Text book perfect
by Tim Horn
When
the subject of psychology was introduced to South Australian high
schools in 2004, potential dilemmas arose.
No textbooks had been written for the specific curriculum of the new subject, so Essentials Publishers approached UniSA’s School of Psychology for help.
A team of 25 staff from the School of Psychology worked together to create textbooks for the subject, which is offered at both Year 11 and Year 12 levels.
Each of the authors wrote about their area of expertise for the project, and the textbooks are proving to be successful. They cover topics ranging from social cognition to states of awareness; the structure and function of the brain, as well as ethical issues faced by psychologists.
“The real strength of the texts is that people know what they are talking about,” says Dr Paul Whetham, from UniSA’s School of Psychology. Dr Whetham coordinated and edited the textbooks along with Dr Andrew Day, a fellow clinical psychologist.
“Two textbooks in two years is a great achievement for the School of Psychology, and a great outcome for the community.”
Dr Whetham said three in four people with a mental illness will experience an onset before 25 years of age, and only one in ten of these will seek help. For this reason we see the high school textbooks as “an important educational and health promotional tool for young people,” he said.
The Year 12 text was one of the few awarded Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia’s highest rating for teachers and it has sold more 2000 copies in its first year. The Year 11 text has been introduced this year and promises to be just as successful.
The quality and success of Year 11 and 12 South Australian psychology
texts has attracted the interest of the International Baccalaureate’s main
publisher, IBID press. Earlier this year, the School of Psychology agreed to
write an International Baccalaureate Psychology textbook that will go to
print by mid 2006.