Psychology of Education: Where have we got to, and where are we going?

2021 is the 40^th anniversary of the Vernon-Wall Lecture series. The Vernon-Wall lecture series was inaugurated in 1981 in recognition of the contributions made by Professors Philip Vernon and William Wall to the Psychology of Education. A lecture in their honour has been held at the Psychology of Education Section annual conference ever since. The Psychology of Education Section committee decided in 2019 to host a celebration event to mark 40 years of the Vernon-Wall lecture series and we are pleased to announce that this celebration will be held at the 2021 conference.

The theme of the celebration will be in part retrospective (looking back at the achievements of the Psychology of Education) and in part forward looking (where should the field be heading?). We are delighted to have four previous authors of the Vernon-Wall lecture join us; one from each decade of the lecture series. The contributors are: Noel Entwistle (1981; inaugural Vernon-Wall lecture), Roger Saljo (1996; 16^th Vernon-Wall lecture), Susan Hallam (2009; 29^th Vernon-Wall lecture), and Jo-Anne Baird (2018; 37th Vernon-Wall lecture). We will be inviting each contributor to provide a presentation of their thoughts followed by a panel discussion and questions from the floor.