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A project report one educational psychology. This report will also help you to learn about:- 1. The Historical Background of Educational Psychology 2. Meaning and Definition of Educational Psychology 3. Nature of Educational Psychology 4. Scope of Educational Psychology 5. Limitations of Educational Psychology.
Contents:
- Project Report on the Historical Background of Educational Psychology
- Project Report on the Meaning and Definition of Educational Psychology
- Project Report on the Nature of Educational Psychology
- Project Report on the Scope of Educational Psychology
- Project Report on the Limitations of Educational Psychology
Project Report # 1. The Historical Background of Educational Psychology:
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1. Ancient Indian Psychology:
History tells us that ancient Indian teachers applied some psychological principles in educating the young child from pre-school age to adolescence. They bore in mind the various developmental stages with their characteristic features, attached importance to various emotions in learning, which were stimulated by external stimuli through sense-perceptions.
They recognised the role of sense-perceptions in learning and teaching and believed that the optical sense, auditory sense, tactual sense, gustatory and olfactory senses are the gateways of knowledge. Besides sense-perception, imaginations according to educational psychology in ancient India, also played a vital role in the acquisition of knowledge. Sensations, perception and imagination pave the way for memory. Other factors, recognised in educational psychology in ancient India, include intelligence, heredity and environment .
The principles of educational psychology were applied in the teaching of arithmetic, language and other subjects – principles of imitation and repetition, meditation and reflection. But it must be noted that the process of the development of educational psychology which started from the time of the Rigveda and continued till the 12th Century A.D. was neither steady nor systematic.
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2. Plato: (427-347 B.C.):
Was the first exponent of educational psychology in the Western world. “He believed that a man was born with certain types of virtues and education helped in their expression as well as application in life.”. Plato discussed the nature of learning and the teaching of virtues. He also discussed the interaction of heredity and environment. He established a connection between learning and sensations.
3. Aristotle:
(384 – 322 B.C.) analysed the process of learning and the nature of learner. According to him the psyche or the soul was the main factor. The soul has five faculties or potentialities including the rational faculty or ability to reason. These faculties were the basis of the learning process.
4. Faculty Psychology:
The five faculties mentioned by Aristotle gave rise to faculty psychology. The word ‘faculty’ is derived from the Latin word ‘fucultas’ meaning a capacity or power to act. The theory of faculty psychology was set forth by Christian Wolff in 1734 and a related version was advanced by Thomas Reid, the Scottish philosopher.
In 1785 in the 19th century the five faculties as advanced by Aristotle were reduced to three faculties of knowing, feeling and willing. The faculty of knowing, or cognition required the help of ‘senses’. The sensory training developed imagination which in its-turn developed the power of reasoning. The power of reasoning when fully developed led to the growth of ‘will’.
5. Formal Discipline:
The theory of faculty psychology gave rise to the concept of formal discipline which stands for the belief that the mind has a number of faculties, such as memory, imagination, observation will power etc., and that these can be strengthened or trained by exercise. For example, Quintitian thought that the faculty of perception could be trained or exercised by the study of geometry. Mathematics, similarly strengthened the reasoning faculty, according to Locke.
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6. Transfer of Training:
Connected with the theory of formal discipline was the concept of transfer of training, which is one of the most important problems in the whole of the psychology of learning. It is assumed that once a faculty has been strengthened or developed by means of exercise in one field, it automatically helps the other faculties of the mind.
This transfer could be positive or negative. Positive transfer occurs when something previously learned may facilitate new learning or learning in a new situation. Negative transfer occurs when something previously learned retards or inhibits or hinders performance or learning in a new situation.
Experiments in learning with special reference to transfer of training have shown that similarly of stimuli and responses in two situations accounts for positive transfer, and a dissimilarity of responses, in which opposite or competing responses are required, accounts for negative transfer.
It was Locke who greatly expounded the theory of formal discipline and pointed out the way for transfer of training in his initial discussion on education. Later on, he developed the idea that the mind was a tabularasa (or blank state). No ideas existed before or even at the time of birth.
The mind which was considered to be blank in the beginning received impressions from the environment. The mind, he added, has power to discriminate various impressions received only those which were of use.
