Educational Psychology Essay Research Paper The big

Educational Psychology Essay, Research Paper

The big controversy in education today is the way children are taught. Many of the same arguments that are made regarding what is taught can also be made regarding how it is taught. Theories of educational psychology are attempts to describe how people behave in satisfying their physical and psychological needs. The various aspects of these have a base in child development and encompass physical growth, emotional and psychological changes, and social adjustments. This essay will discuss some of the different theories psychologists have given to learning and education and illustrate what I believe to be the most useful approaches to teaching theory.

There are four main theoretical approaches to educational psychology, Behaviourist, Humanist, Social Cognitive Theory, and Cognitive, each have their own viable systems for creating learning environments. However discrepancies lay between the different theories about the means and methods of what should be incorporated into learning practices including the modes by which the best learning should occur.

The basis for evaluating educational psychology needs to be related to

A theory of child and adolescent development and should reflect an attempt to relate behavioural to chronological age; that is the diverse behavioural characteristics should be related to specific stages of growth. The rules governing the transitions between these growth states also must be identified.

The Behaviourists have emphasised environment, they almost totally deny the influence of biological variables on development. Their basic assumptions are that the mind of a newborn child is a blank slate; all behaviours are determined by environmental events; and differences among children are the result of those environmental variables. Their basis for enthusiasm and motivation is on a reinforced reaction. Behaviourists encourage experimental studies and were responsible for moving child psychology into the mainstream of educational psychology. Although they contributed much to the study of children, their concepts eventually are viewed as being overly narrow (The Volume Library 1990: Volume 2).

The dominant developmental theories are Freud s theory of personality development,(later being adapted by Carl Rogers), and Piaget s theory of perception and cognition, (later to be refined by Vygotsky).Both explain human development in terms of interactions of biological determinants and environmental events (The Volume Library 1990: Volume 1). Freud s theory is based on the concept that a healthy personality and enthusiasm requires the satisfaction of instinctual needs.

In Freudian theory enthusiasm is related to personality which is composed of the id, ego, and the superego. The id is the source of instinctual drives. The role of the ego is to cope with the demands of the id while remaining within the rules of society, which in turn are represented by the superego. The physical focus of instinctual needs changes with age and the periods of different focus are called stages. Children progress through four stages, ending with adult sexuality. Freud clearly integrated biological and environmental variables in his theories (The Volume Library 1990: Volume 2).

Jean Piaget, who since the 1920 s had been writing about children s cognitive development, called himself a genetic epistemologist: a person who studies the origins of human knowledge. His theories have led to more advanced work in child psychology. This work involves both experimental and observational methods and, in accounting for behaviour, integrates biological and environmental variables. The relationship of student enthusiasm is derived from real interest, that is when the challenge is neither too easy nor too difficult for an individual s current cognitive structures . Current directions have their origins in Piaget s theory of cognitive development and particularly Vygotsky s later elaborations.

A great many determinants influence patterns of educational development and change. In recent times the re-evaluation of guide lines and statements concerning curriculum and educational procedure have focused our attentions more directly on motivation and the role of student enthusiasm for learning, most recently the adoption of the National Goals.

In April 1999, the State, Territory and Commonwealth Ministers of Education met as the 10th Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training, and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). At that meeting, they finalised the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty First Century.

The Adelaide Declaration outlines three broad goals, with identified sub-goals, for Australian Schooling:

+ Schooling should develop fully the talents and capacities of all students.

+In terms of curriculum, students should have attained a high standard of knowledge, skills and understanding through a comprehensive and balanced curriculum.

+Schooling should be socially just.

The Humanist perspective of education I can sympathise with more than other theory student enthusiasm for learning becomes evident only when it becomes student centred. This means, among other things, that curriculum design will be driven by needs assessment; that instructional practices will be grounded in student activity; and that assessmen