Teachers and educational psychologists working together: what can we learn?

During 2008–2009, the authors worked with a focus group of educational psychologists and teachers to develop resources to enable educational psychologists, tutors working in ITT and CPD and teachers to use an approach we call ‘Growing Talent for Inclusion’ (GTI) in schools and other learning contexts. The aim of our approach is to promote more effective interpersonal relationships by identifying what is already working in the class rather than focusing on the difficulties and problems. The GTI process is based on collaborative consultation, appreciative inquiry and solution focused thinking. This article will report on the perceptions, experiences and reflections of teachers and educational psychologists who piloted and evaluated a consultation framework to support teacher colleagues in identifying priorities for emotional and social skill development in their class and to monitor and evaluate progress towards desired behaviours using solution focused rating scales. Implications for initial teacher training and continuing professional development are considered.