Conversations about Consultation

In this episode we speak with Helen Kerslake and Jane Roller from Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Educational psychology consultation service about their journey to becoming EPs and their experience of working in a service that places consultation at the centre of the work they do.

It was so interesting to speak with Helen and Jane about their services relationship with Patsy Wagner and her model of consultation. They both spoke about the service being known as ‘Gods little acre’ before becoming a tri-borough where all the schools in the area embraced consultation and it was embedded fully. Both Jane and Helen felt it was important to continue this at the service to form part of Patsy’s legacy at the service.

We found this conversation really inspiring and loved how Jane and Helen drew emphasis on the importance of our role in collaborating with consultees and being on a journey with them.

References/readings mentioned:

Bateson, G. (1970). Form, substance, and difference. Essential Readings in Biosemiotics, 423-­440. https://faculty.washington.edu/jernel/521/Form.htm

Dowling, E. (2020). Taking the clinic to school: A consultative service for parents, children and teachers. In E. Dowling & E. Osborne (Eds.), The Family and the School: A Joint Systems Approach to Problems with Children (2nd Ed., pp. 59-68). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429481734

Kerslake, H., & Roller, J. (2000). The Development of 'Scripts' in the Practice of Consultation. Educational Psychology in Practice, 16(1), 25-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/026673600115247

Newton. (2020). Problems with IQ and Psychometric Assessment. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/problems-iq-psychometric-assessments-colin-newton

Blank’s Levels of Questioning - salda.org.au

Wagner, P. (2000). Consultation: Developing a comprehensive approach to service delivery. Educational Psychology in Practice, 16(1), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/026673600115229

Wagner, P. (2008). Consultation as a framework for practice. In L. Woolfson & J. Boyle (Eds.), Frameworks for Practice in Educational Psychology: A Textbook for Trainees and Practitioners (1st Ed. pp , 139-162).

Watkins, C. & Wagner, P. (2000). Improving school behaviour. Sage. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446219096

In this introductory episode Emma speaks in conversation with myself and Emily about our routes onto the doctorate in educational psychology training programme, where our keen interest in consultation in EP practice started, our vision for this podcast and our thoughts on some of the current issues and debates in the field of consultation.

Resources/readings mentioned:

Kennedy, E. K. & Lee, V. (2021). A distinctive helping relationship. In C. Arnold, D. Bartle, X. Eloquin & M. Fox (Eds.), Learning from the unconscious: Psychoanalytic approaches in educational psychology (pp 122-139). Karnac. ISBN 978-1913494230

McIntosh, P. (1988). White Privilege and Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. https://codeofgoodpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mcintosh-White-Privilege-Unpacking-the-Invisible-Knapsack.pdf