Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour and our intent at Charter North Dulwich is to enable students to have a better understanding of the world around them and develop a curiosity about the human mind, brain and behaviour. Students will develop a knowledge of different areas of psychology and how they relate to one another, as well as a deep knowledge and understanding of scientific methodology and its rigour. They will develop competence in carrying out a range of problem-solving, mathematical and practical activities, including their own research. Students learn how to analyse and interpret data and how to use a number of statistical tests.
Students will learn to think critically, evaluate evidence and communicate their knowledge through essays and reports. Students develop essay writing skills, particularly the ability to summarize and to write in timed conditions, and the ability to apply their psychological knowledge to real life examples. Students learn a number of revision and retrieval techniques to help them cope with the huge amount of content in the specification. They are consistently tested on one topic per week and are given detailed feedback, the intention being to learn discipline and rigour.
In terms of cultural capital, students learn about all key psychological perspectives, from Freud to Skinner. Students are expected to analyse and debate the relative contributions of differing perspectives and compare them. Amongst other things students learn about the structure of the brain, about fight and flight and stress responses, about the importance of attachment for emotional and behavioural development and about the potential causes of a myriad of mental health problems – from depression to schizophrenia. We have built on our local links with the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital, inviting them in to run research with our students so they can experience this process first hand and taking advantage of work experience opportunities where possible. In year 12 we usually visit the Freud Museum but as we were unable to last year we engaged in an online workshop with the museum. We have a number of visits from psychologists, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses. This year we are having a workshop with some former prisoners and a forensic psychiatrist.
Students are taught to apply their psychological understanding to the modern world – for example we apply minority influence to the civil rights movement in the USA and to the feminist movement. Students are encouraged to think critically about socially sensitive research such as research on IQ and the basis of criminality that can lead to prejudice. The cultural bias of much theory in psychology is a key area of debate.
