NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
Meaning The word psychology was used for the first time in 1590 by Rudolf Geockle. It is made up of two Greek words: “Psyche” which means ‘soul’ and “logos” which means ‘study’ or ‘science’. Therefore, literally psychology means “science of soul”. 1. Science of Soul: In the beginning psychology continued to be studied as the science of soul. But such an inscrutable and imperceptible object as the soul has not been discovered or identified yet. Scientists have failed to locate and identify the entity of soul. Therefore this definition of psychology as the science of soul was not accepted. 2. Science of Mind: Later Psychology was considered as the “science of the mind”. This definition too gave rise to such questions as: Can the mind be studied scientifically? How can the functioning of the brain be rendered concrete? Can it be studied in the laboratory? Secondly, it is not clear what is mind. It can be interpreted in various ways. So, this definition of psychology also was abandoned as it was unacceptable. 3. Science of Consciousness: Man is a conscious being and because of this consciousness he reacts to the environment. Therefore, Psychology was considered ‘a science of consciousness. Psychologists have established that consciousness does not have any impact upon behaviour and psychology studies not merely the consciousness but also the sub-conscious and the unconscious. Therefore, this definition of psychology also was not acceptable. 4. Science of behaviour: At the beginning of 20th century as a result of many new hypotheses psychology was called ‘the science of behaviour’. Broadly, anything that an organism does, including overt physical action, internal physiological and emotional processes and implicit activity is called behaviour. In fact action, reaction and interaction is called behaviour. It includes all the activities of an organism which can be observed by another person or by means of an experimenter’s instruments. Thus, as Woodworth ironically puts it – “First psychology lost its soul, then it lost its mind, then it lost its consciousness, it still has behaviour of sort.”
Definition o Psychology is the science of human behaviour - W. B. Kolesnik o Psychology is the study of adjustments of organism, especially the human organism to changing environment - C.V. Good. o Psychology is the scientific study of the activities of the individual in relation to his environment - Woods Worth. o Psychology is the study of human behaviour and human relationships -Crow and Crow. o Psychology gives scientific analysis of the working of human mind –Russell. o Psychology as a discipline falls in the category of pure sciences: 1. It is empirical; experimental. 2. It is a systematic study. 3. It uses measurements and tools of measurement. 4. It arrives at generalizations, principles, laws and theories. 5. It has definitions of terms. o Psychology is an art. The application of knowledge to practical problems is an art.
METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is considered as a science. Scientific methods are now used in Educational Psychology. The most important methods are following:
1. Introspection: In the ancient times, introspection was used for studying educational psychology. Introspection means ‘looking inside oneself’. According to Titchener “seeing inside oneself is introspection”. In this method, we attempt to see our own mental processes. We use this method often in our daily life. Merits: o In this method, the psychologist does not need any laboratory. o The second advantage is that no economic means is required for it. o The mental processes cannot be studied by any other method; their study is possible by only this method. o We can use this method anywhere; it doesn’t require any special arrangements. Demerits: o Some psychologist stated that introspection is an impossible mental activity. o In this method, the observer and observed material are one and the same. o Introspection is an unnatural mental process. 2. Observation: The second important method of educational psychology is observation. In introspection man studies his own mental process, in observation he studies the behaviour of another person to find out his mental condition. Careful study of a manner, activity or behaviour using ones sense organs is called observation. It can be used to study several mental activities and these studies are quite standardized too. Observation has important role in educational psychology. Observation helps much in studying the external behaviour of a person or group. Merits: o It is a simple method; it does not have the complexity of other method. o It is an authentic (reliable) method of receiving knowledge. o It is the most helpful in studying the behaviors of children, animals and abnormal people. o It can be used to study several people together. o This method is extremely reliable and the conclusions derived from this method are more real than other method. Demerits: o The person or child observed by it becomes conscious of it and he does not allow surfacing his common behaviour and natural form. o It is doubtful, if the behaviors of an abnormal or faulty person are possible or not. o Some times we can not observe the innate character. 3. Interview: It is one of the oldest and most widely used and is also very popular due to its simplicity and flexibility. There are two types of interviews namely, Formal and Informal Interviews. 4. Experimental method: The most reliable and scientific method of educational psychology can be termed as the experimental method. According to Jahoda, “Experiment is a method of testing of imagination”. According to Eysenck, “Experiment is in which variables are increased or decreased as per plan to observe them. The method based on the planned experiments of this kind is called the experimental method”. In this experimental method there are two groups are involved. 