MEANING and NATURE of EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

 

Meaning of Psychology:

Ø  Etymologically the term psychology means ‘Psycho’=Soul, and logos=Science of/Study of,

Ø   i.e. Science of soul/science of Behaviour/ Study of behaviour.

Definitions:

1. ‘Psychology is the science, it aims to give us better understanding and control of the behaviour of the organism as whole”

                                                                                  - Mc Dougall, William

2. ‘Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour and human relationship’                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ----Woodwarth & Morquis.

3. ‘Psychology is the science of behaviour and experience’.

                                                                                                               – Skinner. B. Frederic

 4. Psychology is the study of human nature’ – Boring, Lang Feld.

 5. ‘Psychology is today concerning itself with the scientific investigation of behaviour’         ---N. L. Munn

 EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Ø  “Educational Psychology is a branch of applied psychology.

Ø  It is psychology is applied to education, Educational psychology aims at applying general principles of psychology to educational practices”.

Ø  It is the study of psychological aspects of educational situations.

Definitions:

q  Anderson – Educational psychology is its application in the field of education with the aim of socializing man and modifying his behaviour.

q  Crow and Crow: Educational psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age.

q  Skinner: Educational psychology covers the entire range of behavior and personality as related to education.

q  Stephen: Educational psychology is the systematic study of the educational growth and development of a child.

q  Throw: Educational psychology is the study of psychological aspects of educational situations.
Need of Educational Psychology to a Classroom teacher

q  The following are the important points of educational psychology to teachers which helps in understanding and preparing the programme in education,

1. Catering to individual differences.
2. Understanding the learner.
3. Understanding development characteristics of learner.
4. Understanding group dynamics.
5. Understanding nature of classroom learning.
6. Understanding effective methods of teaching.
7. Helps in curriculum construction.
8. Measurement of learning outcomes.
9. Understanding the learning process.
10.  Knowledge about mental health.
11. Developing scientific attitude.
12. Understanding significance of research, Guidance and Counseling for exceptional children.
13.  Character development.
14.  Use of Audio-Visual aids; use of innovation and projects.
15. Democratic administration and management.

Importance of Educational Psychology to the class room teacher

1. Educational Psychology enables the teacher to understand potentialities, interest, attitude, aptitude and the innate abilities of his pupils.
2. It helps the teacher in creating a congenial atmosphere in the class room. It guides him how to manage the class and maintain discipline.
3. Educational psychology gives the teacher the necessary inspiration and background to become an effective friend, guide and philosopher for his pupils.
4. Knowledge of Educational psychology will render the task of selecting and organizing the subject matter or learning experiences easy for the teacher.
5. With the help of educational psychology, the teacher can select the most effective methods of teaching his subjects.
6. Educational psychology helpful in creating a proper learning situation or environment. It also gives him knowledge of group dynamics and group behaviour.
7. Educational psychology also acquaints him with the problems of fatigue, boredom and attention.
8. It enables the teacher to face the challenges of individual differences among the learners. It throws light on the nature of intelligence and the modes of its assessment or the measurement.
9. The teacher can seek the aids of educational psychology in taking the problems of truancy, backwardness, mal-practice, aggressive tendencies etc. on the part of his pupils.
10. One of the tasks of education is the development of character. The growth of the character depends upon the best environment in society.
11. As a result of the study of educational psychology, the teacher proceeds from simple to complex, from the easy to the difficult and from concrete to the   abstract. He learns the maxims of teaching and the kind of learning experiences to be provided to the pupils at a particular stage.
12. It helps him in the conduct of educational programmes for the gifted, the average and below average children. He also gets acquainted with the problems of mental retardation.