Psychology and Education

The importance of psychology for education is a well established. One of the first psychometric questionnaires, the Binet test, was devised to assess children’s educational needs and today educational psychologists play an important role in supporting children’s learning. A number of subjects within psychology have direct relevance to education such as child development, the role of the family, the development of language and reading skills and the challenges of developmental disorders such as those on the autistic spectrum. For students studying a joint degree in psychology and education other areas of interest will be found in aspects of genetics, social and gender identity and the influences of intelligence and personality on educational engagement and attainment. The wide range of research methods used by psychologists have direct application to education with both disciplines interested in questions such as how best to teach reading, whether single sex schools provide advantages in learning and the role that education can play in promoting "healthy lifestyles".