The influence of educational psychology on government policy and educational practice

ABSTRACT This paper examines the importance of educational psychology influence on UK Government education policy and school practice between the 1930s and the present time. It focuses on: the lead up to the 1944 Education Act; the 1967 Plowden Report on primary education; the 1973 Bullock Report on literacy; the 1978 Warnock Report on special education; the 1989 Elton Report on behaviour in schools; Every Child Matters, 2003; and on the 2007 Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL). The paper considers the extent that research by educational psychologists may have influenced both the decisions of Governments but also school practice. It concludes that, despite the small size of the profession, EPs’ influence has been considerable.