Dr Will Shield

I am a Child and Educational Psychologist, senior lecturer, and the joint programme director for the Doctorate in Educational, Child and Community Psychology programme.

I joined the DEdPsych programme as an Academic and Professional Tutor in 2017 and became Joint Programme Director in 2022. My specific areas of interest/specialism are linked to how we support the wellbeing and mental health needs of children and young people, particularly those who have experienced adversity and those at risk of exclusion from school.

My research and teaching areas of interest include: children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs; alternative provision and inclusion; trauma and attachment; challenging behaviour linked to childhood adversity; critical incident stress management; dynamic assessment and mediated learning environments; group dynamics; widening participation in education; personal construct psychology and learner self-efficacy.

I only supervise doctoral research projects for students registered on the Doctorate in Educational, Child and Community Psychology.

Qualifications:

• Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (FHEA), University of Exeter, 2022.
• Doctorate in Educational, Child and Community Psychology, University of Exeter, 2013.
• Post Graduate Diploma in Education, 2010.
• BSc (Hons) Psychology, 2008.

I am a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. I am registered with the HCPC as a Practitioner Psychologist (PYL29808).

I have completed professional training in Dyadic Developmental Practice and Psychotherapy (DDPI Approved Level 2) and I am an accredited Story Stem Assessment Profile (SSAP) administrator (Anna Freud Centre). I am also a recognised Prosocial Group Facilitator. Prosocial is an approach which uses principles of Contextual Behavioural Science and Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT) to build effective, collaborative and socially equitable groups.

Career:

After training as an Educational Psychologist (EP) at the University of Exeter, I worked as a maingrade EP for Devon County Council and then North Somerset Council. In both roles I had dedicated time to work with children who had been excluded from school, children at risk of exclusion, and children in the care system. In 2018 I became a Specialist Senior EP with oversight of developing a traded EP service across North Somerset and Somerset local authorities whilst also working with a patch of schools. I moved to Bristol City Council in April 2020 to work as a Senior EP where I was responsible for supporting local authority strategic developments related to SEND inluding the embedding of person-centred processes and parental engagement. I also led the DfE accreditation to establish Senior Mental Health Lead training in Bristol and took a shared role in establishing clear processes for how the Bristol EP service could respond to critical incidents in schools and in the community.