OEP 101: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY LECTURE TWO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY AND TEACHING (DEFINITION AND HISTORY)
OEP
101: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
LECTURE
TWO
EDUCATIONAL
PSYCHOLOGY AND TEACHING (DEFINITION AND HISTORY)
What
is Educational Psychology?
Educational psychology
is the branch of psychology that focuses on development of effective teaching
techniques and assessing learners aptitudes and progress in learning process.
It uses psychological knowledge to understand learning and teaching in
education.
It incorporates and
applies knowledge gained from other areas of psychology eg theories of human development are used by educational
psychologists to know how students develop and learn; and to understand the
characteristics of learners at various stages; cognitive psychology when
referring to reasoning and problem solving; school psychology in determining
students’ abilities and the best ways and conditions necessary for individuals
to realize their full potential. Knowledge from disciplines outside psychology
contributes to educational psychology eg findings I neurosciences help us to
understand how brain works in relation to learning. Also research findings in
educational psychology contribute to wide field of psychology and education in
general eg in creating educational policies and developing curriculum based on
characteristics of the learners.
Psychology plays a
great role in the aspects of instructional design and application, curriculum
development, special education, classroom management, use of technology in
teaching and assessment of learners and their performance.
|
Go through the school
curriculum and make a list of items that are directly related to educational
psychology.
|
OBJECTIVES
(FUNCTIONS) OF EDUCTAIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
·
To describe and understand the nature
and principles of learning. What is involved in the learning process? How do
learners learn at different stages of development? Which are the factors that
enhance/hinder learning?
Educational
psychology aims at answering those kinds of questions by research.
·
It aims at designing strategies for
guiding learners in learning. Students possess learning abilities and skills.
Educational psychology guides students to use their existing skills more
effectively and/or develop new skills
·
It provides teachers with methods and specific
skills of teaching. These methods and skills are based on the outcomes of
research findings and facilitate learning. To meet the state educational goals,
learners need, school objectives as well as the societal needs.
·
It provides the teacher with the skills
to identify individual learner’s process and traits. An effective teacher
creates a learning environment in the classroom that caters for the individual
variations so that each learner is motivated to realize his/her full
potentials. The environment has great effect on learning process. Teachers can
improvise the environment to enhance learning. Educational psychology trains
teachers to identify and control these external factors eg teaching materials
available, research findings and new teaching skills and technological
advances.
·
To develop in those who teach, a
sympathetic attitude towards children.
·
To aid in providing the teacher with a
better perspective for judging both the results of his own teaching and the
educational practice of others. Educational Psychology aids in providing a
better background for understanding the total job of teaching in all its
intricacies.
·
To assist the teacher in giving the
necessary facts and techniques for analysing child’s behaviour to facilitate
adjustment and growth of personality.
Who
is an effective teacher?
If you meet the
requirements of educational psychology, develop the teaching skills and apply
them in teaching settings you will be motivated to be an effective teacher who
tackles teaching challenges with confidence and great satisfaction.
So
an effective teacher is the one who master the following concepts and
perceptions:
a) Subject
matter:
This
refers to having a conceptual understanding of the subject you teach. You must
work hard not only to acquire the knowledge of your subject, but also to be
able to organize this knowledge and be in position to include knowledge from
related disciplines. Just knowing the fact is not enough. Too little knowledge
leads to teacher’s lack of confidence in the classroom. Remember that you don’t
have to teach all what you know since you may cause harm in the class.
Materials presented in the class should relate to the student’s abilities and
the syllabus.
b) Knowledge
of students:
You
must know your students. It’s very difficult to deal with individuals whom you
don’t know. As you spend time with them learn about them as a group, and as
each student as a unique being. They bring different background to the class.
Know about their physical, cognitive and psychosocial development. You will
come into contact with exceptional students needing special attention and
approach in teaching.
c) Learning
process:
Learning
process all about knows your students including having knowledge on how they
learn ie skills and strategies students use to get new knowledge. Understanding
this component is an asset in designing your teaching strategies as they have
to be compatible with learning process of the respective students.
d) Instructional
strategies:
Most
effective instructional strategies lead students to develop skills of being
reflective, thinking critically and in exploring their environment.