7. Association of Ideas:
Aristotle was the first philosopher who described this concept. David Hume and Thomas Brown further analysed this concept in the 18th and 19th centuries. According to this concept, the mind, far from being a single unit, was thought to be merely the aggregate or sum total of a large number of separate ideas, feelings and sensations. These were knit together by the process association.
But Herbart’s theory of learning based on apperception made use of this concept in a more fundamental and extensive manner. The doctrine of apperception was based on the association of ideas. This is clear from the definition of ‘apperception’ which, according to Herbart was a selective process and concerned with those ideas, which were related to the important needs and activities of an individual. The doctrine of apperception proved useful in understanding the nature of learning and brought out the importance of relationship between new and old experiences.
8. Connectionism:
Connectionism is the modified ‘associationism’. It is also called stimulus-response theory. It was developed by Thorndike (1874-1949) as a result of his experiments on the study of animal behaviour, specially that of chick. Instead of the traditional association between ideas, he talked about a more direct association between the original situation and the response. Thus behaviour was explained in terms of S.R. connections. Everything that, we do whether in thought or in action, could be explained, these situations response terms. Much of the overt behaviour in the class-room is in response to certain stimuli.
Besides considering the background of educational psychology in a general way as we have done, above it is useful to learn a little bit about the main schools or systems of psychology and their contribution towards the growth of educational psychology and their influence on education. These main systems or schools are structural psychology, functionalism in psychology, behaviourism, gestalt psychology, hormic psychology and psycho-analysis.
9. Structural Psychology:
Structural Psychology came into being under the influence of the theory of physical scientists. It stated that all complex substances could be analysed into component elements. The experimental psychologists like Wundt (1832-1920) and Tichner (1867-1927) took care from this and started searching for mental elements which composed the structure of consciousness.
Tichner thought that the ultimate elements of consciousness are sensations feelings and images. Since Tichner emphasised the structural analysis of consciousness, the school is known as structuralism. The assumption of this view-point is that human consciousness, is the sum total of various mental capacities and abilities.
The structural school of psychology has made various contributions. The main contribution of this school is the scientific method, the importance of introspection as a method of investigating various mental activities. That is why, this school is also called ‘introspectionism’. Another contribution of the structural school is, its emphasis on the training aspect of psychological observation.
The findings of this school on perception, imagination, memory and attention have provided such knowledge has been useful in the education of psychology. The mechanistic approach towards mind and its dynamic psychological processes and the emphasis on the observations made through introspection are the limitations of this school of psychology.
10. Functional Psychology:
Functional Psychology emerged as a reaction to the structural approach to human mind. William James (1842-1910), John Dewey (1859- 1952) and Angell (1869-1949) emphasised the functional aspect of mind. Mind, the said, is not so passive as it is in structuralism; it is dynamic, active and function properly. They emphasised the importance of studying psychology from the point of view of abilities and capacities or functions rather than the mere structure of consciousness.
Instead of using only ‘introspection’ the functionalists extended the experimental methods to include the ‘observation of behaviour’ – what a person does. They thought that the description and analysis of sensory experience and of mental content was not enough. More important than this was the total activity of the individual – “how he learns, how he forgets” (Morgan).
Another significant feature of functional approach is that ‘mind’ has the ability to make necessary adaptations and adjustment to the environment.
The functional psychologists have influenced education in many ways i.e., the environment in education for adjustment, the role of environment in education, the importance of activity, the study of the individual as a whole and the various human problems that arise as a result of interaction between the individual and the environment. The paramatic approach advanced by John Dewey has given an impetus to such movements in educational psychology as mental testing, individual differences and problems of adjustment.
11. Behaviourism:
The school of behaviourism appeared with Watson (1878-1958) who, being trained as an animal psychologist where objective observation of overt responses alone is possible, rejected completely the introspective method as a scientific method. He said that psychology could develop into a science only if it excluded from its study such philosophical concepts as consciousness, mind, thinking, feeling, reasoning etc., and restricted itself to an objective study of overt, observable experimental technique.
