Educational Psychology

Educational Psychology

As already discussed Educational Psychology is one of the many branches of Psychology dealing mainly with the problems processes and product of education. It is an attempt to apply the knowledge of psychology in the field of education Here we try to study human behaviour particularly the behaviour of the learner in relation to his educational environment. In other words, Educational Psychology may be defined as that branch psychology which studies the behaviour of the learner in relation to his educational needs and his environment.

Educational Psychology has been defined by various psychologists and scholar For the sake of understanding what educational psychology is, let us analyze a few important definitions.

Skinner (1958): Educational psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning.

Crow and Crow (1973): Educational psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age.

Peel (1956): Educational psychology is the science of education.

The definition given by Skinner considers Educational Psychology to be the psychology of teaching and learning, i.e. psychology applied in the field of education for improving the methods and products of the teaching—learning process. Education in its applied form is centred around the process of teaching and learning and it is this which helps the teacher in better teaching and the learner in better learning.

The definition given by L. D. Crow and Alice Crow describes Educational Psychology as that subject area of the curriculum through which one can study the development of an individual in terms of his learning achievement during his life-span. How he goes on learning as a result of interaction with his environment and how he can learn effectively is covered by Educational Psychology.

Learning, however because of its close association with experience, often said to be a great teacher, is never independent of teaching. Therefore, what we find in the process of development is nothing but a planned spontaneous scheme of teaching and learning. All our efforts and energies in the field of education directed to planning and devising the appropriate means of better teaching and effective learning. Educational Psychology is mainly meant for solving the practical problems related to the field of education, especially the process of teaching and learning.

It is these considerations which led E.A. Peel to define and describe Educational Psychology as the science of education, i.e. a discipline which can be used to improve the processes and products of education in a scientific way.

Having obtained an understanding of Education and Psychology separately, it now becomes necessary to understand what Educational psychology is? In the first place, it is one of the applied forms of psychology. When the principles of psychology are applied to a particular field of human endeavor, there is created a separate branch of psychology named after that specific field. Thus, the application of the principles of psychology to education is educational psychology.

Definitions of Educational Psychology

G.L. Anderson - Educational psychology is a subject deserving study is that field of knowledge which tells us how the laws and principles of one sphere of knowledge are supplied to the social process; it is a collection of means and techniques, and a sphere of research.

W.B Kolesnik- “Educational Psychology is the application of the findings and the theories of psychology in the field of education.”

J.M. Stephen- Educational Psychology is a systematic study of educational growth.”

C. E. Skinner- “Educational Psychology utilizes those that deal specially with the experience and behaviour of human beings in the educational situation.”

C.H Judd -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.”

Stout- “The basic principle which psychology tends to the theory of education is that new knowledge should be a development of previous knowledge.”

C.V Good- Educational psychology is (i) the investigation of the psychological problems involved in education, together with the practical application of psychological principles to education (ii) a study of nature of learning.

It has become clear from the preceding definitions and explanation that educational psychology is a practical science which takes the aid of psychology in solving educational problems. It’s field of study consists of and comprehends any and every situation in which psychology becomes applicable to education. As a discipline, it is a collection of the facts and principles of behaviour. These facts and principles are closely related to each other. In general, educational psychology means, the work in the sphere of psychology in every educational situation.
            Educational situations or circumstances are created by man. Numerous factors influence these circumstances which are the product of social reactions, specific objectives, general objectives and society’s norms and values. All these factors have a profound influence upon learning. How much children will learn, depends upon the teacher’s knowledge of psychology and his application of psychological principles. The extent to which the desired objectives have been obtained is discovered by various techniques of measurements provided by psychology, how can educational objectives be achieved the education of mentally retarded children and brilliant Children? Finding out the answer to these questions is the task of educational psychology. At the first time, this science includes analysis of professional knowledge and knowledge of human behaviour .Through it, the environment is effectively controlled for the achievement of desired objectives.

Nature of Educational Psychology

Educational Psychology is the science of education and the nature of educational psychology is nothing but scientific.

 Since Educational Psychology is an offshoot and part and parcel of Psychology, its nature cannot be different from the main subject. The following points further confirm the nature of Educational Psychology as scientific.

1. Educational Psychology possesses a well-organized, systematic and universally accepted body of facts supported by the relevant psychological laws and principles.

