Introduction:
It is a well-known fact that the study of educational
psychology has influenced the educative process in many ways. Keeping into consideration the importance, the teaching of educational psychology has been made compulsory in teachers training programme to equip the prospective teacher with the necessary skills and competencies to enable him to deal effectively with teaching-learning problems of the class.
It is a common experience of most of us that teachers with equal academic qualifications differ to a great extent in communicating their ideas effectively in the class. Thus it may be said that it is not the knowledge of the subject matter alone which makes good teacher. The difference may be attributed to lack of knowledge of educational psychology he, the knowledge of the learners. their abilities, stages of development and the influence of environment.
The present chapter deals with the introduction of educational psychology.
1.1- Meaning of Psychology:
The word Psychology is derived from two Greek words
Psyche and Logos. Psyche means soul and Logos means science. Thus psychology was first defined as the "science of soul". According to earlier psychologists. the function of psychology was to study the nature. origin and destiny of the human soul. But soul is something metaphysical. It cannot be seen, observed and touched and we cannot make scientific experiments on soul. So modern psychologists do not accept this definition.
Psychology was also defined by some psychologists as the "Science of Mind*. William James (1892) delined psychology as the science of mental processes. But the word 'mind' is ambiguous. It may mean the soul or mental processes or mental substance. There are also confusions regarding the nature and functions of mind. So modern psychologists discarded this definition.
Some other psychologists defined psychology as the Science of Consciousness". James Sully (1884) defined psychology as the "science of the inner world*. Wilhelm Wundt (1892) defined psychology as the science which studies the 'internal experiences. Modern psychologists believed that there are different levels of the inner world or internal experiences.
These levels are: Conscious. Subconscious and Unconscioas. The unconscious dominates most of our actions. thoughts and feelings. The conscious plays a very negligible role in our thoughts, feelings and actions. It we study only the conscious experiences and actions. If we study only the conscious experiences and ignore the unconscious experiences our study will be incomplete. So the definition that psychology is a science of consciousness is not accepted by modern psychologists.
It is said that psychology first lost its soul. then its mind and then its consciousness. At present only its behaviour ex-ists. This leads to another definition of psychology which is accepted by modern psychologists. William MeDugal (1905)
defined psychology as the "Science of Behaviour", W.B.
Pillsbury (1911) and J.B. Watson (1912) also defined psychology as the science of behaviour. Behaviour generally means overt activities which can be observed and measured scientifically. But one's behaviour is always influenced by his experiences. So when we study one's behaviour we must also study his experiences. Psychology should, therefore, be defined as a "science of behaviour and experiences of human beings"
Behaviour is a response pattern in reaction to a stimulus in the environment. In other words, behaviour always occurs in a given environment. Psychology should, therefore. be defined as a scientific study of the experiences and behaviour of the individual in relation to his environment. We will accept this definition for purpose of our study
Psychology has a very wide scope. It has a number of branches and is applied in a number of fields. The various branches and fields of psychology can be grouped under two heads-General and Applied. These general and applied branches of psychology are as follows:
General Branches:
1. General Psychology
2. Abnormal Psychology
3. Child Psychology
4. Physiological Psychology
5. Animal or Comparative Psychology
6. Social Psychology
7. Differential Psychology
8. Para Psychology
Applied Branches:
1. Clinical Psychology
2. Military Psychology
3. Industrial Psychology
4. Psychology of Business Management
5. Crime Psychology
6. Educational Psychology.
1.2- What is Education?
The term Education has also been variously understood and defined by experts. The concept of education is dynamic.
It is concerned with the growing individual in an ever-growing society. It is, therefore, a continuous process.
Education is related to time and space. As such it has passed through different ages and stages. Its concept is still in the process of evolution and it will never come to an end.
Education is chiefly concerned with the development of man, the modification of his behaviour. Its main province is total individual and it aims at equipping him in the art of. living. According to Drever, 'Education is a process in which and by which the knowledge, character and behaviour of the young are shaped and moulded. Education also helps the individual to have adiustment with the environment--physi-cal and social.
The most comprehensive definition of the term Education is given by Redden in these words: "Education is the deliberate and systematic influence exerted by the mature person upon the immature. through instruction, discipline and harmonious development of physical, intellectual, aes-thetic, social and spiritual powers of the human being, according to individual and social needs and directed towards the union of the educand with his Creator as the final end."