1. Control group 2. Experimental group Merits: 1. This is most scientific and objective method. 2. The result will be more accurate. 3. We can conduct in physical sciences which or generally conducted on inorganic or dead subjects. 4. We can prove at anywhere. So that it has more reliability. Demerits: 1. It is a costly and time-consuming method. 2. We cannot perform experiments for all the problems that are raised in the subject matter of psychology. 3. Behaviour under laboratory controlled conditions may be or is different from spontaneous or natural behaviour. So it becomes artificial when produced in laboratory. 5. Differential method: It is based on individual differences. It is also called as normative survey method or the field survey method. The statistical techniques become the major devices for studying individual differences, so that it is also called Statistical method. There are two types of main approaches or designs, which are made into use in differential method. They are, I. Correlation method II. The Longitudinal and Cross-sectional method 6. Clinical method: It is used primarily for diagnosing and treating a problem case and is used extensively in abnormal psychology and educational psychology. The concept of this method is contained in the concept of clinical psychology. It is the art and technology of dealing with the adjustments problem of the individual. Merits: 1. Clinical method is applicable to an individual case. 2. It is an art as well as science and a technology. 7. Case Study: A case study is an In-depth intensive investigation of an individual or a small group of people. Case studies often include psychological testing, a procedure in which a carefully designed set of questions is used to gain some insight into the personality of the individual or group being studied. BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY: The various branches of psychology are, 1. Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive Psychology is a framework in which to understand the mind more than a subject area although it has traditionally focused on certain aspects of psychology. Perception, learning, problem solving, memory, attention, language and emotions are all well researched areas. Cognitive Psychology is based on a school of thought known as cognitive. 2. Clinical and Counseling Psychology: Clinical Psychology is the application of psychology to the understanding, treatment and assessment of psychopathology, behavioral or mental health issues. Clinical psychologists may focus on the clinical management of patients with brain injury. This is known as clinical neuropsychology and typically involves additional training in brain function. 3. Developmental Psychology: It seeks to understand how people come to perceive, understand and act within the world and how these perceptions change as we age. This may focus on intellectual, cognitive, neural, social, or moral development. Developmental psychologist also study other times of rapid change such as adolescence and old age. 4. Educational Psychology: Educational psychology largely seeks to apply much of this knowledge and understand how learning can best take place in educational situations. 5. Health Psychology: Health psychology is concerned with the psychology of a much wider range of health related behaviour including healthy eating, the doctor patient relationship, a patients understanding of health information and beliefs about illness. Health psychologists may be involved in public health campaigns, examine the impact of illness or health policy on quality of life or in research into the psychological impact of health and social care. 6. Industrial and Organization Psychology: Involved with the application of psychology to the world of business, commerce and the function of organizations, industrial and organizational psychology focuses to varying degrees on the psychology of the workforce, customer and consumer. 7. Neuropsychology: Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relates to specific psychological processes. Often neuropsychologists are employed as scientists to advance scientific or medical knowledge. It is the application of neuropsychology for the clinical management of patients with neurocognitive deficits. 8. Social Psychology: Social psychology aims to understand how we make sense of social situations. Social cognition is a common approach and involves a mostly cognitive and scientific approach to understanding social behaviour. Social psychology is also called Group psychology. 9. Experimental Psychology: In this branch of psychology, scientific experiments are carried on in controlled or laboratory situations to study mental processes and behaviour. 10. Environment Psychology: It considers the relationship between people and their physical environment including how our physical environment affects our emotions and the amount of stress we experience in a particular setting. 11. Para psychology: It is one of the recent developments of psychology and concerned with extra sensory perception, telepathy and allied problems. