Question- What is the importance of Educational Psychology for the teacher ?

Or
How does knowledge of Educational Psychology help a teacher in his profession ?
Or
In what way Education Psychology has helped you in your preparation as a teacher ?

Answer-

Importance For The Teacher

The teachers can solve their teaching problems only with the help of educational psychology. It is apparent that psychology, and in particular educational psychology, can help to institute improvements in the modes of teaching. The main facts and factors in this connection are the following :

1. Understanding Oneself : before an individual can successfully achieve something, he should be aware of his ability or incapacity for doing it. In the absence of such an understanding, many people choose the wrong occupation and continue to curse their fate for their failure. Hence, if an individual chooses to become a successful teacher, he should first review himself and decide whether he possesses the qualities required of a good teacher. This realization can be gained with the help of educational psychology, since it acquaints the teacher with such diverse facts as the knowledge of his own nature, his mental and intellectual level, ultimate goal, philosophy of life, relations with colleagues and well-wishers, the relations in society to his behaviour and capabilities, qualities that are either liked or disliked by the students, his own needs, etc. This knowledge helps the individual to become a good teacher. For example, if one speaks in general terms, a good and successful teacher is a balanced, sweet tongued, sympathetic and active individual. If the teacher is unaware of the qualities that he lacks within himself, he either scolds his students, thinks black and unwholesome thoughts of society or quarrels with his wife and children. But if he were aware of these shortcoming, such undesirable contingencies would never arise and with the nervous energy conserved thereby he could improve himself and become a good teacher, to the eternal satisfaction of the students and the good luck of society for which he could also become an ideal.

2. Understanding the Child : Whatever his field of operation, the individual desiring success should be aware of the psychology of the people with whom he cannot avoid coming into contact. If the teacher is not aware of the psychology of the children, how and what can he teach them? It is for this reason that John Adams believed that it is more important for the teacher to be aware of the psychology of children than even to be an expert in the subject of his choice. He should be possessed of a wide and diverse knowledge of the mainsprings of behaviour in the child, its needs, mental level, interests, capacities personality, etc. The knowledge of the basis or mainsprings of behaviour is most important and essential since the very aim of education is directing and training the conduct of the child. Hence, education and teaching should be based upon the instincts, motives and emotions of the children. The direction of these mainsprings can be changed, they can be modified, but they cannot be removed from the child or completely ignored. Hence, the successful teacher makes efforts to sublimate them. Whatever the child learns has close relationship with its needs. Most of the so-called backward and problem children at school are the unfortunate ones whose needs have been understood and fulfilled in the school. It is because of this that they engage in undesirable activities such as breaking street lights, running away from schools, loitering, besides many other anti-social activities of a comparatively more dangerous kind. Lacking the requisite knowledge of psychology the teacher attempts to correct these faults through punishment but the sensible and knowledgeable teacher knows that the root of these faults and aberration lies in some one of his physical, psychological or social needs. Educational psychology helps the teacher to become aware of the individual differences in the personalities of children and to realize that each child differs from the other in respect of interest, nature, intelligence, upbringing and other factors. Hence, the skilled teacher makes levels and varies his modes of teaching according to their individual mental level. In educating children, the teacher has to achieve some synthesis between the needs of the children, and those of society. He must evidently be equipped with complete knowledge of the psychology of his word if he is to be successful at his task.

3. Teaching Method : The science of teaching tells the teacher what he is to teach the children. But the problem that confronts him is, how is he to teach this ? It is in the solution of this problem that educational psychology assists the teacher. It provides knowledge and information concerning the process of learning, modes, important factors, encouraging and hindering condition, hindrances and obstacles, learning curve, etc. The teacher may help the child in his learning if he has knowledge of these factors. Educational psychology also makes a psychological analysis of the methods of teaching improvements that can be made in them.

4. Evaluation and Testing : The mere fact of having taught does not solve the teacher problems. It is not end. He is also concerned with testing and evaluating the knowledge and development of the children. Evaluation affords a clue to the actual development of the children. During the process of education, both the teacher and the taught are anxious to know the extent to which they have progressed if at all, and if they have not, to know why they have not done so and what can be done to know the desirable extent of success. The solution to such problem as these requires the employment of many kind of tests and measures besides the evaluation. while the teacher himself examines the student, he also teaches the student to develop an ability to make an objective evaluation of his own progress. Since evaluation directly influences motivation, it indirectly influences behaviour. All kinds of testing techniques are based upon psychological facts. Educational psychology not only helps the teacher to evaluate the child through the medium of test, but also helps him to judge his own ability as a teacher.

5. Curriculum : In order that individual and social needs may be fulfilled, it is essential that the planning of the school curriculum should be made keeping in view the individual differences, motives and values, and the principles of teaching should all be based upon a knowledge of psychology. In drawing up the curriculum, the teacher should be aware of the individual and society, and the methods of learning that can best fulfil these needs. The fact that different methods of learning that orbit extra group can be desirable or undesirable and inadequate in different circumstances have sufficient knowledge of psychology to achieve correspondence between the level of development and the method of learning to be based upon psychological foundation, this psychological background is provided by educational psychology.

