Simon Gibbs – författare

Focusing on teaching and learning in educational institutions, Transforming Professional Practice in Education explores the value of enhancing dialogue to improve both professional relationships and practices. Offering a critique of the present state of education, this book focuses on the belief that education should be about being and becoming human, and how everyone implicated in education learns through dialogue with others, and that humans are relational beings who develop and flourish within reciprocal relationships.The authors offer an alternative to reductive and systems-driven procedures by building a case for psychologically robust educational methods. They provide an authoritative and theoretically well-grounded rationale for psychological approaches to professional practice to promote debate about the purposes of education. Rich with practical examples, the chapters discuss the risks of professional isolation, ethics vs morals in education, the nature of relationships in education, and interventions that would ground these ideas in practice.This book is important reading for clinical, educational, and other applied psychologists. It is also of value to those within educational institutions, such as SENDCos and those responsible for the safety of children and young people, who are seeking to develop their understanding of how dialogue enhances professional encounters, and who are looking for alternative ways of engaging with education, which improve mental health and wellbeing.

Focusing on teaching and learning in educational institutions, Transforming Professional Practice in Education explores the value of enhancing dialogue to improve both professional relationships and practices. Offering a critique of the present state of education, this book focuses on the belief that education should be about being and becoming human, and how everyone implicated in education learns through dialogue with others, and that humans are relational beings who develop and flourish within reciprocal relationships.The authors offer an alternative to reductive and systems-driven procedures by building a case for psychologically robust educational methods. They provide an authoritative and theoretically well-grounded rationale for psychological approaches to professional practice to promote debate about the purposes of education. Rich with practical examples, the chapters discuss the risks of professional isolation, ethics vs morals in education, the nature of relationships in education, and interventions that would ground these ideas in practice.This book is important reading for clinical, educational, and other applied psychologists. It is also of value to those within educational institutions, such as SENDCos and those responsible for the safety of children and young people, who are seeking to develop their understanding of how dialogue enhances professional encounters, and who are looking for alternative ways of engaging with education, which improve mental health and wellbeing.

This book brings together for the first time a synthesis of philosophical and psychological material to examine the basis for the professional identity that teachers might believe in, and the effects of misunderstanding and mistreating these beliefs. By critically synthesising findings from a range of sources, the book provides a rationale that argues an essential ingredient of good education is the quality of teachers who have a reaffirmed sense of creativity, autonomy and agency. The book presents a role for educational psychology in informing educational and inclusive processes, filling a longstanding need for a text that delineates the way psychological phenomena underpin education.Beginning by considering notions of ‘self’ and ‘identity’, the book explores the relationship between our identity as defined by ourselves, but also as defined by others in the social and professional groups we may or may not be considered as being part of. It looks critically at how the erosion of the professional identity of teachers has affected education, and considers the morality of ‘othering’ ‘others’ and its damaging effect on teachers and young people. Gibbs reflects on the organisational structure and leadership of schools, the psychology of these institutions, and the barriers that need to be overcome in order to promote greater inclusivity within them.Offering a careful and insightful look at the psychology behind education and teaching, this is an essential read for teacher educators, researchers and academics in the field of education and will appeal to policy makers, teachers and educational psychologists.

This book brings together for the first time a synthesis of philosophical and psychological material to examine the basis for the professional identity that teachers might believe in, and the effects of misunderstanding and mistreating these beliefs. By critically synthesising findings from a range of sources, the book provides a rationale that argues an essential ingredient of good education is the quality of teachers who have a reaffirmed sense of creativity, autonomy and agency. The book presents a role for educational psychology in informing educational and inclusive processes, filling a longstanding need for a text that delineates the way psychological phenomena underpin education.Beginning by considering notions of ‘self’ and ‘identity’, the book explores the relationship between our identity as defined by ourselves, but also as defined by others in the social and professional groups we may or may not be considered as being part of. It looks critically at how the erosion of the professional identity of teachers has affected education, and considers the morality of ‘othering’ ‘others’ and its damaging effect on teachers and young people. Gibbs reflects on the organisational structure and leadership of schools, the psychology of these institutions, and the barriers that need to be overcome in order to promote greater inclusivity within them.Offering a careful and insightful look at the psychology behind education and teaching, this is an essential read for teacher educators, researchers and academics in the field of education and will appeal to policy makers, teachers and educational psychologists.