2. It is constantly in search of the truth. i.e. studying the behaviour of the learner in relation to his educational environment Moreover, the findings of such study are never taken as absolute and permanent. The results of any study in Educational Psychology can be challenged and are modified or altered in terms of the latest explanations and findings.

3. It employs scientific methods and adopts a scientific approach for studying the learner’s behavior. Setting of hypotheses, objective observation, controlled experimentation, clinical investigation, and generalization based on adequate similar evidences provide enough reasons for its studies to be termed scientific.

4. The processes and products of these studies are sufficiently scientific as a high degree of logical viability, objectivity, reliability and validity is maintained in carrying out the study and research n the field of Educational Psychology.

5. Educational Psychology does not accept hearsay and does not take anything for granted. It emphasizes that essentially there is some definite cause linked with a behaviour and the causes of this behaviour are not related to supernatural phenomena.

6. Educational Psychology is mostly concerned with the ‘what’ and the why’ of happenings in the present instead of caring for the pact. Therefore, in its study, it focuses attention on problems like the present behaviour of the learner, the causes of such behaviour, and the repercussions if it were to continue unchanged.

7. It is a positive science rather than a normative science and like the sciences. it does not concern itself with values and ideals. Therefore, instead of answering questions like “what ought to be”, e.g. why education should be provided and what type of education is to be provided to the children, youth or adults, it focuses attention on providing the key to the ‘how’, when’ and ‘where’ of education proving its worth as a science and technology.

8. The generalizations arrived at and conclusions reached through study of Educational Psychology are sufficiently reliable and thus the sciences, these can be used for predictions of behaviour in similar situations. R. B. Cattell, the modern psychologist, believed so much the predictable quality of these studies that he persisted in defining personality as the attribute which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation.

Scope of Educational Psychology

Educational Psychology is the science of education, which mainly deals with the problems of teaching and learning and helps the teacher in his task of modifying the learner’s behaviour and bringing about an all-round development of his personality. Therefore, while in psychology the scope of study and the field of operation are extended to cover the behaviour of all living organisms related to all their life activities, in Educational Psychology, the scope of such behavioural study has to be limited within the confines of the teaching-learning process, i.e. studying the behaviour of the learners in relation to their educational environment specifically for the satisfaction of their educational needs and the all-round development of their personality. Specifically, thus, the subject matter of educational psychology must be centred around the process of teaching and learning enabling the teacher and learners to do their jobs as satisfactorily as possible.

For improving the processes and products of the related to teaching and learning, we will have to improve all the ingredients of this phenomenon. For this purpose, the basic questions involved in the teaching learning process must be satisfactorily attended to:

Who is being taught or educated?

By whom is he to be taught or educated?

Why is education to be provided to the child or what are the values or objectives that are to be aimed at through the teaching learning process?

What is to be taught or what learning experience is to be imparted to the learner for achieving the desired educational objectives?

How, when and where should these learning experiences be satisfactorily provided to the learner for achieving the desired educational objectives?

Educational Psychology seeks to provide satisfactory solutions and answers of all the questions raised above except, the why of education as this is purely the concern of Educational Philosophy, a matter to be decided by society or the government. Therefore, all texts of Educational Psychology are loaded with material related to the other six basic questions.

Who is being educated?

The individuality and personality of the learner must be known before he is taught or subjected to behaviour modification. Therefore, topics and contents like the following, which are helpful in exploring the individuality of the learner, are to be included in the study of Educational Psychology.

The process and pattern of growth and development during different stages an individual’s life, his instincts and other innate abilities, the learned and acquired abilities, individual differences in terms of abilities and capacities and their measures such as the extent of interests, aptitudes, attitudes, intelligence, creativity are also important for personality appraisal.

By whom is the Learner to be taught?

In order to achieve the desired success in any teaching learning process, the role of the teacher can never be minimized. In fact, much depends on the competency and capability of the teacher for carrying out the desired task. Not everybody can be entrusted with the crucial task of behaviour modification and personality development of a number of children studying in a class or school. One has to make oneself capable by equipping oneself for it. For this purpose, the teacher himself must be acquainted with his own self, the expectations from him in terms of personality, characteristics, role playing and work habits. Consequently, he is required o pay attention to the following aspects, which have been included in a text of educational psychology:

1. Personality traits and characteristics of good teachers.

2. Duties and responsibilities of a teacher

3. Measures for knowing and doing away with his own conflicts, anxiety and tension

4. Teacher’s motivation, level of aspiration, adjustment and mental health.

What is to be Taught? 