6. Human Relations : Educational psychology has helped the teacher to understand human relations. Teaching and learning afford adequate opportunity for group and individual relations. Modern educational psychology has investigated this phenomenon and has helped the teacher to assume the rightful role of a leader in the class. In the teaching process the most important factor is the relation between teacher and taught. In the school the teacher replaces the parents of the child and takes their place in his eyes. The child also forms a picture of an ideal teacher in his mind while on the other hand, the teacher is equally concerned with the notion of what he ideal teacher should be. It is the interaction between these concepts of the ideal teacher that determines the adjustment of the class. Educational psychology assists in improving the relation between teacher and students and understanding the importance of the emotional aspects and relations of learning. The process of education is considerably influenced by the atmosphere that prevails in the classroom. The atmosphere is created both by relations between the teacher and the taught as well as the mutual relations between the student themselves. In this way, each child develops in a group or communal atmosphere and conditions. It is educational psychology that helps the teacher to sythesize the relations between children in the class.
   
   The atmosphere of the school depends, apart from the relations between teachers and the taught and the students themselves, upon the relations that exist between teacher themselves, and their relations with the principal. Psychology renders assistance in achieving best conditions in this direction.

7. Adjustment and Discipline : It is evident from the above exposition upon human relation relations that the importance of psychology in the adjustment and discipline among students in school is very great. Adjustment implies the success with which an individual negotiates a particular and unusual circumstance. This adjustment is revealing of the relation between individual and his situation. Its ultimate goal is the achievement of mental health. Educational psychology turns the psychological viewpoint upon adjustment, discipline, mental hygiene, in fact, everything. Good adjustment applies change and adjustment in both rather than in either of them. To take a simple example, in the changes and adjustments that are necessitated by the teacher should also change; the student has to adjust himself perforce. The changes that take place in both quarters ensure the avoiding of all damage to one of the personalities involved while they enhances development of healthy individuals. The problems of discipline are also basically problems klof motivation and goals. Hence, psychology can be of help in their solution. sometimes naughtiness is a sign of adjustment process and in such a case the teacher must encourage rather than prevent it. Psychology provides the knowledge that the same behaviour may be due to different motives in different individuals. It is for the teacher to trace the behaviour of children to the basic mainsprings in motives so that he may be in a position to effect the necessar sublimation and change. And in this task the teacher has to turn to psychology.

8. Experimentation : Educational psychology further assists in experimentation. Whether in theory or in practice, teaching raise many problems for the teacher the solution of which demands continuous experimentation. Education or teaching itself is based to a large extent upon the trial and error and intelligence of the teacher. In it the teacher cannot invariably depend upon some principles. The teacher should experiment to find the solution of new problems that arise in unsual circumstances and to apply the conclusions that he reaches in such work. He has also to turn to experiment to put to the test all new facts or ideas that emerge from the continuous experimentation in the field of psychology. In this way, the daily life in school possesses great research psotential in the field of education.

9. Dignosis and Elimination of problems in the class-room : Education psychology help the teacher to diagnose and solve the problems that arise in the school room. The following are the problems of this kind -
   (a) What can be done for the progress of a backward child ?
   (b) What method can be adopted to improve the maladjusted child ?
   (c) How to remove indiscipine in children ?
   (d) How to bring a physically or mentally deformed child to the normal level of study ?
   (e) How can one develop self motivation in children ?
   (f) How are the problem children to be taught ?
   (g) How are sexual crimes to be prevented among children ?
   (h) How are the delinquent tendencies of the children to be prevented or sublimated ?

If the teacher wants to solve these problems, he will have to put an end to the causes what give rise to them. And in order to affect this improvement he should have adequate and comprehensive knowledge of human psychology. Both diagnosis and solution of the teacher to analyse his own method of teaching and process of learning in order to discover their good and bad points. Then the teacher should discover methods by which he can create in the child a capacity to adjust himself in usual circumstances. All these achievements are based upon the psychological knowledge of the teacher.

From the above exposition, it is evident that a knowledge of psychology is indispensable for a teacher. Educational psychology is a branch of psychology that specializes in teaching and learning with which it is exclusively concerned. In this manner it is concerned with psychology on the one hand and with teaching on the other. In modern democratic societies, the object of the teacher is to develop the child into a conscious, feeling and active being. In this development he achieves adjustment with many conditions in the capacity of an individual. And the decision and ready intelligence of teacher makes use of psychology as a practical science. it is for this reason that the teacher are taught psychology as a part of their tranining in order that they may be able to bridge the gulf between the lives of children and the aims of education in modern democratic societies with the resultant adjustment and synthesis. The teacher has to understand both himself and his students. Psychology offers its assistance in this knowledge and understanding.

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