1.1 Introduction
The fact is that anyone who has been in a classroom has been subject to the theories and techniques that make up the field of educational psychology. This popular branch of psychology is multi-faceted because it incorporates concepts and theories from almost all of psychology, adapting them for use in educational settings.
These settings can include everything from early years' institutions, right up to college and university, but they also extend to any setting in which humans learn, such as community groups and even the family. The primary goal of educational psychology is to optimise the relationship between teachers and students, to ensure that students reach their highest potential.
Activity 1: Analysing your own educational background
Estimated time: 15 minutes
Think back to your days at primary school:
Can you remember your favourite teacher?
What made them your favourite?
Can you remember specific personality traits?
What was it about the subject that you liked the most and excelled in?
Why do you think that this was the case?
Was there a teacher whom you did not like?
Why did you not like them?
Based on your answers, what would you say are the basic characteristics of a good teacher?
1.2 What is Educational Psychology?
Educational psychology is essentially the study of how individuals learn. Once primarily focused on the development of children from infancy through to adolescence, the discipline has expanded over time, to also include the adult learning process. The field of educational psychology looks at the process by which humans learn and store knowledge, especially in educational settings, and takes into account the emotional, social and cognitive factors involved.
Although educational psychologists can use a wide variety of theoretical perspectives, in order to evaluate problems within educational settings, there are five perspectives that are commonly relied upon. These are the behavioural, developmental, cognitive, social cognitive and constructivist perspectives. Within educational psychology, there are also a number of major areas of interest or specialisation, including learning disabilities or special education, gifted learners, curriculum development/implementation and organisational learning. As a branch of psychology, educational psychology involves a number of other disciplines, including behavioural psychology, developmental psychology and cognitive psychology.
1.3 What do Educational Psychologists do?
Educational psychologists are most often employed by schools oreducational bodies. They are expected to work with teachers and administrative staff, in order to develop and implement programmes that will successfully assist student learning. Using a number of research methods, an educational psychologist can assess how learners respond to emotional, social and cognitive stimuli, as well as evaluate the range of factors that under mine individual or group learning. After analysis, they may design learning materials or a specialised curriculum.
The work of educational psychologists has been found to be of particular benefit to adults with learning disabilities, although specialists in this field are able to help people of all ages and of varying learning abilities. However, some educational psychologists devote themselves to the research side of the field and work in academia or technology development. Others may work for government agencies, in areas of nationwide curriculum development and educational policy. Among the competencies developed as part of an educational psychologist's toolkit are data analysis and evaluation, research, critical thinking, mathematics, information technology and interpersonal skills. In the UK, all practising educational psychologists must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
1.4 Educational Psychology and its Relationship to Other Branches of Psychology
Educational psychology is influenced by a number of other disciplines. Though primarily influenced by psychology itself, especially the branches that look at human development, behaviour and cognition, educational psychology also draws on neuroscience and linguistics, among other disciplines. Adapting theories and concepts from developmental, behavioural and cognitive psychologies, educational psychology is able to employ a range of perspectives or approaches in its understanding of how to improve the learning process.
Educational psychology has ancient roots, even though most of its development took place in the 20th century. The works of Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) were considered the most detailed treatment of psychological matters relevant to education in the classical Grecian period. Source: International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences
1.5 The Main Psychological Perspectives of Educational Psychology
Educational psychology mainly looks at how people learn from five different perspectives. Each perspective is governed by a certain set of assumptions about human behaviour. Most educational psychologists would agree that no one approach to understanding how humans learn isabsolute but that each one brings something different that allows for a more global view of humanbehaviour. However, in the early beginnings of educational psychology, those who adhered to a particular behavioural perspective believed it to be the only one that was truly scientific!
The Behavioural Perspective
From a behavioural perspective,
human learning is defined by two main processes of conditioning or two
different ways of interacting with the environment. In classical conditioning,
learning takes place by association, while in operant conditioning it is the
consequences of behaviour that provide the learning opportunities. When
takingbehavioural approach, an educational psychologist will look at external
stimuli and alearner's responses to them, rather than focus on what is not
observable, such as the learner's thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
From this
theoretical perspective, there must be an observable change in a learner's
behaviour, for learning to have occurred. The main influencers of behavioural
learning theories were:John Watson (1878-1958), dubbed a 'father of
behaviourism' Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), who investigated classical conditioning.
B F Skinner (1904-1990), for his work on operant conditioning and his efforts
to give the perspective an ethical groundingEdward Thorndike (1874-1949), for
the development of the law of effect
The Developmental Perspective
In the developmental perspective, learning occurs over time and either in stages or incrementally. There is a focus on the way in which children gather skills and knowledge as they grow, and there are two main theories that explain learning and development. According to discontinuous theories, learning occurs in distinct stages and is marked by qualitative differences in behaviour. In continuous theories, learning and development are lifelong processes that are incremental and gradual.
Famous psychologists who developed theories of development include:
Jean Piaget (1896-1980), considered a pioneer in child development Erik Erikson (1902-1994), who developed a theory of psychosocial development, including the concept of an 'identity crisis' Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who proposed a theory for how personality develops throughout childhood Laurence Kohlberg (1927-1987), best known for his theory of the stages of moral development.
