Educational psychology on tour: The International School Psychology Association annual conference. 

In early July 2024, the International School Psychology Association (ISPA) held its 45^th annual conference in Riga, Latvia. Over 4 days, delegates from across the globe were provided with a choice of 152 different presentations, talks and workshops organised around the theme of ‘Building effective teams to support all children’. 

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend with a group of fellow trainee educational psychologists (TEPs) from the University of Manchester. In this blog, I’ll be sharing some of my experiences and reflections about the conference.

Culture

Although the primary reason for the trip was to attend the ISPA conference, there was also the opportunity to explore a new city. Riga’s old town is a UNESCO world heritage site and is well worth a visit. It remains comparatively free of tourists compared to more famous Eastern European cities such as Prague, and there is a wide range of local and international cuisine available.

The conference organisers at the University of Latvia provided the opportunity for guided tours around Riga and hosted a cultural evening of Latvian folk dancing and singing. This latter event was a lot of fun; the best way to describe it is like ceilidh dancing with an Eastern European twist!

Connection

I was keen to get as much out of the conference as I could. Following some useful advice, I spent some time before the conference looking at the programme to see who was speaking and googling the various speakers to find out more about their work and research interests. This not only helped me choose what presentations to attend but provided the opportunity to reach out to people with research interests that overlapped with my own before the conference.

This proactive approach enabled me to have more meaningful and purposeful conversations with others once at the conference. As a result, I have been able to start building an international network of contacts built around similar psychological interests, some of which have the potential for future collaborative work.

Community

The ISPA community is diverse. Delegates came from across the globe from locations as far away as Taiwan and Uruguay, as well as North America and Europe. There were a range of roles, spanning from school psychologists who worked in school settings to researchers working in universities. This provided a good breadth of experience and expertise, as well as a chance to learn more about the different school psychology systems and structures that operate in different countries.

Despite the international diversity, I was struck by the common experiences of people working in education. Themes of teacher pressure, workload and mental health recurred regardless of cultural context, and were being addressed by school psychologists through a variety of approaches and schemes. It was a reminder that the work of educational psychologists (EPs) in the UK is not taking place within a professional or cultural vacuum, and that our international colleagues are working towards similar goals in the face of similar pressures. This reflection strengthens the case for making connections with school psychologists beyond the UK.

Communication

With 152 presentations across the conference, it was difficult to choose what to attend! There were presentations spanning from the use of technology in education, the impact of COVID-19 on education, and the promotion of teacher wellbeing, to the use of different forms of assessment and the role of psychologists in training in schools. 

In some of the presentations, delegates were introduced to innovative projects. Two early years examples include an emotional words database project to support the development of language in early years settings in Japan and a training programme for American early years providers about different child development and behaviours to improve early years provision and reduce exclusions.

Some presentations also provided professional insights and ideas that could be adopted or explored for use in my own professional context. Often these were small details but were nonetheless useful. Examples include referring to the side effects of medications to inform our formulations about possible influences on presenting behaviour to the potential use of wearable technology like Fitbits to more accurately track sleep patterns in children.

Contribute

The conference also provided an opportunity for all the TEPs attending to present their doctoral research to an international audience. These presentations have resulted in connections and conversations for some of the TEPs with other psychologists interested in their work. Although the doctoral training programmes provide TEPs with research projects to share, the conference also provides an opportunity for EPs to share their work and research too. 

Considerations

Despite the many benefits of attending an international conference, there is no escaping the fact that it comes with a cost. Without the support of the university, I and the other trainees would have likely been unable to attend.

EPs who work for universities may also be able to apply for grants via their university. ISPA provides the opportunity for some financial support via the Cal Catterall Fund but it is recommended that funding is sought from other sources. One of the British EPs I spoke to had secured a small amount of funds but had largely self-funded the trip. Despite this financial sting, they regarded as money well spent due to the value of attending the conference and meeting and learning from international colleagues.

Coming?

The 2025 ISPA conference is due to take place next year in Coïmbra, Portugal.

Despite the financial and logistical challenges, I would encourage TEPs and EPs to consider attending. The conference offers a unique opportunity to not only share research to a wider audience, but the chance to meet and learn from school psychologists across the globe.

In a profession that serves diverse communities across the UK, there are few better ways of broadening our horizons and perspectives than engaging with our international professional community. 

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