Chapter 1 - Educational Psychology and Human Development

Question- What do you mean by Educational Psychology? Explain its aims.

Or
Clear the functions of Educational Psychology.
Or
Define Psychology. How is it related to Education?
Or
Discuss briefly the Importance of Psychology in Education.
Or
What is the meaning of Educational Psychology?
Or
Explain the aims of Educational Psychology?

Answer-

Definition of Psychology

We can define psychology in two ways, traditionally the term psychology is derived from two Greek words Psyche meaning soul and logos meaning science or study of a subject. Thus, psychology was a study of the soul or mind. But in modern times Psychology is defined formally as a science which studies mental processes, experiences and behaviour in different contexts.

In brober sense Psychology is the science of the intellects, characters and behavior of animals including man. While Human education is concerned with certain changes in the intellects, characters and behaviour of men, its problems being roughly included under these four topics: Aims, materials, means and methods.

Relation between Psychology and Education

(1) Psychology contributes to a better understanding of the aims of education by defining them, making them clearer; by limiting them, showing us what can be done and what can not; and by suggesting new features that should be made parts of them.

(2) Psychology makes ideas of educational aims clearer. When one says that the aim of education is culture, or discipline, or efficiency, or happiness, or utility, or knowledge, or skill, or the perfection of all one's powers, or development, one's statements and probably one's thoughts, need definition. Different people, even amongst the clearest-headed of them, do not agree concerning just what culture is, or just what is useful. Psychology helps here by requiring us to put our notions of the aims of education into terms of the exact changes that education is to make, and by describing for us the changes which do actually occur in human beings.

(3) Psychology helps to measure the probability that an aim is attainable. For example, certain writers about education state or imply that the knowledge and skill and habits of behavior which are taught to the children of today are of service not only to this generation and to later generations through the work this generation does, but also to later generations forever through the inheritance of increased capacity for knowledge and skill and morals.

(4) Psychology enlarges and refines the aim of education. Certain features of human nature may be and have been thought to be unimportant or even quite valueless because of ignorance of psychology. Thus for hundreds of years in the history of certain races even the most gifted thinkers of the race have considered it beneath the dignity of education to make physical health an important aim.

(5) To an understanding of the material of education, psychology is the chief contributor.

(6) Psychology shares with anatomy, physiology, sociology, anthropology, history and the other sciences that concern changes in man's bodily or mental nature the work of providing thinkers and workers in the field of education with knowledge of the material with which they work. Just as the science and art of agriculture depend upon chemistry and botany, so the art of education depends upon physiology and psychology.

(7) A complete science of psychology would tell every fact about every one's intellect and character and behaviour, would tell the cause of every change in human nature, would tell the result which every educational force every act of every person that changed any other or the agent himself would have. It would aid us to use human beings for the world's welfare with the same surety of the result that we now have when we use falling bodies or chemical elements.

(8) Psychology contributes to understanding of the means of education, first, because the intellects and characters of any one's parents, teachers and friends are very important means of educating him, and, second, because the influence of any other means, such as books, maps or apparatus, cannot be usefully studied apart from the human nature which they are to act upon.

(9) Psychology contributes to knowledge of methods of teaching in three ways. First, methods may be deduced outright from the laws of human nature. For instance, we may infer from psychology that the difficulty pupils have in learning to divide by a fraction is due in large measure to the habit, that is, of "division decrease" or "number divided result smaller than the number." We may then devise or select such a method as will reduce this interference from the old habits to a minimum without weakening the old habits in their proper functioning.

(10) Second, methods may be chosen from actual working experience, regardless of psychology, as a starting point. Thus it is believed that in the elementary school a class of fifteen pupils for one teacher gives better results than either a class of three or a class of thirty; also, it is believed that family life is better than institutional life in its effects upon character and enterprise.

(11) Third, in all cases psychology, by its methods of measuring knowledge and skill, may suggest means to test and verify or refute the claims of any method. For instance, there has been a failure on the part of teachers to decide from their classroom experience whether it is better to teach the spelling of a pair of homonyms together or apart in time. But all that is required to decide the question for any given pair is for enough teachers to use both methods with enough different classes, keeping everything else except the method constant, and to measure the errors in spelling the words thereafter in the two cases. Psychology, which teaches us how to measure changes in human nature, teaches us how to decide just what the results of any method of teaching are.

What Is Educational Psychology ?

As is apparent from the term, educational psychology is the psychology that realotes to education; or to put it differently, it is the science concerned with behaviour pertaining to education. It is also the scientific study of human behaviour in conditions or circumstances that take their particular form or colour from education. Putting the same differently, educational psychology is the science that applies the principles of psychology concerned with human behaviour and experience to circumstances predominantly educational. In the words of Skinner, "Educational psychology utilizes those findings To cheete sequence by the Author that educational." Apparently, educational psychology is intimately concerned with human personality.

Education is the process of mental development. Hence educational psychology is concerned with the development of mental processes along with the various social processes. Judd, the famous educational psychologist says, "Educational psychology may be defined as the science which describes and explains the changes that take place in individuals as they pass through various stages of development from birth to maturity. Educational psychology, being more than an academic pursuit, besides studying the process of development puts forward suggestion also.

The process of development is dependent upon and grounded two factors - maturity and learning. hence, educational psychology is concerned with the study of both factors. As Crow and Crow express it, "Educational psychology describes and explains the learning experiences of an individual from birth through old age." In this way educational psychology is the psychology of learning, towards which the educational psychologists have contributed by making intensive studies of the factors and factors and conditions determinant of learning.

Briefly, educational psychology makes a psychological study of human development, maturity and learning, and applies the scientific conclusions of this study to actual teaching condition in order to attain the ends of education. The modern educational psychologist is a specialist in his own right and is deeply engrossed in researches into behaviour significantly coloured by education.

Aims of Educational Psychology

In general, the aims of educational psychology correspond with the aims of education, Skinner has sub-divided the aims of educational psychology into two classes :

1. General aims and objects.
2. Specific objects.

The two classes are briefly described in the following lines :

1. General Caps aims of Object : The general aim of education and educational psychology is to effect the development of a complete personality in the child. For this it is essential to develop in the child a capacity for as great self-determination as possible so that he may be active in the continually changing world. In addition to this, the function of the educational psychology is to offer requisit assistance to the teacher, the assistance being mainly in two forms. One way would be to improve the actual and personal life on the teacher and the other would be to improve his methods of teaching. In this way, while on the one hand, education psychology helps in the achievement of the cultural aims of the teacher, it also, on the other, assists in the achieving and attaining of the occupational objectives. Thus, the general aim and object of educational to the development of a balabced personality in the child.

2. Particular aims : According to Skinner, the general aim of educational psychology reveals some of its particular objectives. These particular objectives are :

(i) Prove the notion that a study of educational psychology helps learning makes improvement in social behaviour and brings success in the formation or adjustment of personality.

(ii) To help determine the aims of educationn, based on a study of desirable behavioural patterns that have arisen from the process of education.

(iii) To contribute towards the development of an unbiased and sympathetic attitude towards the child.

(iv) To assist in the complete and prioer understanding of the nature and importance of social relationship.

(v) To acquaint the teachers with such principles and laws of education that can be utilised by them in solving problems arising in teaching.

(vi) To help the teacher in developing an insight into the results of his own teaching and into habits of others with regard to teaching.

(vii) In order to facilitate general understanding, to provide teachers with such facts and methods as can help them to analyse and understand their own behaviour and that of others.

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