Peta Collins
BA (Hons), MPsych (Educational and Developmental Psychology), Grad Dip Ed (School Psychology and Special Education)
I am an Educational and Developmental Psychologist, which means my training and work focuses on how we learn and develop new skills across our lifespan: from childhood, through the teenage years and into adulthood.
In particular, I am interested in how we learn key academic skills - reading, writing, and maths. I have more than 10 years’ experience working with children, teenagers and adults who are having difficulty with learning these academic skills. This includes doing assessments to identify the reason for those academic learning difficulties, including for diagnosis of a Specific Learning Disorder (such as Dyslexia). After many years, and hundreds of clients, I am able to administer these assessments in a warm, efficient and non-judgemental way. I have also seen the many ways that learning difficulties can present from person to person, which gives me strong skills for understanding my clients’ learning profiles and needs.
Keeping up-to-date with the best ways to teach reading, writing and maths skills is a priority for me, as is staying on top of current research on how we learn and develop these skills. My training as a teacher, and my experience working alongside teachers, schools and other educators means I make high-quality, relevant, and practical recommendations for intervention and support.
Why are we called Metis?
Metis was the original Greek goddess of wisdom and deep thought. A prophecy foretold that her children would be powerful enough to overthrow Zeus, the king of the gods. Knowing that her first child, a daughter, was under threat, Metis equipped her with the skills and knowledge required for her to meet and conquer every challenge that she would face. She dressed her in armour and provided her with a helmet, shield and spear. Metis’s daughter, Athena, took her mother’s place as the goddess of wisdom, and became one of the most powerful and enduring gods of Greek mythology. Athena’s owl has become a symbol of higher learning and intelligence.
Equipping our children with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve success is the goal of all parents and caregivers. That critical knowledge includes literacy and numeracy skills. Dignity, independence and academic and occupational freedom are dependent on them. Reading, writing and maths skills are not nonessential ‘nice-to-have’ skills; they are critical for living a fully engaged life, however that looks for you. It is never too late to work on improving these skills, and no learning difficulty is so severe that support is pointless. Instead, it is vital to plan effective intervention and support for anyone who is having learning difficulties, no matter their age or their goals. This has been the central focus of my career in psychology.
