Division of Teachers and Researchers in Psychology (DTRP)

By Dominic Upton (Chair, Division of Teachers and Researchers in Psychology)

Last year we reported on the progress made on our strategic and operational plan that had been developed for the Division. This year we have made moves to implement these plans and try and develop a range of new services for the membership.

We have introduced, for example, the e-mail discussion board and have worked on further enhancing the journal and the newsletter. We are also in the process of updating our web pages so we can, again, disseminate information and collect feedback more easily - this has taken longer than expected due to changes elsewhere in the Society. We have also taken time to develop links with other member networks (subsystems) and Societies worldwide. For example, we are exploring a number of possible links with member networks within the Society in order to present joint conferences, seminars and material that will be of benefit to all our members.

These developments are all taking considerable time and because the Committee is made up of volunteers we are all attempting to balance our work with the Society with the work that pays the bills! Consequently, the progress we have made has been slow and not nearly as extensive as the whole Committee would like. In light of this we decided to adopt a new approach and one adopted by other member networks with success. We have appointed a part-time admin assistant (Stella Williamson) who is working on a range of developments. In the first instance, however, she will be conducting a survey of both members and non-members to see how we can improve the service to members along with recruiting new members. However, we hope that Stella’s appointment will allow for a more rapid progression of some of these ideas.

We have also had a number of international developments. Our discussions with the Association for Psychological Science paid dividend and we were able to provide a range of benefits for our members. We have also been involved in discussions about the development of a European Network for the Enhancement of Psychology Learning and Teaching. This is being driven by Annie Trapp from the Higher Education Academy - Psychology network (and member of the DTRP Committee) and we hope that this will have a successful future.

The range of benefits we now offer members has also increased and these include: bursaries for members wishing to attend conferences, seminars and other such events, workshops (two planned for 2007/8), the newsletters, the journals and the special relationship we have with other member networks and other organisations. More information can be found on the DTRP website where we will also be uploading the newsletter, and back issues of the journals.

Currently we are also exploring the admissions procedures and how best an individual’s membership of the Division can be recognised. We hope to be able to offer Chartered titles - either Chartered Psychology Teacher or Chartered Psychology Researcher. This has been confused with membership to the Division and we have had to spend some time discussing and developing new entry criteria to the Division. We have now proposed a route to Divisional membership for teachers of psychology in further education (FE) and in schools. This proposal will be open for consultation and we look forward to developing this in the future so we can ensure that all our potential members receive the support from the Society and the Division they deserve.

Finally, at this time of year we also have to thank people for their contribution to the committee and to wish them well for the future. In particular we would like to thank Professor Lin Norton who has stepped down from her role on the Committee and the editorship of the Division’s journal - Psychology Teaching Review.