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY Meaning: Educational psychology is combination of two words ‘Education’ and ‘psychology’. It is one of the branches of applied psychology. It consists of the applications of the psychological principles and techniques to human behaviour in educational situations. In general, educational psychology is a study of the experiences and behaviour of the learner in relation to educational environment. Educational Psychology has a very short history. It has developed only recently. Previously, it was simply an application of the principles of General Psychology to Education. It took a definite shape only in 1920. Since then, it is a separate and independent science having its own field of investigation. It is only in its infancy. EDUCATION: Meaning The word ‘education is derived from its Latin root o “educere” which means to lead out, to draw out – the innate capacities in man. o “educare” means to bring up, to raise – from one level to another. o Also “educatum” means the act of teaching/training. o ‘E’ means ‘from inside’ and ‘Duco’ means ‘to bring out’. Definitions o Education is the manifestation of perfection already present in man - Swami Vivekananda o By Education, I mean, an all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man – body, mind and spirit - Mahatma Gandhi. o Education is a process by which the child makes the internal external - Froebel. o Education is life; Life is education - John Dewey. o Education is a natural, harmonious, progressive development of man’s innate powers – Pestalozzi. Life is a long continuous process of learning and adjustment, of interaction between the individual and his environment, and education may be defined as the changes brought about in the individual as a result of that interaction. In a very broad sense all life is education and the individual continues to learn throughout his life. Education is to facilitate, to ease and to further this process. Education is growth and development. It is a process in which, and by which, the knowledge, character and behaviour of the young are shaped and moulded.
DEFINITIONS OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: o Educational psychology is (i) the investigation of psychological problems involved in education, together with the practical application of psychological principles to education (ii) a study of nature of learning - C.V. Good. o Educational Psychology is a systematic study of educational growth - J.M. Stephon. o Educational psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning – Skinner. o Educational psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age -Crow and Crow. NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY o Educational Psychology is an applied form of psychology. The application of the principles of Psychology to education is Educational Psychology. It is the basic science of Psychology used to help to solve the practical problems of education. o Educational Psychology is a practical science, the utility of which is measured by the changes brought about in behaviour through education. o Educational Psychology became a positive science after adopting the principles of psychology. o Educational Psychology is helpful in the achievement of the practical ideals of life. o Educational Psychology is a field of knowledge with which students, teachers and parents must be familiar. o Educational Psychology is a systematic study. o Educational Psychology collects facts and data using the scientific methods especially through observation of phenomenon under natural and under controlled conditions. o Educational psychology is an applied branch of the subject psychology. o Psychology deals with all the behaviour of all individuals. But educational psychology deals only the behaviour of the students. o It gives the technical guidance to the pupil in a satisfactory way. o Educational psychology is not a perfect science. o It employs scientific method and adopts scientific approach to study the behaviour of an individual in educational situation. o Educational psychology mainly focused the following concept, 1. The learner 2. The teacher 3. The learning process 4. The learning experiences and learning Situation
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY IS DIFFERENT FROM GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY: The field of General Psychology is wider. It deals with every kind of human behaviour and with every kind of problem related to life. All forms of life processes, adjustments, activities and experiences of the organism may become the scope of General Psychology. Educational Psychology deals with the behaviour and experiences which are related to education only. It selects from the whole field of General Psychology those facts and principles that are specific to teaching and learning. In other words, General Psychology is basically academically oriented and consists of general principles of behaviour. Educational Psychology is professionally oriented and interested in finding out practical solutions to educational problems. Thus, Educational Psychology is just a specialised branch of General Psychology. SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: Educational psychology is a practical science which takes the aid of psychology in solving educational problems. Its 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. It studies human behaviour in the educational environment. In 1945, the Department of Educational Psychology in the American Scientific Council set up a committee to determine the field of Educational Psychology. After numerous surveys and considerable thought the fields of educational psychology were determined as follows: 1. Human Growth and Development: The field of educational psychology comprehends within itself the scientific study of the various stages in human development. It studies the process as well as the stages of this development. It studies: o Heredity and environment. o General growth and development. o Social, mental and emotional development o Motivation o Individual differences on the basis of knowledge. o Intelligence, aptitudes, interests and o Frames programmes for guidance. 