Curricula in Psychology and Societal Needs

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Curricula in Psychology and Societal Needs

• John B. Nezlek, PhD
• Department of Psychology
• College of William Mary

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In what context should the undergraduate
psychology curriculum be evaluated?

• As part of a liberal arts or general
  undergraduate education
• As the terminal degree with the expectation of
  employment/citizenship
• As preparation for post graduate school

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Context, post-graduate

• Career focused MA degree
• Career focused doctoral degree
• Research focused doctoral degree
• Within any of these contexts, meeting societal
  needs can be considered

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Societal needs

• Two broad, general needs
• 1. Maintain existing structure and institutions
• 2. Prepare for and cope with change

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Maintenance function

• Socialization -- education, instilling norms
• Promoting health and well-being and preventing
  distress (public health model)
• Treating distress and reducing poor health

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Change function

• Measure and evaluate changes
• Anticipate or guide change
• Help to cope with change

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Socialization

• Education is part of the socialization process --
  how people are taught to members of society
• Define right and wrong, good and bad
• Psychology can play a special role in this
  process because of its emphasis on interpersonal
  behavior and well-being

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Promote health and well-being

• Public health model
• Empower people and organize societies to minimize
  the likelihood people will experience problems --
  reduce risk
• Emphasis on competencies and strengths rather
  than deficits and weaknesses

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Treat distress

• Inevitably, people will experience distress,
  sometimes severe and disabling
• Train diagnosticians and service providers

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Measure and evaluate change

• Train students in the technology of measurement
• Use of existing instruments
• Develop new instruments
• Train students to interpret and evaluate
  information

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Anticipate or guide change

• Research on emerging trends and their
  implications
• Determine an agenda for change -- What should
  happen vs. what will happen?
• Train students to recognize change and to think
  about what changes should occur

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Coping with change

• Change is inevitable
• Stress is inevitable
• Learning to cope effectively with both is
  important
• Training and education for service providers,
  researchers, and citizens

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Context of culture and values

• Both the maintenance and change functions need to
  be understood within a cultural context
• Both functions need to be understood within the
  values and value systems of societies
• Nothing is value free - not even science

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Value context

• What should be taught, studied, encouraged, and
  discouraged?
• Selection of research topics and methods dictated
  by values
• What is worth studying and how should it be
  studied?

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Tension between change and stability

• How much should we help people to accept the
  existing structure and their roles in that
  structure?
• How much should help people to change the
  structure (and themselves) and adopt new roles?

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For example...

• To what extent should an education in psychology
  prepare women to succeed within the existing
  structure
• To what extent should an education in psychology
  empower women to make, accept, and prepare for
  change, particularly in terms of roles that have
  traditionally been defined in terms of gender

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Tension...

• Between the short and the long term
• Accepting the status quo may be good in the short
  term (mother and father are happy)
• But, not good in the long term -- limited career
  and life opportunities

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Tension between...

• Socialization/maintenance function, which tends
  to be conservative
• and
• Change function, which by its nature is concerned
  with creating differences

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Tension among

• Different, complementary roles
• For example, gender roles are mutually defined.
  Changing womens rights obligations, and
  responsibilities necessarily changes mens
• Similar relationships for faculty and student
  roles

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Possible special considerations for Greece

• EU membership may create certain pressures and
  add certain expectations, even if these are not
  explicit
• When designing curricula, need to anticipate
  students going to other countries for work or
  study more so than in the past

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Possible special considerations for Greece

• Lack of independent psychology departments in
  many universities
• Lack of support for using psychology curricula as
  agents of change

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Practical questions

• Should new courses/lessons be created?
• Should existing courses/lessons be revised?
• Should requirements be changed?
• Increased to ensure uniformity
• or
• Decreased to allow for more freedom and diversity

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Potential problems

• Creating change invariably creates resistance
• To the extent possible or practical, involve as
  many people as possible in the decision
• Distinguish proximal (immediate) and distal
  (long-term) outcomes
• Be realistic

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