The Cognitive Perspective
The cognitive perspective looks at how mental functions like memory, emotions, perception and beliefs affect the way that information is processed and stored. Cognition is defined as 'the mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired'. A heavily scientific approach that has grown in popularity in recent times, the cognitive perspective attempts to understand what motivates people to learn, how they remember what they learn, and how they solve problems.
Major contributors to this perspective include:
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), remembered for his sociocultural theory Noam Chomsky (1928-present), considered the 'father of modern linguistics' Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was also instrumental in the development of the cognitive psychology, proposing both a theory and stages of cognitive development
The Social Cognitive Perspective
This branch of educational psychology states that people can learn simply by observing the behaviour of others. From this perspective, learners define goals and direct their behaviour, in order to achieve them. Social cognitive learning is an internal process that may or may not have a direct impact on behaviour, even if learning has occurred. According to advocates of the social cognitive perspective, the act of observing others receiving rewards and/or punishments can have an indirect influence on the observer's behaviour. The major theorist of social cognitive psychology is 92-year-old Albert Bandura. He is best known for his social learning theory, which states that people learn from one another by observing and modelling and imitation.
The Constructivist Perspective Also known as constructivism, the constructivist perspective takes into account how social and cultural influences impact on learning. In this model, learners are responsible for their education, and teachers only facilitate the process. The learner is considered to be autonomous, creative and innovative. In the constructivist approach, learners are encouraged to discover the truth about their environment and their world, by using their background, culture and view of the world as lenses.
Major contributors to constructivist psychology include:
John Dewey (1859-1952), considered 'one of the fathers of functional psychology' and the originator of a philosophy of pragmatism Maria Montessori (1870-1953), best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name David Kolb (1939-present), known for the development of experiential learning, including a learning styles inventory. Ernst von Glasersfeld (1917-2010), known for his model of radical constructivism
Activity 2: How do you learn?
Estimated time: 15 minutes
Looking at the main educational psychology perspectives, which ones describe something you already believe about the way in which you learn?
For instance, do you think of yourself as being responsible for what you learn, or is that the role of the teacher?
Do you believe that your childhood in some way affects your ability to learn or retain information now?
Are you a product of your conditioning, or do you believe that your culture and background colour the way in which you see the world?
Can you see that you have already been influenced by educational psychology perspectives?
You will delve more deeply into behavioural, cognitive, developmental and constructivist perspectives in modules 3, 4, 5, and 6.
1.6 Major Topics of Interest within Educational Psychology
Those who study educational psychology can pursue a specialisation among a number of major topics of interest. These include the following.
Educational Technology
Specialising in educational technology means focusing on the research and development of technology that can be used to achieve educational goals.
Fact
A 2017 survey by Echo360 found that 84% of students believed that a combination of classroom-based and online study improved their understanding of course concepts. Source: Echo360 Instructional Design This area of educational psychology utilises a range of testing and research methods, in order to first analyse the condition and needs of learners. The analysis is then used to design, develop and implement an instructional experience with a stated learning outcome. At the evaluation stage, the intervention would be considered successful, if it had managed to make knowledge and skill-acquisition more efficient, effective and enjoyable.
Special Education
Specialising in special education gives educational psychologists the opportunity to undertake more advanced study in research and practice methods for working with learners with special needs. Focus on this area is about developing inclusive educational practices for students with learning disabilities, suffering from sensory impairment or chronic health conditions, intellectual or physical disabilities, as well as emotional and behavioural disorders. The topic of special education may also look at the learning needs of students who are gifted.
Curriculum Development
As a specialisation, curriculum development is an in-depth study of curriculum models and learning theories, as well as the use of scientific research methods for the generation and analysis of data, to guide the development of curricula. It is possible to further specialise in this area and focus on areas like educational policy and language in education.
Organisational Learning
Organisational learning is about ensuring that organisations learn from their experience, so that they can stay competitive in the ever-evolving world around them. In this area, learning theories and concepts are used to design processes that create, capture, retain and transfer knowledge within an organisation. The aim of the resulting knowledge base is often increased efficiency, accuracy andprofit.
Module Summary
Serving as an overview of educational psychology, this module sought to offer a workable definition of this branch of psychology and a summary of its main influences, including contributing academic disciplines, areas of focus and major theorists. Some insight into what educational psychologists do preceded an exploration of some of the main perspectives they use, in order to analyse how people learn and retain knowledge. The fact that educational psychologists are most often employed in educational settings - although they can be found in academia and government, as well as research and development - was discussed. This was followed by an overview of five theoretical perspectives: behavioural, developmental, cognitive, social cognitive and constructivist perspectives. A look at some of the areas in which educational psychologists could specialise came next. Among the major topics of interest in this field of psychology were: educational technology, instructional design, special education, curriculum development and organisational learning. Having completed this module, you should have an understanding of the variety of ways in which educational psychologists optimise the learning experiences of students of all ages and abilities.
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