1.3-Relationship Between Psychology and Education:
The meaning and nature of Educational Psychology can be best studied when we understand the relationship between the terms 'Psychology and "Education". Psychology, as we know, is the science of behaviour. It is the science which gives us "better understanding and control of the behaviour of the organism as a whole." Education, in its simplest meaning, implies the modification of behaviour. In order to modify behaviour, the educator must know how a certain child behaves in a certain situation and why he behaves as he does behave. It in this sense that psychology and education are inter-related. What psychology studies are used by education for its purpose?
To day, education implies many more things than mere knowledge. It is not only the modification of the individual's behaviour or the harmonious development of the personality of the child but is also a "phase of social process" which enables an individual to become an enlightened member of the society. Modern concept of education is dynamic in its nature and aims at modifying human behaviour in terms of changing goals and objectives.
1.4-Definition and Nature of Educational Psychology:
There is an ever-increasing awareness that almost all educational problems are ultimately the problems of psychol-ogy. This means that Education and Psychology are intimately and inseparably connected with each other. Psychology is the study of human behaviour and Education is a process aiming at the modification of human behaviour. Thus both deal with human behaviour. Psychology studies human behaviour as it can be modified. Thus, Psychology and Education are just the two sides of a coin. Educational Psycho-ogy is, therefore, that branch of educational problems, which deals with human behaviour and its modification.
• Definition of Educational Psychology
- Skinner's View
According to skinner,
"Educational Psychology deals
with the behaviour of human beings in educational situation.
2. Stephens' View
According to Stephen, "Educational Psychology is the systematic study of the educational growth and development of a child'
3. Judd's View
Judd is of the view that educational psychology is that science which "explains the changes that take place in the individual as they pass through the various stages of development"
4. View of Walter B. Kolesnik
According to Kolesnik, Educational Psychology is "the study of those facts and principles of psychology which help to explain and improve the process of education.
5. View of Peel
According to Peel, educational psychology broadly deals with the nature of learning, the growth of human person-ality, the difference between individuals and the study of the pérson in relation to society. It is the science of education.
6. View of Crow and Crow
Educational Psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age.
7. Trow's View
Educational Psychology is the study of the psychological aspects of educational situation.
8. Anderson's View
G. Lester Anderson has viewed educational Psychology as an academic discipline. Accordingly, educational psychology
⁃ is focussed on human behaviour:
⁃ is a body of facts and information, gathered after observation, which can be generalised into principles or theories;
⁃ has a scientifically developed methodology to investigate and arrive at useful solutions of the problems in hand.
The information, knowledge and principal methodologies constitute the content of Educational Psychology. They, in turn, provide a basis for modern educational theory and practice.
Thas, Educational Psychology is the body of scientific knowledge about two activities--education and psychology.
Its subject matter is concerned with the conditions that affect learning.
• Nature of Educational Psychology
The true nature of Educational Psychology may be gathered from the following points:
An Applied Science
Educational psychology is an applied science; or we may say, applied psychology, because, it is the application of psychological principles to the field of education.
A Positive Science
Educational psychology is a positive science and not a normative science. This means that it just explains the educational facts as they are and does not pass judgements over them. Thus, it studies the laws of child's nature as they are and has nothing to do with ought to be'.
A Social Science
Educational psychology is a social science. Though Educational psychology studies the individual from the educational point of view, its results are applicable to all the individuals, or at least to a group of individuals. Thus, this science has social implications.
An Educational Science
By its very implications, Educational psychology deals with educational problems only. Thus, while general psychology deals with the behaviour of the individual in various spheres, educational psychology studies the behav-our of the individual in educational sphere only.
A Specific Science
The science of psychology is somewhat general in na-ture. It studies the human mind in its entirely. Educational psychology selects from the total field of general psychology only those facts and principles that are of specific significance and utility for the process of learning and teaching.
A Practical Science
Educational psychology is not merely speculative in nature with no relevance to the world of reality. It is rather utilitarian and practical in nature. The educator and the teacher make use of the knowledge of educational psychology at every step. In fact, effective teaching is impossible without the knowledge of educational psychology.
A Growing and Developing Science
The science of educational psychology is ever growing due to constant researches in this field. This science deals with human nature, which is too deep to be probed fully. New facts about human nature are therefore coming to the fore on account of researches in this filed. Thus, the science of educational psychology is ever growing and developing..