Instructional strategies therefore should make each student learn efficiently.
e) Motivational
skills:
Learning
is a natural phenomenon but in school it can be discouraged or undermined by
several elements (both within and/or external to the students). To be an
effective teacher you must deploy conditions that will lead to students
developing self-motivation ie eager to learn and staying on the task for personal
satisfaction rather than pleasing others.
|
There
is no point of having policy of compulsory education or attending school if a
student is not interested in learning.
|
f) Classroom
management:
A
classroom environment is composed of many individuals and factors that have a
bearing on the teaching/learning process. One of the most important
responsibilities of a teacher is to create and maintain an environment an
environment in the classroom that is conducive to learn ie keeping students
engaged on the intended task. You will need to have strategies of organizing
your students for effective learning and have in place a mechanism of
preventing problems.
g) Assessment
strategies:
A
teacher needs to know if his/her students are successful or not in their
learning. This can be realized if the teacher is able to develop or obtain
appropriate instruments, make accurate assessments and interpretations of the
measurements. Assessment enables one to determine the performance and needs of
the students leading to making correct decisions and actions that will improve
the performance of each student.
h) Technological
skills:
This
is an era of information technology and for one to function effectively she/he
needs to be competent in technological skills. These skills will assist you to
access knowledge and integrate technology in your teaching strategies. Also you
will be in a position to make students use technology in their learning.
|
List
the above concepts, then observe teachers in one of the schools teaching and
from the observations identify components that relate to each of the
concepts.
|
HISTORY
OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
In
the past we look specifically at the history of educational psychology. Educational
psychology as an independent field started just before the beginning of 20th
C in America. Here we are going to have an overview of important
contributors in the development of this
field. Some of the prominent contributors are as follows:
a) William
James (1842-1910)
He
published a book and gave lectures on the application of psychology in
educating children. For research, he emphasized the use of direct observation
in the real classroom learning/teaching conditions rather than laboratories. He
is among the pioneers of learner centered
method of teaching in education.
b) John
Dewey (1859-1952)
He
was a major figure on practical application of psychology. He shaped the field
of psychology by establishing the first educational psychology laboratory in
USA. His major contribution was the view that a child is an active learner
rather than the held belief that children are passive learners. Also he
emphasized that the role of the teacher should be to train students on how to
think and adapt to the conditions outside the classroom. He was influential in
making all children get competent education regardless of their gender,
socio-economic background or ethnicity.
c) Edward
L. Thorndike (1874-1949)
He
emphasized the use of scientific approach in educational psychology. He
initiated the use of assessment and measurements in learning. B.F. Skinner
built on the ideas of Thorndike.
However, he insisted that the subject matter of psychology should not include
mental processes but should only focus on the observable behaviors. This is
termed as behavioral perspective.
Skinner’s approach determined the best conditions for learning to take place.
The teacher uses a rewarding system that improves student behavior or
performance. He developed the concept of programmed learning in which a learner
is reinforced in each step that leads to the intended goal.
d) Benjamin
Bloom (1956)
Benjamin
Bloom created the taxonomy of cognitive skills that indicated the goal s of
educators on learners. The cognitive skills he identified are and in the
following order starting from the lowest level to the highest: remembering, comprehension, application,
analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Is from the Bloom’s taxonomy where
educationists come up with curriculum documents like syllabuses, schemes of
work, lesson plans and table of specifications in the implementation of
curriculum.
In
the 1980s the educational psychologists focused on the cognitive aspects of
human learning advocated by Dewey and
James but ignored by Skinner and fellow behaviorists. They
researched on and applied the concepts of cognitive psychology including
memory, thinking, reasoning and perception on the premises that they are
significant on how information is received and processed.
Currently
educational psychology includes out of school aspects that have influence on
learners eg the role of culture in education. Also it is focusing on theories
of self-regulating learning and metacognition ie cognition about cognition or
knowing about knowing.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF OTHER FIELDS AND
THEORIES
It
is obvious that one cannot be fit for teaching and learning by only accruing knowledge
from educational psychology only and ignoring other field’s knowledge. There
are other fields which are very important; a good example is the use of
research and ICT in teaching and learning process where by teachers and
students enjoy a lot from the existence of findings from different sources as
well as the computers with internet.
|
Elaborate
the summary with your own words and then go through the lecture to verify
your accurateness.
|
