Professor Lisa Woolfson

Emeritus Professor

Psychology

Personal statement

I was appointed Professor Emeritus in 2017 and am currently involved in writing, lecturing, external examining of doctoral theses, and monitoring of professional training programmes.

.I was the first Head of the new School of Psychological Sciences and Health from 2010-2015 as well as a member of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences management team and of University Court, the University's governing body, where I led the Senators' group. I am a registered practitioner with the Health and Care Professions Council, and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society with over twenty years experience as an educational psychologist.

This practitioner experience influenced my research interests: developmental disability, social disadvantage, parenting, teacher beliefs about inclusion, and promoting development in pre-school children.

My teaching at Strathclyde focused on the professional training of educational psychologists and teachers, and teaching educational psychology to undergraduates. Before Head of School, I was previously Director of Teaching and Learning for BA Psychology, and Director of the Research Doctorate in Educational Psychology.

I was on sabbatical 2015-2016 exploring new research areas and collaborations. I was Visiting Professor at Macquarie University in Sydney during this period. From 2016-2017 I was Head of Equality and Diversity for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Strathclyde.

Expertise

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Area of Expertise

Educational psychology
Development and education of children with intellectual disability
Parent and teacher beliefs about children with developmental disabilities and how this impacts on their behaviour and on child outcomes
Development in pre-school children
Applying psychological principles in the classroom

Publications

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Publications

Key Topics in Educational Psychology: Woolfson Lisa; Key Topics in Psychology Key Topics in Psychology (2025)
Is inclusive education for children with special educational needs and disabilities an impossible dream?: Woolfson Lisa Marks; BPS Landmark Special Issue: United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (2024); https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12701
Is inclusive education for children with special educational needs and disabilities an impossible dream?: Woolfson Lisa Marks; British Journal of Educational Psychology, pp. 1-13 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12701
Health and well-being in psychology: Woolfson Lisa, Woodcock Stuart; Why Do Teachers Need to Know About Psychology? Strengthening Professional Identity and Well-Being (2021) (2021)
Psychology and the effective teacher: Woolfson Lisa, Boyle Jim, Monsen Jeremy; Why Do Teachers Need to Know About Psychology? Strengthening Professional Identity and Well-Being (2021) (2021)
The professional self and psychology: Boyle Jim, Monsen Jeremy, Woolfson Lisa; Why Do Teachers Need to Know About Psychology? Strengthening Professional Identity and Well-Being (2021) (2021)

More publications

Research

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Research Interests

My research is focused around examining how best to promote child development and learning in inclusive classrooms for children who are vulnerable through developmental disability or socioeconomic disadvantage. A key strand of my research investigates parent and teacher beliefs about children with developmental disabilities and how these impact on their parenting and teaching behaviour and on child outcomes.

Another key focus for me, as an educational psychologist, is the application of psychological principles to the real-life school context. In particular based on research evidence, I am interested in which interventions work best for addressing learning and behaviour problems in preschool and primary school aged children, and how we can support teachers to implement these in the classroom.