An Academic discipline
G. Lester Anderson is of the view that educational psychology is an academic discipline. It is so since it is fo-cussed upon the human behaviour. Its results can be summa-rised or generalised into principles or theories. The informa-tion, the knowledge, its principles. its methodology--all that constitutes the substance of educational psychology, provides a basis for educational theory and practice.
• 1.5 Aspects of Educational Psychology
1) Social Aspect
The object of educational psychology is to assist the teacher in his effort to achieve comprehensive development of the child's personality. Often and most commonly, children are adequately influenced by their social circumstances.
The process of education entails a constant interaction between the teacher and the taught. The taught receives both an inspiration for study and material for study from his teacher.
Working in the guise of a social engineer the teacher strives to make the child an ideal citizen in the context of modern democratic societies. If the student develops obstinacy towards the teacher, he may in time arrive at a condition where he may feel safe in disregarding and refuting the power of society and government. In the social sphere, the student is accompanied by his fellow students apart from the teacher.
The social scale of the family is also an important influence.
But children who attend the kindergarten bring very little influence of the home with them. Fundamentally they are not socialised and the teacher has to socialise them by putting them in an adequate an proper social environment. And this socialisation is very important for the democratic nations.
The child acquires his position within the group through constant trial and error & 1d learns to work accordingly.
2) Abnormal Aspect
As a general rule, every teacher can confidently expect to find some anti-social and anarchist children in his class. These children, for one reason or the other, have failed to adapt themselves and adjust to the social environment in which they have been placed.
To effect any improvement in their mental attitude to their environment, it is essential that the teacher be in a position to understand their mental aberra-tions. It is here that the teacher gets some very definite assistance from abnormal psychology.
In the schools at present many psychologists assist the teacher in curing the abnormalities of many children. At the same time, the teacher and the psychologist co-operate to rid the child of his feeling of inferiority, excessive day dreaming and general abnormality or unsociability.
3) Individual Aspect
Apart from and distinctly more important than either the social or abnormal aspect is the individual aspect. Educational psychology lays great emphasis upon individual differences in education and the science has also devised methods whereby these deviation from the average can be measured and evaluated. In modern educational psychology, three kinds of psychological measures in particular have been developed:-
• intelligence
• attainment
• personality
The individual abnormalities of different children can be discovered by the use of these measurements and tests so that they can be taught accordingly.
4) Genetic Aspect
Merely understanding the social, individual and abnormal aspect of a child's development is insufficient for a complete understanding of the child. For this comprehensive understanding it is necessary to supplement his personal history with his case history. This refers to the genetic aspect of educational psychology.
In this practice. a careful record of the child's daily life and his progress is maintained. In this respect it differs from a life history. In clinical psychology the life history of the child is studied with a view to solving some definite problem whereas in the genetic aspect of educational psychology the progress of the child is noted in terms of hours and days.. Educational psychologists have conducted many such studies.
1.6- Scope and Contents of Educational Psychology
According to Lindgren (1962) there are three aspects of education that concern the educational psychologist:
The learner
The learning process
The learning situation.
• The Learner
By the word "learner" we mean the children or students. who individually and collectively comprise the classroom group and on whose behalf the educational programine exists and operates. A great deal of what happens in the classroom can be explained in terms of the personalities, developmental slages and psycho-social problems of students who compromise the class, individual difference in psychomotor abilities. cognifive ability, forces in and outside the school which influence children's learning and developments. The learner or the child is the central theme in educational psychology.
• The Learning Process
By "learning process" we mean what goes on when people learn. The teacher teaches and the child may learn. Sometimes the teacher teaches a subject but the child learns something else. Al other times the teacher may not teach something but the child may learn it.
These three instances indicate that children are learning something even thought they may not be learning what the teacher wants them to learn or even when the teacher does not deliberately attempt to teach a subject. The educational psychologist is interest in what happens when a child learns, why he learns and why he learns what teachers want him to learns and why he learns what teachers do not want him to learn.
• The Learning Situation
By "learning situation" we mean those factors or conditions that affect the learner and the learning process. The classroom setting, the attitude and behaviour of the teacher; the morale of the class and the emotional climate of the school are some of the significant factors that affect the learner and the learning process. Educational psychologists are interested in studying the learning situation with the aim of helping the learner in the learning process.
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