2. Learning: In this sphere educational psychology undertakes the study of the many activities involved in a child’s learning, i.e., the principles underlying such learning and various factors which influence learning. o General nature of learning o Factors influencing learning o Motivation and devices in teaching o Skills o Reasoning and problem solving o Attitude o Learning of particular school steps o Transfer of training. 3. Personality and Adjustment: Educational Psychology also makes a study of the personality of students and teachers as well as the problems related to them. An individual’s personality is not the outcome of one factor, cause or tendency but a product of many different traits. Educational Psychology, therefore, comprehends the study of such problems as the formation or development of personality. o Emotions o Mental life of the pupils o Mental health of the teacher. o Exceptional children o Social interaction o Character. 4. Measurement and Evaluation: Educational psychology pays considerable attention to the measurement of the educational achievement, determination of standards, etc. In this context it also makes a study of: o Measurement of intelligence an aptitudes. o Measurement of learning o Measurement of adjustment o Applications on results of measurement o Measurement of changes resulting form evaluation. 5. Techniques and Methods of study: Educational psychology as a discipline is still in its developmental stage. The existing methods of study have been found to be wanting in many situations. Hence, one major sphere of concern for educational psychology is the development of new methods and their establishment as standard techniques; for – o Scientific study of educational problems o Statistical techniques o Implementation of research for the class-room teacher.
In short, whatever is educational or whatever touches the child in his class-room behaviour comes within the scope of educational psychology. All the above 5 areas come within the scope of educational psychology.
UTILITY / IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY Educational Psychology has two aspects: (i) Theoretical (ii) Practical. As a discipline it has theoretical as well as practical importance for educators, learners and parents. Educational Psychology helps teachers in accomplishing the following aims which are also its goals and objectives. Firstly, Educational Psychology aims at helping the teacher in widening and enriching his own personal life by the enrichment of his knowledge, by the edification of his thought level, by modification of his attitudes, his goals, his ideals, his standard of values, his conduct and his feelings. It develops a sense of realization in the educator. It helps the teacher to cultivate in him right attitudes towards human development and pupil learning. In this way educational psychology tries to discharge the cultural aim. Secondly, educational psychology aims at helping the teacher in bringing about improvement in the quality of his instructions and in promoting increased improvement in the teaching services at schools. It trains the teacher professionally. It aims at promoting effective learning and teaching and at fostering the growth and development of wholesome personality and thereby changing social order. It enables the educator to understand the human nature better. It helps a teacher to motivate the child effectively and direct him suitably towards learning and growth. It helps the teacher with the information and suitable methods to improve his teaching skills, and ensure desirable growth in the personality of the pupil. This is the professional aim of educational psychology. Educational Psychology has helped the teacher by providing him with a point of view on the educational process, on educational product and on educational situations of the learner. Without the knowledge of these a teacher would have groped in the dark. Educational psychology has endowed the educator with an appreciative mind with which he is able to maintain an atmosphere in the class-room that is conducive to good mental health in pupils. The importance and usefulness of educational psychology can be elaborated in the following areas: 1. Child-centered education: In ancient times the focus of education was the teacher, not the students. Teaching went on regardless of the child’s interest, tendencies and aptitudes. Now the concepts of education and teaching have changed. It is the child who has become the focus and centre of education. Today, syllabi and methods of teaching are 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 on cramming or learning by rote. Teachers 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 magnify his true capacities. Among such teaching methods are the Dalton plan, the Project method, Kindergarten, Basic education – which bring about the comprehensive development of the learner. It has provided the “non-directive” point of view to the class-room teacher. 3. Curriculum: Before the intrusion of psychology into the educational field, it was generally told that a curriculum should be a difficult one, necessitating a lot of practice on the learner’s part. So, traditionally mathematics was taught by posing the most difficult questions. Methods of teaching have changed under the impact of psychology. Psychology has made a distinct contribution to education through its analysis of pupils’ potentialities and differences as revealed by means of various types of psychological tests. Today in creating a curriculum attention is focused primarily on the child’s interest, aptitude, growth, maturation, etc. It is evident in the scheme of Basic education in India and in Pragmatic education of Dewey in the United States. Curriculum has become child-centered rather than subject-matter-centered. Today the curriculum is for the child and not the child for the curriculum. 