Whereas the aims and objectives of providing education to the children at one or the other developmental stage are decided by Educational Philosophy depending on the needs and wishes of the society or government, Educational Psychology plays its role in deciding the type of learning experience suitable for the children at each developmental stage by keeping in view the differences in their potentialities. The subject matter of Educational psychology thus definitely covers the topics helpful in suggesting principles, methods and techniques for the selection of the learning experiences appropriate to each developmental stage of the children. It enunciates how to organize the contents or topics grade wise, giving them the shape of a syllabus or curriculum. How to cater for the individual differences and individuality of the children in framing the syllabi or curriculum also taken care of by educational psychology. The subject tries to encompass, the essential knowledge and skills for equipping the teachers to plan, select and
arrange learning experiences to the children suitable for their age, grade and
meeting their specific individual potentialities.

How are the learning experience to be provided?

Who is being taught, and what is to be taught and for what purpose? After answering these questions, another question which arises is, how should the child be given the learning experiences planned for different stages of his growth. In other words, what is to be done for the proper and effective communication between the teacher and the taught? What should be the appropriate methods and techniques of imparting education to the children? How can children be helped in the acquisition of useful learning experiences for the desirable modification in their behaviour and appropriate development of their personality? Educational Psychology tries to provide satisfactory solutions for all these questions by including relevant topics such as the following:

1.      Nature, laws and theories of learning

2.      Remembering and forgetting

3.      Means of effective learning and memorization

4.      Transfer of learning or training

5.      Sensation and perception

6.      Concept formation

7.      Interest and attitude formation thinking, reasoning and problem solving behaviour etc.

When and where are the Learning Experiences to be Provided?

   Every time and place or environmental situation is not suitable for a particular piece of instruction or the sharing of a learning experience. The effectiveness of a teaching learning programme depends largely on the suitability of the teaching learning situations in terms of time, place and other environmental factors. Educational psychology helps the teacher and the learners to understand the suitability and appropriateness of a teaching learning situation for the effective realization of the teaching-learning objectives. It also helps them to modify the teaching learning situation to achieve the desired results by giving place in its study to topics such as the following:

1.       Classroom climate

2.      Institution / organizational climate

3.      Individual, self, supervised and group study

4.      Factors affecting attention

5.      Role of rewards and punishment

Importance of Educational Psychology

Educational psychology has presented two aspects to society: (I) practical, (ii) theoretical. As a discipline, it has theoretical as well as practical importance for educators, learners and parents. In the modern age, the process of teaching cannot be successfully conducted by anyone being ignorant of educational psychology because today psychology has become the very foundation of education. In view of this, the importance of educational psychology can be elaborated as follows:

1. Child-centred education - In ancient times, the focus of education was the teacher, not the students and teaching went on regardless of the child’s interest, tendencies and aptitudes. Now, with changing times, concept of education and teaching have changed as a result, it is the child who has become the focus or centre of education. Today, syllabi and methods of teaching developed in accordance with the ability, capacity, interest and aptitude of the learner.

2. Change in the methods of teaching - In the past, the main emphasis in the process of teaching was cramming or learning by rote. Teachers then believed that cramming improved and developed the mind. However, psychological tests have established that cramming is among the most inappropriate methods of teaching. Today, many new psychologically sound methods of teaching have been evolved, which bring about the development of the powers and capacities lying in the child’s personality. These methods enable the child to express and magnifies his true capacities. Among such teaching methods are the Dalton plan, the Project method, Kindergart en and Basic education: these bring about the comprehensive development of the learner

3. Curriculum - Before the intrusion of psychology into the educational field, it was generally told that the curriculum should be a difficult one, necessitating a lot of practice on the learner’s part. That is why, traditionally, mathematics was taught by posing the most difficult questions and insisting that students practice them. In contrast, methods of teaching have changed under the impact of psychology. As Danis has pointed out, ‘Psychology has made distinct contribution to education through his analysis of pupils, potentialities and differences as revealed by means of various types of psychological tests. It has also contributed directly to knowledge of pupil-growth and maturation during school years “This explains why, today, in creating a curriculum, attention is focused primarily on the child’s interest, aptitude, growth, etc. Now, the curriculum is for the child and not the child for the curriculum.

