Education And Training

A person may be considered an educational psychologist after completing a graduate degree in educational psychology or a closely related field. Universities establish educational psychology graduate programs in either psychology departments or, more commonly, faculties of education.

Educational psychologists work in a variety of settings. Some work in university settings where they carry out research on the cognitive and social processes of human development, learning and education. Educational psychologists may also work as consultants in designing and creating educational materials, classroom programs and online courses.

Educational psychologists who work in k–12 school settings (closely related are school psychologists in the US and Canada) are trained at the master's and doctoral levels. In addition to conducting assessments, school psychologists provide services such as academic and behavioral intervention, counseling, teacher consultation, and crisis intervention. However, school psychologists are generally more individual-oriented towards students.

In the UK, status as a Chartered Educational Psychologist is gained by completing:

• an undergraduate degree in psychology permitting registration with the British Psychological Society
• two or three years experience working with children, young people and their families.
• a three-year professional doctorate in educational psychology.

In New Zealand Registered Educational Psychologist status is gained by completing:

• an undergraduate degree in education and psychology
• completion of a two year masters level training programme in psychology or educational psychology
• completion of a one year post masters internship program

Internship places are limited and applications exceed places in most years. Since 1999 Massey University delivered the only educational psychology training program. Victoria University, Wellington started its offering of an educational psychology training programme in 2013