Behaviourism contended that behaviour consisted of conditioned reflexes as its elements. It laid emphasis on learned behaviour and blatantly denied the existence of instinct or of inborn tendencies. Watson also stressed the importance of animal behaviour and said that we could learn much about man by the study of animals this emphasis on the study of animal behaviour led to much of animal experimentation the results of which have been found useful in understanding human learning in educational psychology.
Watson’s studies have been found useful to a certain extent in the explanation of emotions and child behaviour. One very great contribution of behaviourism is its emphasis on. Objectivity in the experimental studies of child education.
12. Gestalt Psychology:
Behaviourism was somewhat relegated to the background when Gestalt psychology appeared on the scene in Germany in 1912. The exponents of this school were Max Wertheimer (1880-1943). Kurt Koffka (1886-1941) and Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967). These German psychologists felt that undue emphasis on analysis in psychology as advocated by structuralism and functionalism was defective because as a result the totality was lost.
In other words, they wanted to point out that in studying the parts of psychological man, there was a danger of losing sight of the whole man. The term ‘gestalt’, a German word can be explained by such English concepts as form, pattern or configuration or structure. The ‘gestalt’ system of psychology, thus, emphasises the configuration of a psychological phenomenon.
These German psychologists worked mostly on the nature of perception and the learning process. Perception they emphasised, consisted in seeing whole. Boring, Langfeld and Weld say “In looking at a square, it is the total figure that makes the square look like square, not the parts. A square is more than four black lines. It is four black lines in a particular relation to one another, and squareness really depends on the relation and not the lines.”
The human brain, they contended was capable of organising the perceptual field and to perceive organised wholes. Similarly experiments in learning showed that learning took place not by trial and error but by insight.
The gestalt psychologists were also against the behaviouristic method of study. The best method, according to them, is integrative. The “field” in which an experience occurs should be considered in its natural setting. This gave rise to the two aspects of ‘wholeness’ – the figure and the ground. The figure assumes importance in relation to the ground or the background.
The emphasis on wholeness of experience in studying children, learning by insight and problem-solving are a few contributions of gestalt psychology to educational psychology. The gestalt school has given rise to field psychology and topological psychology, which are the mere extensions of the former.
13. Hormic Psychology Purposivism:
The name of William McDougall (1871 -1938) is associated with this school. The main tenet of this school is that all behaviour is purposeful. This purpose is determined by the instincts which drive individuals into activity towards a particular goal. The school is called purposivism because of its emphasis on the purposefulness of behaviour: it is called ‘hormic’ because of its emphasis on ‘striving’ or ‘horme’ or the ‘urge’ to do a thing.
14. Psycho-analysis:
This school owes its origin to Sigmund Freud (1856- 1939), not an academic psychologist but a neurologist and a psychiatrist. It revolts against all other schools, specially those representing the academic psychology which lay emphasis on learning, perception and thinking, structuralism, associationism and gestalt school.
It regards all these schools and even purposivism as abstract and intellectualistic dealing with surface mental phenomena. Freud, the founder of this school, has given us the concept of the unconscious which he says has an enormous influence on our thoughts, feelings and actions. He has pointed our attention to the three dynamic aspects of mind -the Id, the Ego, the Superego.
He believed that all behaviour is the resultant of the dynamic conflicts believed the forces of the Id, the Superego and the Ego at the conscious or the unconscious levels of mind. Another fundamental tenet of psycho analysis is the theory of libido and psycho- sexual genesis. The psychoanalytical school has made a great impact on education; its aims, methodology and content.
It has given a great impetus to “paidocentricism” in education. The two associates of Freud, Alfred Adler (1870-193 7) and C.G. Jung (1875-1961) founded later their own schools of psycho analytical thinking. Adler’s school of psychology is known as the school of ‘individual psychology’ and Jung’s school is called ‘analytical psychology.’
Project Report # 2. Meaning and Definition of Educational Psychology:
Educational psychology, as we have said before, is one of the important applications of psychology to education – the study applied to the problems of learning and teaching. Educational psychology, as we find it today, has developed over a number of years. It has a past; various schools and systems of psychology and various theories have contributed towards its development. The knowledge of its past as well as the various schools and systems will enable us to understand its nature and scope better and more clearly.
