Miles Thomas completed his Post Graduate Certificate in Education at the University of Bath and taught in the UK and Spain. He has a Masters in Educational Psychology and a Doctorate in Child and Educational Psychology from UEL. He is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is employed in local government as a Registered Educational Psychologist. He is a Senior Practitioner and retains responsibility for delivering psychological services to a small patch of schools.

Miles is an Academic and Professional Tutor on the Doctorate in Child and Educational Psychology (initial training). He is Head of Stage 2 of the programme and Module leader for Consultation and Intervention. He works at the Stratford campus on Mondays,Thursdays and Fridays.

Doctoral Theses Recently Examined

Black, L. (2010). Supporting the transition from specialist provisions into mainstream schools for pupils with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder: pupils, parents’/carers’ and teachers’ perspectives.

Davies H. (2009). ‘You could hear the real side of me…’: understanding the experiences and perceptions of young people with AD/HD.

Dixon, R. (2009). Can computers increase the efficiency of an intervention designed to enhance theory of mind in children with autism? An evaluation of a new computer intervention.

Egan, S. (2011). Promoting “hope” and wellbeing in adolescents following transition to secondary school.

Fee, J. (2011). The role of educational psychologists in working with mental health and psychological wellbeing.

Field, K. (2009). Advocacy for children with learning difficulties and communication support needs: the use of peer advocates and the effect on the role of the advocate.

Gordon, M. (2011). Primary school teachers and traveller children: a Foucauldian informed analysis.

Grant, J. (2010). An investigation into the training needs of school staff in relation to their knowledge and skills about children who are looked after by social care.

Greene, J. (2010). Support groups for siblings of children with autistic spectrum disorders: perspectives of siblings and group leaders.

Grieve, H (2012). Special or mainstream? A comparison of parental perspectives on choosing schools for their young children with autism.

Hart, N. (2010). What helps children in a pupil referral unit?

Jones, S. (2011). Children’s knowledge of themselves and others prior to and following multi-agency involvement 2010.

Knox, L. (2011). Special educational needs: from education to employment — exploring perceptions of successful transition.

Lay, J. (2011). What is life like for a mainstream primary school child who has been identified as having learning difficulties.

Lewis, J. (2012). Understanding the experiences of service families: a grounded theory approach.

Lipscombe, A. (2010). An inquiry into how children describe spiritual and philosophical meaning in their lives, and the development of ‘spiritual listening’ techniques to help educational psychologists facilitate that.

Doctoral Theses Recently Supervised

Aubby, H. (2011). What are the views of white British working class secondary school boys on achievement in school.

Barnes, C. (2010). Exploring teachers’ intrinsic motivation towards inclusion: how can the principles of motivational interviewing and the transtheoretical (stages of change) model can be used to inform the work of educational psychologists in mainstream schools?

Cann, N. (2012). The positive educational experiences of ‘looked after’ children and young people: a comparison of residential and foster care.

Garner, J. (2010). Nurture groups in secondary schools: perceptions of children, parents and staff.

Hull, A (2010). The utility of educational psychologist’s reports within a local authority, according to its major stakeholders.

King, S. (2009). Permanent exclusion from school: the views of pupils and parents.

Meldrum, L (2009). Experiences and resilience of school-age mothers: their own perspectives.

Mohamed, S (2012). The mental health and psychological well-being of refugee children: an exploration of resilience and protective factors.

Penniston K (2010). A grounded theory study investigating young people’s constructs of happiness.

Ritchie, B. (2010). An evaluation of the programme acceptability of FRIENDS, an emotional well-being programme.

Robertson, J (2009). Evaluating the efficacy of the Staff Sharing Scheme (Gill & Monson 1995).

Yousef, S. (2009). The under-representation of Pakistani children looked after: do the beliefs of parents and social workers play a role?

Miles has particular interest in the application of Solution Focused approaches and Goal Attainment Scaling. He has supervised Masters and Doctoral level Research in areas such as Nurture Groups and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Children. He examines Doctoral Vivas at UEL and is also an External Examiner for Bristol University Doctorate in Educational Psychology.

Miles is an invited lecturer and supervisor for other programmes at UEL including the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and Masters in Applied Positive Psychology. He is also invited to speak at other Universities and at conferences in the UK and abroad.

Miles is an Associate Editor of Psychologist Magazine and a member of the Psychologist Policy Committee. He reviews books and articles for a range of other journals and magazines. He runs a website on psychology and wine, www.winepsych.com, which has a database of research in the area. He also maintains a blog and is currently writing a book, The psychology of wine: how we think about the wine we drink, for Wiley Blackwell’s new “Psychology of…” series. He is published in the UK and abroad and is regularly invited to speak on this topic.

• Doctorate in Child and Educational Psychology (initial training)

• PYD 104: Consultation and Intervention (Module Leader)
• PYD 109: Developing the Critical and Reflective Practitioner in Complex Systems (Module Leader)