This question is about the validity of psychology subject in education of the educator.
In educational psychology, learning theories give good insight into the way the students learn. And once you know this, you can make the teaching-learning process 'learner centered' in real sense. It actually helps you to understand what are the needs of learner in the classroom, why he behaves in a specific way, why he responds in a way different from others and different from his own behaviour at different times. Once you understand the learner, you can design instructional strategies accordingly to make teaching-learning a successful experience.
Very simple example, when a student is not participating in the classroom activities or is less active in class, how can you decode whats going on in his mind? How can you help him and make teaching-learning more meaningful for him? The answers to such situations in class lies in educational psychology.
It is not only a physical being in a classroom but humans who are yet to understand themselves and there is more!
I have found the theory generated from psychology very useful in underpinning research and practice in education. Often research and theory from psychology can be a good starting point for approaches to pedagogy, or as foundation for analytical frames during research.
However research in the psychological domain is often experimental with closely controlled variables. This can sometimes lead to conclusions which do not relate easily to different contexts.
Research around IQ-style testing is a good example of the theory-practice dichotomy. IQ-style testing is used in schools to ‘predict’ examination achievements based on the assumption from psychological testing theory that the higher the IQ-style test score, the higher the cognitive ‘ability’ of the learner. However the predictions rely heavily on statistical models, and even when standardisation with national samples is used, the predictions tend to reflect a moderate ‘chance’ of achieving the predicted outcome. When close observation of the learner is undertaken, and the learning context is considered, the educator often arrives at alternative conclusions to those generated by IQ-style testing theories.
Nonetheless I believe that many useful theoretical perspectives have been generated by psychologists working with experimental methodology. Often they go on to develop more generalised theory which can be applied to specific learning contexts (e.g., Bruner, Paivio, Vygotsky). The practitioner can develop context specific applications of these theories to suit the learning environment and individual learner.
In educational psychology, learning theories give good insight into the way the students learn. And once you know this, you can make the teaching-learning process 'learner centered' in real sense. It actually helps you to understand what are the needs of learner in the classroom, why he behaves in a specific way, why he responds in a way different from others and different from his own behaviour at different times. Once you understand the learner, you can design instructional strategies accordingly to make teaching-learning a successful experience.
Very simple example, when a student is not participating in the classroom activities or is less active in class, how can you decode whats going on in his mind? How can you help him and make teaching-learning more meaningful for him? The answers to such situations in class lies in educational psychology.
It is not only a physical being in a classroom but humans who are yet to understand themselves and there is more!
Dear Taj Akbar,
You ask the following: Educational psychology is the most important subject in teacher profession." What are the reasons and why this opinion may be valid?
What follows is a short answer to your question.
It is surely the case that educational psychology is an important subject in teacher profession. This position was espoused, for example, for brilliant developmental psychologists and educators, such as Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, and Jean Piaget.
As I see it, education is, or shoud be, among other things, a scientific process in a double sense. In other words for a teacher/professor to be a good professional it should be well acquainted with his/her area of specialitzation. If this is not the case, then s/he is no teacher/professor at all. Actually, no teacher/professor can teach what s/he does not master to his/her students.
In addition to this, teachers/professors should be well versed in the details of the individual's psychological development. If this is not the case, teachers risk teaching to their sudents material that is much below and above their cognitive abilities. If the latter is the case, students tend, at their best, to memorize rather than to understand, reinvent and reconstruct what they "learn". For example, it would be a waste of time to try to teach the proportionality concept, for example, to a 5/6-year-old child. If the former is the case, for example, to teach the number conservation concept to a formal student in Piagetian terms, no signifificant learning occurs because the student knows, say, the point in advance. In both cases, there is no place for assimilation/accomodation in Piagetian terms. These two examples show that educational psychology plays a central role in teacher profession. Educational psychology also shows us that teachers shoud be more mentors and organizers of learning experiences and situations than simple transmitters of ready made and established truths imposed on students from outside. This means that teaching/learning is a constructive process according to which students only truly learn when they reinvent and reconstruct what they learn. In other words, education sould aim at bring about innovators and creators, not to conformist people,.
In a nutshell, teacher profession requires two requisites.
(1) Teachers have to master what they teach, the what problem of education.
(2) Teachers should be well versed in the details of the individual's psychological devevelpment, the how and the when problem of education.
I hope I have got your questions and that this helps.
Best regards
Orlando
Dear Taj Akbar,
I am more than happy to know that you appreciated my submission. No doubt, I will be in touch with you.
I believe that you can make an argument for this on the basis of the fact that none of the hard work done by academics at any level means anything if the material cannot be effectively transmitted to the next generation. Educational psychology at its finest integrates material from all aspects of the field of psychology at large and constitutes a particular meeting point of the worlds of research and application. This keeps academic work honest and it forces applied work to have to contend with the rigor of research. However, I do have a caveat, which I expressed in the last chapter of my latest text (The Phenomenology of Learning and Becoming)....educational psychology at its finest is in touch and in full contact with pedagogy and the study of the pedagogical encounter. Otherwise, it degenerates into a mechanical, dehumanized handmaiden of the biases of natural scientific psychology and the technologized, consumerist values of Western culture.
Educational psychology equips teachers with principles of assessment and evaluation of learners and the whole educational process which forms a basis for curriculum review and improvement
Eugene, I fully agree with your contention that ‘full contact’ be maintained with pedagogy. My point advanced similar thoughts where I used the term different contexts. The context is crucial to understanding how theories play out in different practices and communities.
Si la considero de gran importancia. Todo profesor debe al menos tener elementos que favorezcan y direccionen el tratamiento hacia los estudiantes. es una herramienta importante de trabajo. Hay que tener en cuenta los factores socioculturales que en ello incide y que hay que establecer limites cdo se va realizar las generalizaciones.
"La psicología educativa es el tema más importante en la profesión docente". ¿Cuáles son las razones y por qué esta opinión puede ser válida?
There are many reasons to talk about but, an abbreviated response leads me to say the following:
This science provides the basis for understanding a scientific and orderly direction of the educational process.
In it, the remaining educational sciences must be supported in order to harmonize an accessible and well-structured learning.
Educational psychology is very important in teaching and learning process. It helps to solve issues in education. In addition, it helps the teacher to understand himself/ herself and the learners. Theories in Education Psychology are important in that they give insight on issues in education.
I suppose it's important, because it can help a teacher to understand how what he does influence how students perceive. Besides, it's important to understand motivation, self-esteem etc. because without them you don't understand how to help people study well. Teaching doesn't only consist of knowing the subject, but also of knowing how to teach effectively.
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