Deputy Programme Leader, MEd SEND and Inclusion, Education Psychologist
Jane is a distinguished academic and teacher with over 30 years’ experience as a class teacher, SENCo and Educational Psychologist in nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.
Jane now works in independent practice, after doing Local Authority EP work for nearly 30 years. Jane was an Academic and Professional Tutor for the Professional Training course in Educational Psychology at the University of Birmingham and retains links with this course as an Honorary Clinical Lecturer.
Throughout her career, her research and professional interests have focused on the effective application of psychology in the training and development of teachers and teaching assistants.
Her particular interests and areas of expertise are: promoting the use of cognitive thinking skills (Dynamic Assessment is a particular area of expertise and interest), supporting failing readers (she is the co-author of the ENABLE-Plus programme for failing readers) and early reading development.
She has written widely on the application of psychology across a range of contexts including pupils who are excluded from school, psychology for teaching assistants, executive function and promoting thinking skills in the early years.
A short Q&A with Jane
Q: Why study Enquiry-based practice?
This course offers a rare opportunity for learners to follow up on a topic and area that they are interested in which is related to their professional practice and can also be carried out in concentration with their colleagues.
Q: What can someone who has taken this course offer?
Someone who has taken this course will be able to design and implement practitioner research that has direct relevance to their organisation. Delegates create an action plan from the research project that will give continued benefit after the project has been completed. You will learn how to read and critique evidence from research and become more aware of the importance of using evidence-based practice. Finally, there’s also the opportunity to publish in a peer-reviewed journal.
Q: How does the Real Training learning experience differ?
What Real Training does so well, is the distance learning element. It’s academic, rigorous, friendly, and the student is at the centre. The student experience on these modules is second to none. It shows that you can develop practical skills by distance learning. That it’s not just about book learning and doing exercises online… this is tremendously empowering for students.
Publications:
Arnold, C, Yeomans, J, and Simpson, S, (2024) Excluded from School: Complex discourses and psychological perspectives. Second Edition. Birmingham: Teaching Times
Arnold, C and Yeomans, J (2024) Psychology for Teaching Assistants. Third Edition. Birmingham: Teaching Times
Fraser-Andrews, C. and Yeomans, J. (2023) Imagining Inclusive Education through Systemic Compassion. Cambridge Educational Research e-Journal, 10, 204-220. (this article’s main author is a former Enquiry delegate and the article is about her research carried out for this module)