Educational Psychology consists of two words – Psychology and Education. It is nothing but one of the branches of Applied Psychology. Educational Psychology is an attempt to apply the knowledge of Psychology to the field of education. It consists of the application of the Psychological principles and techniques to human behaviour in Educational situations.
Skinner says, “Educational Psychology takes its meaning from education, a social process and from Psychology, a behavioural Science”.
Definitions of Educational Psychology:
1. Skinner. C.E. – “Educational Psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning”.
1 Crow and Crow – “Educational Psychology, describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age”.
3. Kolesnik, Waller B. – “Educational Psychology is the application of the findings and theories of Psychology in the field of education”.
4. Peel, E.A. – “Educational Psychology is the science of Education.”
5. Stephan, J.M. – “Educational Psychology is a systematic study of educational growth.”
6. Judd, C.H. – “Educational Psychology may be defined as the science which describes and explains the changes that take place in individuals as they pass through various stages of development from birth to maturity”.
Thus, Educational Psychology, as an area of Psychological Study, is exerting a powerful influence upon the formulation of educational objectives, the construction of school curriculums and the organization of teaching-barning procedures.
Project Report # 3. Nature of Educational Psychology:
The nature of Educational Psychology is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a science of Education. Scientific method is essential in Science. Truly speaking scientific method is science.
Steps of Scientific Method:
The concept of scientific method was given by Lundberg.
Main steps of Scientific Method are given below:
1. Observation,
2. Recording,
3. Classification,
4. Generalization, and
5. Verification.
Essential Elements of Science:
Essential elements or characteristics of science are:
1. Scientific Method,
2. Factuality,
3. Universality,
4. Veracity,
5. Discovery of cause-effect relationship, and
6. Prediction.
1. Scientific Method:
Educational Psychology uses the scientific method and follows its steps viz., Observation, Recording, Classification, Generalization and Verification.
2. Factuality:
Educational Psychology is empirical and factual. Its conclusions are objective.
3. Universality:
Principles/theories of Educational Psychology are universal for example, learning is influenced by individual task and method factors, has been found to have universal validity.
4. Veracity (Validity):
Principles of Educational Psychology and valid. These principles have achieved complete validity through continuous verification and re-verification in various parts of the world, under varying conditions.
5. Cause and Effect Relationship:
Educational Psychology studies cause and effect relationship.
6. Prediction:
After establishing cause and effect relationship, educational psychology can predict the behaviour and development of the learner. Prediction can be made about learner’s future in education and in professional life by analysing his intelligence, aptitudes, interests and talents.
Hence, we can say that Educational Psychology is a Science as it has all the essential elements of Science. As regards the nature of Educational Psychological the Encyclopaedia of Educational Research mentions, “Educational Psychology is concerned with the human factor in learning. It is a field in which concepts derived from experimental work in psychological laboratories are applied to education. It is also a field in which experimentation is carried out to test the applicability of such concepts to education.”
On the basis of the elements of science the nature of Educational Psychology can be summarized as follows:
(a) Educational Psychology is an applied branch of Psychology. By applying the principles and techniques of Psychology, it tries to study the behaviour and experiences of the pupils.
(b) Educational Psychology is not a normative science as it is not concerned with the values of Education and does not concern itself with ” What ought to be”. It is an applied Positive Science.
(c) Educational Psychology employs Scientific method and adopts scientific approach to study the behaviour of an individual in educational environment. Moreover, the controlling of the factors and prediction of the behaviour on generalized results give Educational Psychology a complete scientific base. Therefore, its nature is Scientific.
(d) Educational Psychology gives a scientific attitude to the teacher. The knowledge of educational psychology makes the process of education more scientific. Educational practices and techniques have become more scientific.
(e) Educational Psychology has its own methodology.
Thus, Educational Psychology as a science helps us to understand, control and predict behaviour. It uses experimental method by controlling variables, checking and re-checking findings and stating its results in objective terms which can be verified and understood by anyone under given conditions.
