Basic Idea of Educational Psychology: Educational psychology is the systematic application of psychological principles of teaching and learning. Educational psychology is aimed at helping the teacher to understand the development of his pupils, the range and limits of their capacities, the processes by which they learn and their social relationships.
Educational psychology is also referred to as a branch of applied psychology that is concerned with the application of the principles, techniques and other resource of psychology in giving solutions to the many problems confronting teachers in their attempt to impact knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to the learners. The core part of educational psychology is as follows:
- The child, his development, his need and his potentialities.
- The learning situation, including group dynamics as it affects learning.
- The learning process; its nature and the ways to make it effective.
What are Branches of Educational Psychology?
The branches of educational psychology helps you to understand and to predict the behaviour of the learner in the process of teaching and learning. The behaviour of the learner is understood in the environment or the situation. The influence that the environment exercises on the learner and arouses him to activity is called the Response. The branches include the following:
- TheLearner
- LearningExperiences
- LearningProcess
- LearningSituation or Environment
- TheTeacher
- HumanBehaviour
- Growthand Development
- Individual Differences
1. Learning Process:
The process of learning is scientific because it is governed bylaws and principles. Educational psychology reveals the laws, principles and theories governing learning. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning, ways and means of effective learning etc.
2. The Learner:
The learner is the major focus of educational psychology. It craves to know the learner as well as the techniques that can be adopted in knowing the learner. Their major interests are; the innate abilities and capacities of the individuals, individual differences and their measurements, the overt, covert, conscious as well as unconscious behaviour of the learner, the characteristics of his growth and development and each stage beginning from childhood to adulthood.
3. Learning Experiences:
The learning experiences of individuals differ at everystage of development. In childhood, the learners experience is different from that of the adolescent and the adulthood. Educational psychology helps in deciding what learning experiences are desirable, at what stage of the growth and development of the learner, so that these experiences can be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction.
4. Learning Situation or Environment:
This is the environment where the process of teaching and learning takes Learning can be hampered or enhanced by the nature of its environment. Educational psychology in this regards to dealing with the environmental factors and learning situations which come midway between the learner and the teacher.
Topics like classroom climate and group dynamics, techniques and aids that facilitate learning and evaluation, techniques and practices, guidance and counselling etc. for the smooth functioning of the teaching-learning process.
5. TheTeacher:
The teacher is a significant personality in the process of teaching and learning. They are expected to impact knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to the However, there are certain factors resident in the teacher that could either impede or promote teacher’s effectiveness.
The interest of educational psychology is to examine; his conflicts, motivation. Anxiety, adjustment, level of aspiration etc. because it throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the characteristics of effective teaching etc. so as to inspire him for becoming a successful teacher.
6. Human Behaviour:
Psychology deals with the study of human behaviour, whileeducation deals with the modification of undesirable behaviours. Educational psychology encompasses the study of human behaviour as well as behaviour modification.
7. Growth and Development:
Educational psychology is interested in the process of growth and development that occurs at all stages of life, which is from childhood to adulthood.
8. IndividualDifferences:
It is an established fact that no two individuals are exactly the same irrespective of how identical they are. Educational psychology reveals these differences and seeks ways to satisfy individual needs in the classroom.
The Aims and Objectives of Educational Psychology
These aims and objectives of educational psychology will further enlighten you on the benefit of educational psychology for the teachers, the learners and the classroom experiences. Educational psychology is aimed generally at the development of ‘wholesome personality’ and ‘continuous growth’ of individuals. It is also aimed at helping teachers provide facts and generalizations in his task of assisting the child to develop a harmonious personality. The aims and objectives of Educational Psychology are as follows:
- Educational psychology aims at developing right attitudes in the teacher about educational problems. Teachers are taught the right methods required to teach different disciplines and well as the right amount of learning a child can accommodate at every point in time. These strategies will help teachers manage educational problems in classrooms and beyond.
- Educational Psychology aims at assisting the teachers organize the material whichwill be taught to the child.
- Educational psychology aims at studying heredity growth and maturation, environmental influences, language, thinking, the development of language and the process of socialization in relation to their effect on the child as a learner. It assists the teacher to set up appropriate educational situations in order to bring about desirable change.
- It aims at assisting the teacher in treating their pupils with sympathy and It also aims at creating a positive attitude towards learning.
- It aims at helping the teacher to understand his own task. Teachers are faced withlots of educational problems in the process of teaching and learning, however, educational psychology develops in the teacher a scientific attitude to solve different problems of education faced by him.
- Educational psychology aims at educating the teachers how best to help their pupils to learn more effectively both in and out of class.
- Educational psychology is aimed at conducting research related to the educational sector.
- Educational psychology aims at the application of research findings in the learning situation itselfs.