4. Time-Table: As a consequence of the influence of educational psychology, when a time-table is being framed in a school, considerable thought is devoted to the order in which teaching of different subjects is arranged. In the past no attention was devoted to children’s attention, rest, exhaustion and other factors. The time table was framed to suit the convenience of teachers, not to confirm to the learners’ ability and capacity. Now in framing time tables efforts are made to take into consideration such factors as climate, the interest 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 was 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 a 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 immediately 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. That is why in the modern 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 lay a great emphasis upon maintaining stable and permanent discipline by relying on democratic methods. 7. Healthy Environment: Rabindranath Tagore, describing a school he 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 being 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 are made to create an environment favouring the transfer of acquired knowledge to the sphere of practical life. It should also be conducive 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 result obtained from them can be translated into practical technique by the teachers 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 a 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. Efforts are made to ensure that a child’s educational achievement and his capacities are measured accurately and an accurate assessment of his progress is made possible. The new methods of measurement have helped in removing wastages and stagnation form the field of education. Today, the child’s interest, ability, aptitude and innate capacity are first measured and he 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. 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. 12. An aid in achieving educational objectives: On the whole, educational psychology concentrates upon the behaviour of the educator and the learner and thus proves an invaluable aid in achieving the goals of education. According to Skinner educational psychology provides knowledge to the educator on the basis of which the educator achieves his educational objectives.
Educational psychology is useful in: 1. Educational administration 2. in the curriculum 3. in the teacher training. It helps to answer question: (i) How of the learning process (ii) Why of the learning process (iii) What of the learning process (iv) When of the learning process. The impact of educational psychology on the teacher and the teaching process has been varied and deep. Without its help education will be non-psychological and lack romantic and human background. In sum educational psychology has given a new direction to education. In fact, it has given rise to a revolution. IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TO TEACHERS: 1. To know the learner: Educational psychology helps the teacher for understanding the child in the following different ways: • Students interest, attitudes, aptitudes • the stages of development • adjustment problems • creativity and motivation pattern • level of aspiration • his conflicts and mental health
2. To select and organize the subject matter or learning experiences: The teacher should know the characteristic of the learner at each stage of his development, the nature and laws of learning. 3. To suggest art and techniques of learning as well as teaching: Educational psychology explains the process of learning and suggests the means for effective and permanent learning. It also suggests that not a single method or technique is suitable for all kinds of learners in all circumstances. A teacher should select a proper device or method according to the learning situations. 4. To arrange learning situations or environment: The educational psychology helps the teacher for taking care of the desirable learning situations or environment. 5. To explain him with the mechanism of heredity and environment: The growth and development of the students is very essential for the teacher. So that, the teacher can teaches according to their mental ability. 6. Helping in maintaining discipline: It helps the teacher to have a creative type of discipline as it acquaints him with the nature of the child, his strength and weakness. 7. Giving Guidance and Counseling: Educational psychology helps the teacher to give guidance and counseling to the students. The guidance may be educational, personal and vocational. With the help of the educational psychology, the teacher can show the right direction to his pupils for their total development. 8. Helping in Evaluation and Assessment: In educational psychology, as applied behavioural science, evaluation, measurement and appraisal find its place which makes the teacher well-equipped in the task of evaluation with proper professional skill. 9. Solving Class-room problems: The study of the characteristic of the problem children, the dynamics of the group, behavioural characteristics and adjustment etc. equip the teacher to solve the actual class-room problems. 10. Knowing about himself: It helps the teacher to know about himself. His own behaviour pattern, personality characteristics, likes and dislikes, motivation, anxiety, conflicts, adjustment etc. the teacher also learns the psychology of being and characteristics of effective teaching.