1. Aims of Educational Psychology:
The nature and scope of educational psychology can be understood from the study of its aims and objectives. The general aims of educational psychology is to provide a body of facts and principles which will enable the teacher to enhance and enrich his own life and which will help him to bring about improvement in the quality of instruction, thus equipping him adequately, both culturally and professionally.
The specific aims are:
(a) To explain the nature and characteristics of the learner.
(b) To describe the nature of learning processes.
(c) To explain the manner in which these processes may be facilitated by the teacher, and in the light of these, to explain, how he or she should teach.
(d) “To assist in defining and setting up educational objectives and standards in terms of desirable behaviours (conduct, attitudes etc.) that ought to be the goal of all teaching efforts. If the teacher knows what the desired out-comes should be, he can set up appropriate situations (curricular materials, teaching procedures etc.) for bringing about the wanted changes.” -Skinner
(e) To assist the teacher in the better adjustment of children and in the prevention of maladjustments.
(f) To help the teacher in defining and planning suitable guidance programmes and functional forms of organisation and administration.
(g) To aid in developing a scientific problem solving attitude towards the problems of learning and teaching.
(h) To help in the evaluation of the outcome of the educational process.
Thus, the aim of education psychology is to apply psychological principles in the interests of better teaching and better learning.
2. Distinct from Educational Philosophy:
The nature and scope of educational psychology becomes clearer if we distinguish it from educational philosophy or education. Educational philosophy is normative in its outlook, it is concerned with aims, values, standards and ideals. It explains to us the meaning of human life in this world.
On the other hand, educational psychology is a normative science. It describes the facts of behaviour, how it develops and how it can be modified. It tells us how the aims or ideals of educational can be realised or achieved and whether they have been achieved or not or whether those aims are practicable or not.
Whereas educational philosophy tells us what true knowledge is, educational psychology explains how and when true knowledge can be and should be imparted. If the former deals with the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of true knowledge, the later is concerned with the ‘how’ and ‘when’ of it.
3. Educational Psychology and Growth:
Stephens discusses the nature and scope of educational psychology from another angle. He says, “Educational psychology is the systematic study of educational growth or development. In the study of educational psychology we try to ascertain the nature of educational growth, to learn its typical features and understand the forces which affect it.”
Educational growth covers many things. It means growth of factual material in various subjects, the growth of child’s health attitudes, general intellect, social relations and his personality. The growth of these variables implies that they are dynamic rather than static.
The teacher is intimately associated with all these dynamic variables of growth. On one hand, he stimulates educational growth, on the other; he directs and manages it to a large extent. He even tries to deal with other forces which affect educational development and adjusts his teaching to this end.
The teacher can do all this only if he has an understanding of the nature of human growth and development. Educational psychology gives him this valuable understanding. He and the school form the two important forces which are at once deliberate and conscious.
Other forces are the ‘genes’ or heredity, the home, the community and the general environment of the individual. Heredity limits the extent of this growth. The home is important because the various interactions and interrelationships that obtain therein play a vital role in the growth and development of the child.
4. Teacher-Taught Relationship:
Yet another angle from which the nature and scope of educational psychology can be understood, is the angle of the teacher and his relationship to the taught. The teachers teach the taught something. The knowledge of educational psychology makes him an understanding individual. He gains in self-understanding. He knows his assets and limitations in relation to the realisation of educational objectives.
It enriches his life by developing in him right attitudes and perceptiveness leading to a well-integrated personality. He will learn what and how much of a subject he should teach and how he should perform this task. He will, for example, learn that the subject-matter which is descriptive and concrete will be within the comprehension of young children.
He will learn that, he should proceed from the concrete to the abstract, from the simple to the complex and from the known to the unknown, in the initial stage of teaching any subject. He will realize the importance of motivation, drill, experiment and of goals in learning.
He will learn how the activity and other modern progressive teaching procedures such as the project method and play way are based on sound principles of learning. Besides, he will see the value of reviewing immediately, of spaced rather than massed practice, of knowing exact definitions, of periodic review, of efficient reading habits and of good physical and mental health.
