Learning to Teach Psychology in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience

Teaching psychology means helping students do more than remember theories and studies: they need opportunities to question evidence, understand research and apply psychological ideas. Learning to Teach Psychology in the Secondary School brings those subject-specific challenges into focus, connecting educational theory with the decisions teachers make in the classroom.

Edited by Deborah Gajic and Jock McGinty, this book is written for trainee teachers and those new to teaching psychology. Its chapters move from the role of psychology in schools and the foundations of becoming a psychology teacher to practical approaches for teaching the subject and supporting student learning.

Make psychology teaching informed by psychology

The book explores how ideas such as cognitive load, retrieval practice, spaced practice, elaboration and dual coding can inform the teaching of psychology itself. It also considers teaching across cognitive, social, developmental, biological and individual-differences areas, linking subject knowledge with the work of explaining and teaching distinct areas of the discipline.

Bring research, ethics and critical thinking into the classroom

Research methods receive dedicated attention, including experimental and non-experimental approaches and inferential statistics. Other chapters address research ethics in psychology teaching and ways to develop students’ evaluation, analysis and application skills. Together, these topics give aspiring teachers a subject-focused basis for planning lessons that engage students with how psychological knowledge is developed and assessed.

Support learning beyond the lesson plan

Assessment, meaningful feedback, inclusion, technology and the development of psychologically literate students are also among the book’s themes. Practical tasks, key-point summaries and material designed to connect reflection with classroom practice help readers consider not only what to teach, but how to respond to students’ learning.

For trainee and developing psychology teachers

With its combination of subject knowledge, teaching approaches and professional reflection, this volume is aimed especially at people preparing to teach psychology in secondary schools and educators who are new to the subject. It offers a grounded companion for thinking through the particular demands and possibilities of psychology education.