Seeing potential in all children: a trainee Educational- and Child Psychologist journey
Hi everyone
Welcome to the next installment of the blog. Today we learn about Jun and her journey towards becoming a qualified Educational- and Child Psychologist. Jun has not only had to learn about different systems and models, but had seen a variety of settings and experiences to bring together her wealth of knowledge. We hope you will find Jun's journey as inspirational as we have.
Hui Jun Ho
Trainee Educational Psychologist
I am about to qualify as an Educational and Child Psychologist in 5 months. Looking back on my journey, my first steps started when I was a bright-eyed seventeen-year old, where I took my first foray into education as a piano teacher, teaching on Sundays while taking my A- levels. I remember my first ever student was a three-year-old girl, whom I spent hours trying to teach her how to tell her left hand and right hand apart.
After my A levels, I bravely became a teaching intern, teaching fine art at an all boys’ secondary school. That was an eye-opening experience for me, as I was merely a couple of years older than my students. The headteacher said to me, “If you can survive teaching in this school, you can survive teaching anywhere.” Challenge accepted! I thought.
Subsequently, I pursued Psychology at the National University of Singapore, where I was enthralled by theories on child and adolescent development. During term breaks, I sought opportunities to understand child and adolescent development better – as a Research Assistant at the Neurocognitive Centre, I was fascinated by various attachment responses of toddlers in the Strange Situation Test; as a research assistant at the Ministry of Education’s Psychological Services Branch, I had a clearer glimpse of the struggles of children who found reading difficult. But the most memorable experience was being a Psychology intern at a special school, where I finally understood the extent of special educational needs that I had only read in textbooks. These experiences were steps on my journey towards becoming an Educational Psychologist – to advocate for and support children with special educational needs.
Upon graduation, I pursued a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education at the National Institute of Education, NTU, Singapore, and became a teacher at an all-girls Primary School. I also took on the post of Assistant Year Head, where I worked with a team of 12 teachers to oversee the learning and wellbeing of 240 students in my year group. It was such a joy every day to be shaping young minds, but at the same time, they were shaping mine as well. Seeing and learning about the world through the eyes of children was such an amazing experience.
And then it was time to move on to my next role as a Special Education Officer at the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Branch, where I worked directly with special schools on curriculum- and policy related areas. One memorable conversation that I had with a teacher was about her student, age 13, who could not understand her instructions. She shared, “The child has a disability. He has plateaued. He will never understand what I teach.” This left a deep impression on me. My study of Psychology had taught me the wonders of neuroplasticity, the triumphs of human resilience, and that there were many interacting systems that contributed to a child’s development. It was too convenient to attribute a child’s challenges to “plateauing”.
Such reductionist psychological discourses in relation to the notion of intelligence are entrenched in society. I wanted to play a part in shaping such attitudes and beliefs to “impairment” and “disability”, to one that is centred on human potential. It was at this point that I applied to be on the Doctorate in Professional Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychology at the Institute of Education, and I managed to get on!
I have had a whale of a time on the Doctorate thus far! The start of my course, as with all new beginnings, was difficult. I started the Doctorate in September 2020, in the heart of COVID. I did the first term in Singapore as classes were online, studying from 6 pm till midnight every day. As the only international student in my class of 18, there were many terminologies that were specific to the UK education system that I had to learn about. Even the naming of year groups and equivalent ages were different. There were also cultural differences in communication, where for example, I had to quickly learn how to talk about the British weather in its many glorious forms. Nevertheless, I had the most amazing course mates and friends in London, who helped me with my move to London in December 2020, viewed flats on my behalf, and took me on grand touristy walks around the city.
Currently, I have had many opportunities to try out new things and new ways of working, which is what I love about the Educational Psychology profession. Other than doing consultations with schools, I also carry out cognitive behavioural approaches and therapeutic play approaches in schools, supervision and training for Emotional Literacy Support Assistants, and family consultancy in a hospital. I have also conducted animal-assisted interventions, where I have been working with Mario, my certified Pets as Therapy Dog, to deliver group sessions as part of Year 6 Transition to Secondary School groups. Students help Mario problem-solve difficulties about starting secondary school, offer him advice and then give him a treat. Working through Mario’s worries and concerns has made talking about secondary school transition less threatening for students.
My doctoral research on the Friendships and Social Relationships of Children with Complex Communication Needs in Special School Settings has also been so interesting, where I had the privilege to hear the voices of children who have limited speech, share about their friendships through a variety of participatory methods. I hope to publish it and share with others on how to interview children who have limited speech.
My journey on the doctorate is coming to an end, but I am really excited to be graduating soon to join the Educational Psychology profession and start new beginnings. Every experience that I have had has been valuable in some way. To me, there are no detours, and we are all on our own journeys. I hope your journey will be a fulfilling one. To the many new adventures ahead!
Thank you Jun for sharing your experiences with us! We wish you every success moving forward and would love to read your thesis once it was published.
If you were interested to write your own blog entry please get in touch. Through each story we can inspire and inform aspirant Psychologists out there about the myriad of professions to pursue.
Kind regards,
The Pathways team.
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