Barnard, in this connection says, “The nature of what is to be learned (by the child) is revealed through investigation of the relative difficulty of school subjects, the meaningfulness of the material for the individual, the situations in which the material is presented and the degree of concreteness or specificity of the material. The nature of practical learning depends on the extent to which the material satisfies a need or desire of the learner.”
Above all, the study of educational psychology will impart to the teacher an understanding of the child and his behaviour. He will know about his abilities, his emotional make-up, his social attitudes, his character and habit formation, his personality, growth and development-his intellectual social and emotional growth at various stages i.e., in early childhood, in boyhood in pre-adolescence and in adolescence.
The study of educational psychology will throw light on individual differences, the changes that are brought about by growth and factors like maturity and learning. These individual differences will be studied by him in terms of age and their nature such as physical and physiological, intellectual, emotional, social and environmental and how the differences determine the quality of the child’s vocational growth.
5. Use of Psychological Tests:
The scope of educational psychology has been recently very much widened by certain specific contributions of psychology. One such contribution is the use of psychological tests in evaluations of students. Individual tests of intelligence have been found useful in the diagnosis of mental deficiency and brightness in children; and this has called for the need of different methods of teaching these children.
Group tests have been found valuable in classifying children and for purposes of group comparison. When these are combined with achievement and aptitude tests, they make a useful instrument for educated and vocational guidance. Even the use of objective report and cumulative records, which are increasingly becoming popular can be traced to the developing field of educational psychology.
6. Personality Disorders:
Another contribution of psychology is the understanding that it has given the teachers in dealing with children who show behaviour disturbances and personality disorders. It has high-lighted the importance of studying each child as an individual and has impressed on the teacher the significance of working co-operatively with such institutions as child guidance, clinics and students’ counselling centres.
7. Activity-Based Teaching:
The emphasis on such socialised techniques as discussion, seminars, panels can also be attributed to the effectiveness of the activity principles of learning that has been brought out by research on the learning and the communication processes. The problem of classroom management and of discipline is another area engaging the attention of educational psychologists.
They have told us that the best discipline is self-discipline and social discipline. Modern educational psychology has also brought out the significance of co-curricular activities for all-rounded education. It has pointed out the defects of our prevailing system of examination and marking, and has suggested ways and means of making them objective, valid, reliable and scientific.
According to Dr. Kuppuswamy, “The most important service that educational psychology has rendered to education is the inculcation of experimental outlook among the educationists.”
Because of this outlook, investigations have been carried out to find out the relationship between reading ability and intelligence or usual activity or socio-economic factors or the home conditions or the type of the reading materials used; to explore the reading interests at various stages of development, the sex-differences in reading, the effectiveness of spaced vs. massed learning and others.
Project Report # 4. Scope of Educational Psychology:
Educational Psychology as one of the branches of Psychology tries to study the behaviour of the learner in relation to his educational environment. There are three focal areas in education that concern educational psychologists and teachers – the learner, the learning process and the learning situation.
According to Crow and Crow – “The subject matter of educational psychology is concerned with the conditions, that affect learning. ”
Douglas and Holland says, “The subject-matter of educational psychology is the nature, mental life and behaviour of the individual undergoing the process of education. ”
Garrison and others:
“The subject matter (scope) of Educational Psychology is designed (1) To enhance and enrich the lives of the learners and (2) to furnish teachers with the knowledge and understanding that will help them instituted improvements in the quality of instruction.”
Process of education includes the following areas of education of the learner:
1. Learner:
It includes developmental characteristics, individual differences, heredity and environment, intelligence, personality and mental health of the learners.
2. Learning Process:
It consists of psychology of learning, motivation of learning, factors affecting learning, transfer of learning, diagnosis of learning problems and psychology of memory and forgetting.
3. Evaluations of Learning Performance or Products of Learning:
It comprises measurement and evaluation, use of statistics, conducting research on educational problems and guidance and counselling.
