Psychology in the Classroom Lucinda Powell

Sport is all about timing, ensuring you reach peak at just the right moment and can perform under high pressure. Exams are like this too - you need to reach your peak at just the right moment and not allow the pressure to get to you. So what can sports psychology teach us about exams? This week Rhys Davies talks about his career as an International Double Canoe Slalom competitor and we think about how his research in sports psychology and mental health might translate into classroom practice.

Most of you will go through your day saying hello to students and colleagues and not give a second thought to how you know it is them. Well imagine not being able to recognise faces, you know you are looking at a face but you have no idea who it belongs to. PhD researcher Judith Lowes sheds some light on Prosopagnosia and how to support young people with this condition.

If you are interested in participating in her research please visit www.changingstatesofmind/season-4 for the full show notes and links

Every teacher has a plethora of strategies to manage behaviour and create a safe an calm learning environment.  But for a small minority the usual strategies just don't work and the pupils end up in a escalating cycle of punishment. Research shows that there are more effective systems for these pupils, but senior leaders are often reluctant to be the first adopters.  Dr Laura Oxley talks about her research into this area, the alternative systems and the barriers that face schools in being early adopters.

Many of you will have heard that journaling can be of benefit to mental health, but in the new digital age there is evidence that blogging can also benefit wellbeing, especially for young people. Dennis Relojo-Howell shares his insights into the world of blogging, how it may be able to help build resilience in young people and how it can be used in the classroom. His passion for psychology and blogging has come together Psychreg and helping clearly communicate psychology to a wider audience.

As a psychology teacher with many years of experience Trevor is passionate about the wellbeing of teachers.  In this interview he raises concerns of many teachers about workload amongst other things and the challenges that new teachers faces when they enter the profession.

Dr Polly Waite works both at Oxford University and University of Reading as a Clinical Psychologist and Research Fellow with a particular interest in Panic disorders in Adolescents.  In this interview she discusses the difference between 'normal' anxiety, clinical anxiety and how this may then become a panic disorder.  She also offers excellent advice on how to manage a panic attack in the moment and how to support a young person more broadly if they are struggling with a panic disorder.