CONCEPT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Dr.Priyanki Borpujari

Educational psychology is a branch of general psychology that studies the teaching-learning process. Educational psychology studies and explains an individual's learning processes and experiences from birth through old age. It is a psychology of the teaching and learning process. Hence, educational psychology deals with the learner's behaviour in the educational environment. Educational psychology is a branch of psychology in which the findings of psychology, theories of psychology, and principles of psychology are applied in the field of education. It is the scientific study of human behaviour in the educational setting. According to Skinner, “Educational psychology deals with the behaviour of human beings in educational situations”. In the words of E.A. Peel, “Educational Psychology is the science of Education”. NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY---- Educational psychology is a branch of applied psychology that studies how the learner learns and develops in educational settings. The nature of educational psychology is scientific. Some of the important nature of educational psychology is as follows. Educational psychology is an applied branch of general psychology that applies psychological theories and principles in the field of teaching and learning. Educational psychology deals with human behaviour in an educational setting. It is a scientific study aimed at understanding, predicting, and controlling human behaviour in an educational environment. Educational psychology is an applied/behavioural science. Educational psychology possesses a well-organized, systematic, and universally accepted body of facts supported by relevant psychological laws and principles. SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY ----Educational psychology deals with the behaviour of the learner in teaching-learning situations. Hence, the scope of educational psychology includes the following areas. The learner, The learning experiences, The learning process. The learning environment, The teacher, The learner:----- The most important scope of educational psychology is the learner, around which the whole teaching-learning process revolves. This area of educational psychology includes individuals' inborn abilities and capacities, individual differences, the learner's internal, external, conscious, and unconscious behaviour, interest, growth, and development, and each stage of life from childhood to adulthood. The Learning Experiences:----- This area of educational psychology helps in finding out what learning experiences are desirable and at what stage of the growth and development of the learner so that the learning experiences can be acquired with greater ease and satisfaction. Learning process: ------The next area of educational psychology is the learning process. After deciding the learning experiences, educational psychology deals with the nature of learning and how it takes place. This area includes topics like laws, principles and theories of learning. Other learning processes, i.e. remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, transfer of learning, and ways and means of effective learning, are also included. Learning Environment.------ Here, we deal with the environmental factors and learning situations 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., are essential for the smooth functioning of the teaching-learning process. The teacher:------ The last scope of educational psychology is the teacher. It is the teacher who holds the teaching-learning process on track. It emphasizes the need to ‘know the self’ for a teacher to play his role properly in education. This area deals with a teacher's conflicts, motivation, anxiety, adjustment, level of aspiration, etc. It also gives importance to the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, characteristics of effective teaching, etc, to inspire the teacher to become successful.

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