Hence, a course in Educational Psychology must seek to enrich knowledge and develop competence in the areas given below:
1. Individual growth and development,
2. The process of learning,
3. Motivation,
4. Personality,
5. Individual differences – Heredity and Environment,
6. Intelligence,
7. Mental hygiene’s and adjustment,
8. Measurement and evaluation,
9. Special education,
10. Use of elementary statistics in education,
11. Elementary research techniques, and
12. Guidance and counselling.
Educational psychology helps the teacher to become a better teacher. It is a pertinent question, why should educational psychology be taught to prospective teachers in training colleges?
Skinner Says, “Educational Psychology is the foundation stone in the preparation of teachers”.
Every teacher faces such problems in the classroom as how to involve students in teaching learning process, how to make him work hard, and make him interested in various learning activities etc. All these problems are basically psychological problems and can be solved by the help of educational psychology.
According to James Drever, “Psychology is an important factor. We cannot solve the problems of education without taking help of psychology”. For becoming better teacher, knowledge of psychology is indispensible. Alice Crow says, “The teacher should be prepared to apply in his teaching activities, the psychological principles that are basic to successful teaching and effective learning”.
B. Kuppuswamy in his book, “Advanced Educational Psychology says, “Psychology contributes to the development of the teacher by providing him with a set of concepts and principles.”
The superior teacher possesses the creative proficiency of an Artist, the precise attitude of a Scientist, and the perfected skill of a Craftsman.
In nut-shell Educational Psychology helps the teacher in his task in the following manner:
1. Knowledge of the self.
2. Knowledge of the Learners.
3. Selection of methods of teaching.
4. Knowledge of individual differences.
5. Adjustment and discipline.
6. Solving the problems of class-room.
7. Improvement in curriculum. (Curriculum construction)
8. Knowledge of mental health.
9. Measurement of learning outcomes. (Use of Evaluation and Measurement)
10. Co-curricular activities.
11. Improving personal relations. (Understanding of group dynamics)
12. Guidance for the education of exception children.
13. Use of Innovations.
14. Democratic administration.
15. Experiment and Research.
1. Knowledge of the Self:
Educational Psychology helps the teacher to know about himself/herself. ‘Self-analysis’ and ‘Introspection’ are very helpful in this regard. Teachers own personality characteristics, behaviour pattern, likes and dislikes, motivation, anxiety, conflicts, adjustment etc. all are revealed to him. He also learns the psychology of being a teacher and acquaints himself with the traits of a successful teacher and characteristics of effective teaching. Knowledge of Educational Psychology helps him in growing as a successful teacher.
2. Knowledge of the Learner:
Unless the teacher has some knowledge of the potentialities of the child, he cannot go ahead with his task. The teacher should know the learner’s interests, attitudes, aptitudes abilities, level of aspiration, motivational behaviour, the stage of development linked with his physical, social, intellectual, emotional needs, his conscious and unconscious behaviour, level of maturation and the aspect of his group behaviour. John Adams has rightly said in his book ‘New Teaching’— “To teach John Latin, teacher should know John as well as Latin.”
3. Selection of Methods of Teaching:
Educational Psychology has discovered several new approaches, principles and techniques of teaching which are very helpful in eliminating very traditional practices which have become indispensible in the present contest. Montessori says, “The more a teacher has the knowledge of experimental psychology the more he knows how to teach.” Recent researches made in the field of educational psychology give us valuable suggestions regarding better methods of teaching and memorising for developing a desirable habits.
4. Knowledge of Individual Differences:
Students differ from one another, physically as well as psychologically. There are Gifted Backward, Mentally retired, and Problematic handicapped children. The teacher takes advantage of this study and while paying individual attention to the students, takes advantage of his knowledge of the individual differences. From this point of view, the study of individual differences has a vital place in the field of study of Educational Psychology.
5. Adjustment and Discipline:
Knowledge of Educational Psychology helps the teacher to have a creative type of discipline as it acquints him with the nature of the child, his strength and weakness, his interests and aptitudes etc. The knowledge of Educational Psychology is very helpful in maintaining adjustment and discipline.
6. Solving the Problems of Class-room:
There may be innumerable problems like backwardness, truancy, bullying, cheating in the class-room which are to be faced by a teacher. Educational Psychology helps the teacher for solving classroom problems. The study of the characteristic of the problem children behavioural characteristics and adjustment etc. equip the teacher to solve the actual classroom problems.