4. Time-table - It is the consequence of the influence of educational psychology that, when a time table is being framed in a school, considerable thought is devoted to the order in which teaching of different subjects is to be arranged. In the past, no attention was devoted to children’s attention, rest, exhaustion and other factors. The timetable is framed to suit the convenience of teachers, not to confirm to the learner’s ability and capacity. Now, in framing timetables efforts are made to take into consideration such factors as climate, the interests and aptitude of children. their individual differences etc.

5. Co-curricular activities - Because of the development of educational psychology, the curriculum of today incorporates various kinds of co-curricular activities. In the past, it generally held that whatever a child did apart from studying meant a waste of time, but now this foolish conviction has been refuted. Debates, discussion, competition in essay and story writing, tours, expeditions, students union activities, games, staging of plays, music and host of other co-curricular activities have been recognized as important and this has contributed significantly to the comprehensive development of children.

6. Discipline - As soon as psychology entered the domain of education, it immediate refuted the ancient axiom-spare the rod and spoil the child. Educators have now come to believe that the use of the rod, threats and corporal punishment are the most unsuitable methods of achieving the comprehensive development of students. Psychological tests have been established that on violating laws or committing crimes, students are not afraid of punishment, but they do desire that the punishment should be in conformity with their age and position. That is why, in the modem age, if a child commits some crime within or without the classroom, the teacher, instead of making repressive use of the stick, tries to discover the causes of the deviant behaviour and then bring about a permanent cure. These methods play great emphasis upon maintaining stable and permanent discipline by relying on democratic methods.

7. Healthy Environment --- Describing a school Rahindranath Tagore, he himself had seen, mentioned that its walls were shabby and black and, it lacked both a ventilator for air and seats for the children. Today on the contrary, it is realized that for the healthy education of healthy children, it is essential to create a healthy environment, which can stimulate the children’s desire to learn. In school, efforts made to create an environment, favouring the transfer of acquired knowledge to the sphere of practical life. It should also be conductive to the mental and physical health of children.

8. Research - As educational psychology is a new science, there is ample scope for research in it, and, in fact, many research projects have already been conducted and are being conducted at present. The teachers can translate the result obtained from them into practical technique in order to increase his professional skill. These new researches increase the teacher’s loyalty and dedication to his profession and acquaint him with latest techniques of teaching. Through these, he can bring about the comprehensive development of his students.

9. Formation of opinion on educational problems - Educational psychology provides us with occasions to reflect upon, analyse, find solution and also form opinions on variety of educational problems which have given rise to many a social evil. The basis or foundation of such problems as juvenile delinquency, backwardness, problem children, indiscipline and student unrest in the school and it is the duty of teachers that these problems must be solved.

10. Measurement and evaluation -- Another sphere in which educational psychology has made valuable contributions is that of use and development of measurement and evaluation. Though these efforts are made to ensure that a child’s educational achievement and his capacities are measured accurately that an accurate assessment of his progress is made possible. The new methods of measurement have helped in removing wastage and stagnation from the field of education. Today the child’s interest, ability, aptitude and innate capacity are first measured and is then given a particular direction in which he can progress, making the best use of his innate capacities and talents. This helps the child to find the most suitable direction in life, besides; he can achieve the maximum possible development of his abilities and capacities.

11. An aid in achieving educational objectives - Overall, educational psychology concentrates upon the behaviour of the educator and the learner and thus it proves an invaluable aid in achieving the goals of education. According to Skinner- educational psychology, provide knowledge to the educator on the basis of which the educator achieves his educational objectives.

12. Emphasis upon individual differences-- In psychology, the basic unit is the individual. It does not regard similar behaviour in two individuals as the outcome of an action-reaction pattern. In a single class, while some students easily and quickly grasp something taught by one teacher, other students fail to comprehend what he says. It is obvious then, that, since students have their individual differences, they require individual teaching. It is for this reason that psychology insists upon education being imparted separately to mentally retarded, gifted, handicapped and problem children.