The BPS Teachers’ toolkit – how and why it is improving pre-university education.

The BPS Teachers’ Toolkit provides a curated range of high quality resources to support teachers of all specifications and levels.

The toolkit was designed by the late Helen J Kitching. Helen was the former Chair of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DART-P) and Standing Committee of Psychology Education in Schools and Colleges (SCoPESC). The toolkit was a collaboration between these two BPS groups and the Association for the Teaching of Psychology (the membership organisation for UK Psychology teachers).

Building a toolkit for non-specialist teachers

The BPS Teachers’ toolkit contains free BPS approved resources, which are updated three times a year. The toolkit covers a range of topics, including:

• Activity sheets
• careers
• contemporary research
• EDI
• open evenings
• pastoral and mental health
• pedagogy
• personal statement and transition to university
• podcasts
• research methods
• and study skills. 

These topics were identified through our 2020 online survey of pre-university psychology teachers. 

For our most recent uploads, we have collaborated with the BPS Psychology of Education Section and the Teaching-Focused University Network (T-FΨN) to produce resources on exam anxiety, suicide prevention, a list of links to specialist resources for teaching socially sensitive topics in Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) lessons, and a guide on university life from Undergraduate students and teachers. For our forthcoming upload, we are focusing on resources to help with teaching and discussing topics surrounding the television programme, Adolescence.

Building a profile for the Teachers’ toolkit

Our toolkit is proving to be very popular. One teacher reported that it has useful information for all students and staff within her school that is presented in a straightforward way. Another teacher stated that he enjoys using it because it allows him to easily take ideas into a classroom, which motivates him as a teacher. In addition to the excellent feedback that we have received from academics and teachers, we have found that the toolkit has enabled us to increase collaboration across different parts of the BPS and different educational sectors. 

This means that pre-university teachers have access to the resources they need to better support the educational and pastoral needs of their students.

We are very keen to hear from new contributors, especially those who can help us with creating resources for our forthcoming upload. If you can help, please contact Lyndsey.

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