Educational Psych Doctorate, just how competitive

I`m starting a Ph.D. in Education and will be taking night classes to gain BPS registration 'on the side' (tough, I know). I am interested in qualifying as an educational psychologist after gaining registration, but are their any hard statistics as to how competitive entry is to DEdPsych courses. I know Clinical Psychology doctorates have an acceptance rate of some 28%.
I can`t find any info online.. So if anybody knows what the deal is, I would be dying to know what I`m up against !

Reply 1

The Boosh

Hey! I too im doing a phd in (special) education with a studentship - which uni u at?. Given that the DEdPsych has only started running in 2006 i dont think any stats will be that helpful, but i have no doubt that its going to be competitive since they now pay you, and since you dont have to be a qualified teacher anymore. have you read the requirements? they require 18 months - 2 yearss experienc of working with children in an educational or psychological context (which you would have achieved after the 3 year phd). check out the link below about the DEdPsych courses - ive posted a link to UCL which was the most explicit uni website i could find regarding course content, requirements etc. UCL is probably the best uni offering the professional doctorate too (oxbridge and other london big unis dont do it).

Reply 2

Ian Pearce

I`m taking a Ph.D. at Paisley writing a dissertation on virtue epistemology and teacher training , will also be analysing some policies concerning teacher training such as the use of induction years vis-a-vis 'skills' training and particularly the Scottish 'Chartered Teacher Programme'.
Will also be taking an conversion MSc at Glasgow to gain BPS Registration.. well have spent four years as a teacher also counting my training year as part of my Dutch pgce. So experience shouldn`t be an issue lol.
Wonder if having a Ph.D. helps.
And of course I`m a bloke so I qualify for affirmative action lol.

Reply 3

The Boosh

i assume having a phd helps - most the ucl lecturers seem to have phds then have done professional doctorates, some of the oxford lecturers have done the same for the dclinpsych options. ive not done a conversion course because i dont liek the idea of paying for a 3rd masters or going to a pants uni to get one and taking a year out. i also dont know what im doing post phd, i might apply to some special ed. department in australia or america- something i wont have to think about properly for another year or so anyway.

whos your supervisor?

Reply 4

Ian Pearce

"a pants uni" lol
I`m on a studentship as well.. I`m going to have to take the conversion master in the three years I have as well for much the same reason, can`t afford to take another year out. 60-hour weeks, here I come!
I`m very interested to keep working in education but don`t really believe I`m cut out to be a teacher, at least not GCSE level (chimps with pens if u ask me) and thought my module in ed psych which I sat as part of my pgce course was very interesting !

Reply 5

The Boosh

dont blame you - i did an early years pgce and loved working with the kids but felt the job was not for me - i dont mind working hard when things have a purpose but i hated the system and felt much of the things being taught were meaningless. the ed psych course is tempting because its another doctorate and you get paid for it, but im not sure i can adhere to the worldview of psychologists so easily since ive spent the last 4-5 years working in/studying special and inclusive education which s is rather resistant to notions of putting children in boxes and causal ontologies. BUT, having said that - id love to work and live in london, and the elitest, show-off streak in me would like 2 doctorates on my cv!! And I also respect psychology a lot, even though i dont like hows its applied in education.

Reply 6

The Boosh

can i ask...why are you not thinking about going for lecturing posts or research fellowships?

Reply 7

Ian Pearce

That is an other thing I`m considering, I`m just paranoid about broadening myself , and I don`t think sporting an MSc in Psych from one of the UK's top uni's hurts either way (esp. as my Ph.D. will be from an ehr.. somewhat more recent uni :-| , oh well at least they foot the bill.)
Having studied the standard ed psych orthodoxies ( Piaget / Vygotsky etc. ) I`m very aware of its limitations as a field of study, esp. where it comes to concocting 'recipes' for teaching / learning (usually comes across as a bit artificial imho). Maybe with my background in philosophy I can ruffle things up a bit in the ed. psych. field ; would be fun.

I recognize the elitist streak ; I`m not a stranger to it myself!