Book Review of 'The Psychologically Literate Citizen: Foundations and Global Perspectives'

Hanna, Bridget

Abstract

This volume has the lofty aim of inspiring all of us involved in passing on knowledge about psychology (educationally speaking) to look again at how we do this. The volume specifically seeks to 'expand the theory and practice around the paradigmatic concepts of psychological literacy and the psychologically literate citizen " p xi. Given its coverage this seems a reasonable claim to make. At one level, psychological literacy is presented as the contextualisation of graduate attributes by psychology although many of the individual chapters highlight the breadth of the concept and its global applicability. At times the book seems divided between advocating for a substantial overlap between notions of a liberal education and claims for psychology as a science. In their foreword the editors suggest that there are some major challenges. Firstly they suggest that psychological literacy and the discipline of psychology must develop apace with wider society and highlight we need a lifelong learning mind-set to facilitate this. Secondly, they warn being psychologically literate could mean we over analyse. Thirdly we need to engage with our subject beyond our original knowledge base. Fourthly, that different types of thinking are important such as creative, analytical, practical and (interestingly) wise thinking. Finally they highlight the need to ensure we don't lose sight of the broader areas of psychology outside of our own specialisations. This is a lot to ask.

Citation

Hanna, B. (2013). Book Review of 'The Psychologically Literate Citizen: Foundations and Global Perspectives'. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 12(2), https://doi.org/10.2304/plat.2013.12.2.203

• Journal Article Type: Book Review
• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013-06
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2020
• Print ISSN: 1475-7257
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2304/plat.2013.12.2.203
• Keywords: Curriculum; Psychology Education; Teaching Methods; Best Practices
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/462566