The other day, I was working with colleagues to find continuing education and further degree programs to help develop our team's knowledge and credentials.

It's amazing the sheer number of online programs now in the fields of school counselling and educational psychology. If you include the parallel or related subjects, there are even more.

In the UK, the NHS has been promoting a role called the Education Mental Health Practitioner position. This is something of a counselling role in schools, and there are both undergraduate and postgraduate courses available. It was quite interesting to read this blurb from the PPN about this role: https://ppn.nhs.uk/resources/careers-map/education-mental-health-practitioner

Naturally, there are other tracks for those working alongside or outside of the school system: child therapists, mental health specialists, and so forth.

For those in America, the ASCA has a pretty comprehensive list of both brick & mortar as well as online programs, which will prepare you for state examinations to become a school counsellor: https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About-School-Counseling/State-Requirements-Programs/School-Counseling-Degree-Programs

In much of Europe, there were some fascinating courses and careers as well. For example, in Spain, there is a field called 'psychopedagogy'. Depending on the training or degree, participants can study everything from diagnostic tools to more academic advising. Here are two examples of courses that came up in my search:

https://www.upsa.es/oferta-academica/master-universitario-en-psicopedagogia

https://www.ucjc.edu/master/orientacion-intervencion-psicopedagogica/

And in Germany, Czechia, and other countries in Western and Central Europe, they have a parallel field of study called 'Social Pedagogy', which seems has a related but unique purpose. Thankfully, it's spread to places like the UK as well, making it easier for anglophones to learn about it:

https://www.thempra.org.uk/social-pedagogy/

There are hundreds of other pages and programs that I've been researching, but this is just a small sampling. I hope you've enjoyed learning about my field and some of the related areas of interest.

If anyone else here on Nostr is part of the #schoolguidance or #educationalpsychology worlds, let me know what you think. What's your background? What trainings or degrees have been most relevant to you and your colleagues when working with students of all ages on the ground?

#education #learning #degrees #studentsupport #lifelonglearning