Dave Smalley is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology with a focus on educational scholarship. His current teaching portfolio includes coordinating and contributing to a new MSc course in Applied Child Psychology, alongside leading a large final-year undergraduate module in Educational Psychology. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Dave has held roles in recruitment, admissions, and student experience.

What I did

When we created the MSc in Applied Child Psychology, we didn’t adapt existing modules, we started fresh. From day one, the approach was about building something meaningful, functional, and forward-thinking. We didn’t include content because it was “standard” or “traditionally important.” Instead, we asked ourselves: is this genuinely valuable for the student?

The result was a programme with two key aims: to give students a holistic view of child psychology, incorporating mental health, family systems, education, policy, and technology, and to embed employability throughout.

Why I did it

I’ve taught educational psychology for years, and in doing so, I’ve come to recognise a key gap in the postgraduate course offering nationally. Many students know that they want to use psychology to improve outcomes for children, but they aren’t quite sure how. Do they want to work in education, mental health, with families, in EdTech etc.? They want a postgraduate course that both helps improve their employment prospects and makes them stand out from their peers, but they also want to develop a more refined understanding of what applied child psychology professions entail.

So I wanted the MSc to be about more than academic knowledge. It needed to support students in imagining what it means to actually work as a child psychologist across diverse professional landscapes. I also wanted students to walk away feeling more employable, more confident, and more connected to their potential career paths.

How it works

We infused employability across the curriculum in three key ways: through content, pedagogy, and assessment. Module content was built from a practitioner’s perspective. This means that while theory and research remain critical parts of the syllabus, their inclusion was always evaluated in terms of their utility. We first considered what practitioners need to know and then sourced the relevant research and theory that underpin it. It doesn’t sound groundbreaking, but it is very common in both UG and PG study to see seminal research and theory taking centre stage, with applications of the theory and research crammed in as an afterthought. We wanted to turn that more traditional academic approach to content development on its head.

Our pedagogical approach is all about providing the space for students to learn while experiencing what it is like to be an applied child psychologist. In most sessions, students learn by doing (e.g., carrying out a standardised assessment on a peer, or creating a psychological conceptualisation of a case study child). Sessions often focused on applying psychological frameworks to real-world problems or exploring how policy and practice intersect. We also have a heavy groupwork focus, applying many different evidence-based techniques (such as problem-based learning, team-based learning, jigsaw classrooms). The combination of groupwork (to learn) and individual assessment (to demonstrate learning) is very much in-line with the way that applied child psychologists operate in the real world. Importantly, our employability-focused pedagogy is underpinned by learning outcomes that require students to apply understanding of theory and research to some degree of real world practical application.

Assessment followed suit. We ensured that every module had at least one task grounded in an employability skill, whether that was a case study analysis, a reflective piece, or a simulated professional task. To support students in realising the employability relevance of each assessment, we went a step further and made the value of each task explicit on the module Virtual Learning Environment. Every assessment would have an ‘assessment brief’ that outlines why we are asking the student to complete the assessment, including statements that students could cut and paste into their CV. E.g. “I have applied professional frameworks to develop a psychologically-relevant integrated conceptualisation of key issues and areas of focus for case study children, namely the Problem Analysis Framework and the Interactive Factors Framework.”

Impact and student feedback

Although we’ve only just completed the first year, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. One of the most rewarding things has been seeing students make the connection between what they’ve learned and the career they want to pursue. We’ve already had graduates secure roles as Assistant Educational Psychologists and placed on PhD programmes. That kind of impact with real, tangible outcomes makes the effort worthwhile.

Not only is he the kindest, most helpful lecturer I have ever had, he makes specific efforts each week to incorporate applicability into the content. In all lecture material, he told us how we can use what we have learned to write effective CV’s, to heighten our chances of future employment. In each workshop he also incorporated activities that emulate real life scenarios in the educational psychology field. He is extremely supportive and has reached out to us many times offering support in finding graduate jobs, and makes it clear he will support us even after graduation. He clearly really cares about our success.

MSc Applied Child Psychology student

Recruitment numbers tell their own story too. Despite being only in its second year, our course has seen very strong interest. 26 students enrolled on the course in its first year and are expecting to double that in year two.

Dave Smalley has created a masters course that has been nothing short of life changing. Every decision he makes is for the benefit of the students and I feel that every single part of the course has been delivered excellently. He has taken great strides to make learning inclusive, and accessible to all students. Every lesson he delivers with a smile and we all greatly appreciate his positive impact on our lives.

MSc Applied Child Psychology student

Future practice

Looking ahead, I’m focused on refining the link between learning and employment outcomes. We’re building a cross-referencing tool that maps job descriptions and person specifications to the knowledge and experience students gain on the course (the assessment statement quoted above directly meets one of the person specifications for an Assistant Educational Psychologist for example). This helps them clearly demonstrate how they meet professional criteria, essentially translating academic achievement into job market language.

We’re also keeping in close touch with alumni to track their progression and see where the course has helped or could do more. This will not only help future students but may provide a foundation for research into postgraduate employability and curriculum design.

Another area of development is experiential learning. We’re keen to offer even more opportunities for students to apply what they’re learning in simulated or real-world settings. Finally, as the course grows, we’ll need to stay agile to ensure that quality of delivery remains high despite increasing numbers.

Top tips

1. Include at least one employability-focused assessment per module.
   Whether it’s a real-world case study or a task that mirrors professional responsibilities, make it something that students can immediately relate to their career goals.
2. Support students in recognising their own value.
   Many postgraduates, especially mature or career-changing students, lack confidence. Make it explicit what skills they’re gaining and how those translate into employability. It’s not just about the grade, it’s about recognising their professional growth.
3. Design with utility in mind.
   Let the practical needs of future practitioners guide your content decisions. Use theory and research to support function not the other way around. Think: what does the student need to be able to do in the real world, and how can university level learning and academic content serve that?