7. Improvement in Curriculum (Curriculum Construction):
Cunningham says, “Curriculum is a tool (means) in the hands of the artist (the teacher), to mould his materials (students) according to his ideals (aims) in his studio (the school).” Psychological principles are used in formulating curriculum at different stages of development. Attempts are made to provide subjects and activities in the curriculum which are in conformity to the needs of the students, their developmental characteristics, learning patterns and also needs of the society.
8. Measurement of Learning outcomes (Use of Evaluation and Measurement):
Educational Psychology has produced numerous reliable tests and tools of mental measurement which are providing to be extremely useful in the field of education. In Educational Psychology Evaluation and Measurement fired its place which make the teacher well equipped in the task of evaluation with proper professional skill.
9. Co-curricular Activities:
For the harmonious and balanced development of children, there should be an adequate provision for co-curricular activities like Social Service activities, N.S.S., N.C.C., Rovering-Rangering, Scouting-Guiding, Debates, Discussions, Dramas, Games and Sports etc.
10. Improving personal relations (Understanding of Group Dynamics):
The teacher must know the operations of group dynamics in classroom teaching learning as well as total school and social environment and their effect on learning. Now-a-days the importance of social behaviour has acquired a great significance.
11. Use of Innovations:
For improving teaching learning process, several innovative ideas are being introduced now-a-days. Some of the major innovations are Microteaching, Programmed learning, teach teaching, simulated teaching and Microteaching etc.
12. Experiment and Research:
Educational Psychology helps in developing tools and devices for the measurement of various variables which influence the behaviour and performance of the learners as well as teachers. Now-a-days action researches in Education are gaining importance.
Thus Educational Psychology is a subject, which is very essential for the proper professional growth of the teachers and that is why it is an indispensable subject in the teacher training programme of all stages.
G.M.Blair in his book, ‘Educational Administration and Supervision” beautifully elucidates, “No person untrained in methods of psychological diagnosis can possibly fulfill the obligations and tasks which are the responsibilities of teachers.”
The Educational Psychologists are concerned primarily with learning and it is no exaggeration to say that the Psychology of human learning is the central core of educational Psychology.
C.E. Skinner says, “Educational Psychology is indeed fundamental to the work of the teacher.”
Project Report # 5. Limitations of Educational Psychology:
One of the ways of ascertaining the nature and scope of educational psychology is to study its limitations. The limitations of educational psychology are the limitations of psychology and of education as an applied science. On account of these limitations, a number of difficulties are encountered when we make an attempt to apply psychological facts and principles to the solution of educational problems.
These are as follows:
1. Psychology is not an exact science as is Physics and Chemistry. Moreover, the psychological phenomena are more complex and harder to study than are the phenomena of physical sciences. The psychological phenomena are the functions of living individuals. Their consent, presence and cooperation must be secured before we can conduct an experiment.
2. The problem of individual differences in psychology is a serious one. Perception memory, learning and deductive reasoning are not the same in different people. “There are age differences, sex differences and differences in a group of individuals of the same age and sex.” This means that, we cannot generalise unless we study a large number of cases. These cases have to be selected with great care so that they are representative of the group as a whole.
3. Performance of human beings varies from time to time as a result of various factors in their lives and experience. Motivation or un-recognised differences in methods of work for example, may make important differences in learning. This is not so in Chemistry or Physics. Hence, psychological results are more variable and less reliable. Consequently, educational findings suffer from a certain degree of unreliability. They have to be accepted only with qualification.
4. Experiments carried out in psychological laboratories often use animals. What we find about animals may not be true and applicable to school and college students or to the classroom situations.
5. What educational psychology tells us theoretically may not be applicable or useful in day-to-day classroom situations. Much of the success of a teacher’s work-depends largely on his natural aptitude experience and personal interaction.
6. Again, educational psychology is limited in the sense that no scientific discussion can settle all educational problems, “Even after the most exhaustive scientific treatment, there is much to be left to a consideration of norms, rights and values” which are determined by educational philosophy and other normative studies.