The 30th edition of this journal marks a significant milestone in The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist. It is no mean feat, and many journals do not survive this long, or change their focus, or are much younger than the venerable AEDP. This longevity is due in no small measure to the professionalism and hard work of the various journal editors over the past 30 years. As we move forward with the partnership with Cambridge University Press, we are now listed with several key indices (e.g., SCOPUS and PsycINFO) and are currently undergoing assessment with Thomson Reuters for an impact factor. These are markers of quality and it is essential that the journal embarks on these strategies so as to ensure the future of the journal itself, as well as making it a more appealing submission prospect for high quality Australian and international authors.
Educational and Developmental Psychology, as a College within the APS and as a profession, is certainly facing ongoing challenges in promoting its distinctiveness within the field to the wider psychology profession and beyond. The ongoing saga with differentiated Medicare payments (Australian Health Service refund to clients using the service of a psychologist) for Clinical Psychologists compared to every other college in the APS is still massively problematic. This has not been adequately addressed by the APS, and to separate one group above any other group of specialist psychologists is bizarrely elitist and flawed. Notwithstanding that the APS is not the decision-maker in this case, it could be argued that any attempt to address this disparity with Medicare has been somewhat weak, and a stronger and continuing address of this issue by the APS would be welcomed in the future. The public perception as to the quality of a provider has to be influenced by a psychologist, who is, in effect, paid more by Medicare for providing the same service.
From the training course provider's point of view there are now fewer educational and developmental training courses available across Australia and they only currently exist in the states of Victoria and Queensland. In Australia there is now a glut of clinical psychology programs in many (or most) universities, but whether the quality can be maintained in such a diffuse environment would be open to debate. As it stands, the Educational and Developmental courses in the four universities offering programs are very much over-subscribed and continue to be popular with aspiring students. It is somewhat ironic that these courses are now only offered in a handful of universities, therefore ensuring a concentration of quality staff and specialist training aligning with the values and objectives of this College. Fewer courses may imply that it is harder to gain membership of the College of Educational and Developmental Psychologists, and as a result this may become a more sought-after qualification due to the unique specialism that is on offer.
In this issue, we have several respected authors in the field of educational psychology discussing various aspects of practice as we consider how the profession may need to evolve to meet service demands in the future. This issue has four articles that were submitted under the theme of Educational Psychology: Looking to the Future, as well as an invited commentary article. In respect of the latter, Gilmore, Fletcher and Hudson provide a detailed analysis and description of where educational and developmental psychology is as a profession. They discuss the training programs in Australia and where they might be in the future, based on projections of where psychological services will be required. Rayner puts forward a robust discussion on the need for a greater understanding of style theory and how this should influence the type of work that psychologists should undertake. Norwich provides an interesting discussion of the thinking in England with regards to the changing role of the educational psychologist. The article also asks the question of whether applying psychology requires professional psychologists. Bell and McKenzie present an Australian study, which considers the gap between what educational psychologists do and what their perceived role is from the service users. They also consider the effectiveness of the casework versus systemic models of practice delivery and the reported benefits of each approach. In the final article of the special theme, Topping and Lauchlan put forward the case for educational psychologists to become more cognisant of the need to be more strongly involved in research to inform practice, and also to ensure that educational psychology skills include research work as a main focus of the professional role. Jacobs and Costello conclude issue 30(1), with an article presenting the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive abilities and the potential standardisation of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery II for use within an Australian population.
The strength of the articles in this edition coupled with the healthy uptake of places on the respective university courses make it clear that the future is bright: The future is educational and developmental psychology.
