the status quo and improve the experiences of all children through inclusive practice.

Related reading:

Bragg, S., Renold, E., Ringrose, J., & Jackson, C. (2018). ‘More than boy, girl, male, female’: Exploring young people’s views on gender diversity within and beyond school contexts. Sex Education, 18(4), 420–434. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2018.1439373

Fast, Anne & Olson, Kristina. (2017). Gender Development in Transgender Preschool Children. Child Development. 89. 10.1111/cdev.12758. (https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cdev.12758)

Gülgöz, S., Glazier, J., Enright, E., Alonso, D., Durwood, L., Fast, A., Lowe, R., Ji, G., Heer, J., Martin, C., & Olson, K. (2019). Similarity in transgender and cisgender children’s gender development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116. 201909367. 10.1073/pnas.1909367116.

Hyde, J. S., Bigler, R. S., Joel, D., Tate, C. C., & van Anders, S. M. (2019). The future of sex and gender in psychology: Five challenges to the gender binary. American Psychologist, 74(2), 171–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000307

Martin, C. L., Andrews, N. C., England, D. E., Zosuls, K., & Ruble, D. N (2017).  A dual identity approach for conceptualizing and measuring children’s gender identity. Child Dev. 88, 167–182.  doi: 10.1111/cdev.12568.

Meyer-Bahlburg, H., Dolezal, C., Baker, S., Carlson, A., Obeid, J., & New, M (2004) Prenatal androgenization affects gender-related behavior but not gender identity in 5-12-year-old girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Arch. Sex. Behav. 33, 97–104. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8560291_Prenatal_Androgenization_Affects_Gender-Related_Behavior_But_Not_Gender_Identity_in_5-12-Year-Old_Girls_with_Congenital_Adrenal_Hyperplasia)

Olson, K. R., Key, A. C., & Eaton, N. R. (2015). Gender cognition in transgender children. Psychological Science, 26(4), 467–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614568156

Rae, J. R., Gülgöz, S., Durwood, L., DeMeules, M., Lowe, R., Lindquist, G., & Olson, K. R. (2019). Predicting early-childhood gender transitions. Psychological Science, 30(5), 669–681. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619830649

Read, J., Sargeant, C., & Wright, S. (2020). What beliefs influence children and young people’s attitudes towards the transgender population? Educational and Child Psychology, 37(1), 11–36.

Russell, S. T., Pollitt, A. M., Li, G., & Grossman, A. H. (2018). Chosen name use is linked to reduced depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior among transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(4), 503–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.02.003

Vasey, P.L., & Bartlett, N.H. (2007). What Can the Samoan "Fa'afafine" Teach Us about the Western Concept of Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 50(4), 481-490. doi:10.1353/pbm.2007.0056. 

A special introduction to something new for the Agents of Hope podcast! 

Ella Mansfield is a second-year Trainee Educational Psychologist at Birmingham University and she'll be hosting a mini-series called "Understanding Voices" on the Agents of Hope platform.

Understanding Voices follows the usual Agents of Hope format but takes a closer look at the theme of anti-discriminatory practice. This is with the hope that through understanding the experiences of children and young people we are able to improve inclusive practice in schools.

Is there anyone you would like to interview? Would you like a platform to raise awareness about a particular topic in educational psychology? If you're interested in getting involved with Agents of Hope, please contact Tim on Twitter (@timceducation) or via email ([email protected]).

Patrick's twitter:

@psybrief

Open Science Resources:

 https://t.co/2axxDFVmg1
https://t.co/QMT3Hd3IgI
https://t.co/KGEwEfoPfi
https://t.co/lcgi3X18l4
https://t.co/3uv9HhAExk
 https://t.co/DwcPeswZbk

Series 2 Episode 6 

Sponsored by Bethan Elisa Proofreading (@bethanelisa) and Handmade Home by Ruby (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HandmadeHomeByRuby)

In this episode, I talk to Hilary Hickmore,  an Educational Psychologist who has spent her career in a large variety of roles with her unique approach to helping systems understand and respond to the needs of children, who are, sometimes at risk of exclusion. 

Hilary and I discuss her psychology career which spans the last 30 years since she trained in Southampton in the early 90s.  Hilary has worked in many interesting ways to make systems more inclusive and help educators to have hope even when it feels like they are in the last chance saloon.  We discuss the pervasive and sustained nature of this challenge in Educational Psychology and education in general. 

Hilary and I then explore her CRRES model. In preparation for this we worked through a CRRES activity in preparation for this episode. You can see that activity here:

https://ko-fi.com/post/Example-of-Using-the-CRRES-Model-in-Action--Episo-G2G347VSK 

In doing this we talk about what is meant by therapeutic assessment and how it felt to work through this sort of activity to help me talk about my state of mind, in a way that wouldn't usually.  We discuss applications in day to day EP practice and how people can find out more about this approach. 

References 

Hickmore, H. (2000). Using art and play in assessment and intervention for troubled children in Barwick, N. (Ed). Clinical counselling in schools (pp108-123). London: Routledge. 108 - 123

Oaklander, V. (1988).  Windows to our children. New York: Gestalt Journal Press

Sunderland, M. and Engelheart, P. (2015).  Draw on your emotions.  London: Speechmark 

Series 2 Episode 5

Sponsored by Bethan Elisa Proofreading (@bethanelisa) and Handmade Home by Ruby (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HandmadeHomeByRuby)

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Chris Bagley,  an Educational Psychologist who works in South Gloucestershire and with the charity State of Mind. 

Chris and I discuss his journey in psychology from coaching young cricketers to supply teaching and finally to training to be an Educational Psychologist. Chris discusses the restrictive nature of the English Education System and the effects he has found it has had on young people. We talk about the Participatory Action Research that he has carried out with the London Based Charity, State of Mind, who recently featured as keynote speakers at the 2021 DECP conference. We then discuss what it means to challenge the status quo and what that means for the role of the EP.  We discuss educational systems in Italy, Portugal, and Finland that are able to take different approaches to the English system to address the needs, wants, and consent of the young people that they serve.  We conclude by discussing what EPs, TEPs, and Educational Professionals can do to challenge the status quo and work with communities to transformative ends. 

Ainscow, M. (2020) “Promoting inclusion and equity in education: lessons from international experiences”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20020317.2020.1729587

Bagley, C. (2015) “Managed moves: school and local authority staff perceptions of processes, success and challenges” 
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281753786_Managed_moves_school_and_local_authority_staff_perceptions_of_processes_success_and_challenges

Bagley, C. (2021) “Alternative Education Provision: An Exclusive English Myth”
https://bylinetimes.com/2021/02/17/alternative-education-provision-an-exclusive-english-myth/

Bagley, C. (2020) “Stop discarding troubled students who don't perform - it's destroying children's lives”
https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/voices/schools-academies-students-children-ofsted-education-a9340741.html

Finland: Sabel et al (2011) “Individualized Service Provision in the New Welfare State Lessons from Special Education in Finland”
https://pasisahlberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Special-Education-in-Finland-2011.pdf

Italy: Demo, H. (2020) “Inclusive education in Italy: Historical steps, positive developments, and challenges”
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11125-020-09509-7

Portugal: Alves, I. (2019) “International inspiration and national aspirations: inclusive education in Portugal”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603116.2019.1624846

States of Mind:
Breaking the Silence phase 1 - “‘We're not learning, we're memorising’: Read London students' powerful open letter to Ofsted”
https://www.statesofmind.org/journal/2020/09/16/students-ofsted-open-letter.html
Breaking the Silence phase 2 - Student-led research written by Jaspar Khawaja (Trainee EP - Institute of Education, UCL), co-analysed with young people
Quantitative data analysis - “The impact of school on young people's mental health: a UCL doctoral student shares his findings”
https://www.statesofmind.org/journal/2020/11/04/the-impact-of-school-on-students-mental-health.html

Qualitative data analysis - “Schools are prioritising academic achievement over wellbeing and growth. Young people want to know why”
https://www.statesofmind.org/journal/2020/11/04/academic-over-wellbeing-young-people.html

Breaking the silence phase 3 - “What would an education inspection look like if students did the inspecting? We're finding out”
https://www.statesofmind.org/journal/2020/11/18/education-inspection-students.html
 

Sponsored by Bethan Elisa Proofreading (@bethanelisa) and Handmade Home by Ruby (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HandmadeHomeByRuby).  You can get 10% off at Ruby's shop by quoting AGENTS10 when paying.

In this episode, I talk to Ella,  a second-year Trainee Educational Psychologist at Birmingham University who is about to embark on her doctoral thesis research. That research will explore a feminist perspective on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.   

Ella and I discuss her experiences of having and being diagnosed with ADHD whilst at University. We discuss the nature of the role of research in informing perceptions of the condition and how Ella feels her activist stance can help to challenge stereotypes of ADHD and enrich the understanding of the experience in girls.

Stenner, P., O'Dell, L., & Davies, A. (2019). Adult women and ADHD: on the temporal dimensions of ADHD identities. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 49(2), 179-197.

Frondelius, I. A., Ranjbar, V., & Danielsson, L. (2019). Adolescents’ experiences of being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a phenomenological study conducted in Sweden. BMJ open, 9(8), e031570. 

Series 2 Episode 2

Sponsored by Bethan Elisa Proofreading (@bethanelisa) and Handmade Home by Ruby (https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HandmadeHomeByRuby)

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Nicola Canale,  an Educational Psychologist who works in South Wales to promote the healthy development of children in their first 1000 days of life using a dyadic and psychology-informed approach.

Nicola and I discuss her journey in psychology which has informed her current innovative approach to practice, including reflecting on her role in inspiring me to pursue a career in Educational Psychology.  We discuss the needs of children in their first days and the psychology which EPs can apply to help parents understand and respond to these needs via a multiagency approach.  . We consider how the approach can be applied by Educational Psychologists should the opportunity arise.

Resources
·         A link to some useful, psychology informed, information created for parents with young children by Educational Psychologists in Cardiff Parenting (scroll to the bottom of the page to access):

https://www.cardifffamilies.co.uk/cardiff-parenting-0-18

·         A link to the Association for Infant Mental Health

https://aimh.uk/

·         A link to the Parent Infant Foundation

https://parentinfantfoundation.org.uk/