Modern psychology extends the field of its activity to the general public. This science covers in its content a huge number of branches and directions, which differ in their subject matter and the nature of functioning. Academic and practical, fundamental and applied, humanitarian and natural science, healthy psychology and psychotherapy - each of these groups includes many more subgroups that are quite significant for society. And not the last place among them is occupied by pedagogical psychology in the system of pedagogical sciences.
History of educational psychology
Like any independent science, educational psychology has a history of its formation. Its beginning was laid back in the late nineteenth century and marked the formation of a three-stage development.
The first stage in the formation of educational psychology as a science was justified by the need to consider the child at the center of education and training, while the main role was played by education. These were the first attempts at scientific understanding and analysis of the child’s behavioral aspects in the light of educational measures applied to him. For the first time, a holistic concept of human development was proposed due to the psychological approach in the pedagogical methodology affecting children.
The second stage was characterized by the transformation of pedagogical psychology into a separate scientific branch. At this time, experiments were conducted on the development of special pedagogical systems, the opening of laboratories, on the basis of which the physical and moral abilities of the child are studied, methods for teaching specific disciplines are determined, and methods for distributing children to stationary schools and separately to schools for people with intellectual disabilities are being developed.
The third stage in the development of educational psychology as a science envisaged the creation of a psychological theory of instruction based on the achievements of the methodological base. The activities of specialists were aimed at writing theoretical works, solving problems of concrete substantiation of a theory that would be more mundane and applicable to the training system. In other words, such areas of pedagogy were created, within the framework of which the general problems of the process of upbringing and education were revealed: forms of training, cooperation between teachers of various categories, communication, management of acquired knowledge.
What is educational psychology
Pedagogical psychology in the system of pedagogical sciences is a complex of theoretical and practical skills and abilities aimed at the joint functioning in a single working system of two types of activities called pedagogy and psychology. Subjectively, this definition means a section of psychology aimed at studying the methods of education, training and the formation in the human mind of the theoretical basis of the material presented.
Pedagogical psychology is the science of methods that contribute to improving the effectiveness of educational tasks, the effectiveness of pedagogical measures aimed at improving the psychological aspects of teaching. This section of psychology is closely related to the social and cognitive science of human thinking and consciousness. Simply put, pedagogical psychology is a science that enables modern educators, teachers, educators to conduct training and educational activities at a level that involves the inclination of the educational process to psychological analysis, observation, and spatial thinking.
What is the fundamental difference between this concept, which synthesizes two separate areas of science? This issue is disclosed in the consideration of the definition in the light of specifically psychology and pedagogy separately.
- Pedagogical psychology is the science of psychological factors involving the study of the laws governing the emergence, development, and functioning of psychology of teachers interacting with students. At the same time, private psychology has a broader concept and extends the field of its activity to various fields - the psychology of relationships, the psychology of the family, the psychology of marriage, etc.
- Pedagogical psychology is the science of pedagogy, which is a combination of the processes of learning and educating society in the context of mental, analytical, conscious, and behavioral concepts. At the same time, private pedagogy simply encompasses a set of techniques and skills for working with pupils and students at the level of presentation of material as supporting knowledge.
The subject of educational psychology
What are the main aspects of educational psychology as a science? The subject, objectives and structure of this concept will be considered by us below.
The subject of educational psychology is the totality of facts, mechanisms, and patterns in working on the development of a person’s social and cultural experience, patterns of the intellectual and personal development of a child as a subject of educational activity. In other words, this is the methodological basis through which training and educational processes take place in the context of analytical mental activity.
The subject of educational psychology in the system of psychological sciences determines the division of this science into the following elements:
- upbringing is the very first and most important need, which should be subject to analysis, observation, development of psychological factors in the perspective;
- development - the formation of a person as a person takes place in an inextricable connection of two mandatory components of impact - pedagogy and psychology;
- training - follows from the previous category, suggesting that not a single qualitative process of personality development occurs without appropriate training;
- Education - continues the category of training, provides for the predetermination of mechanisms and conventions in the development of the theoretical base for the subsequent application of this knowledge in practice.
The tasks of educational psychology
The tasks of pedagogical psychology are formed in the direct connection of psychology with pedagogical science and practice. It would be difficult to imagine the interaction of the mechanisms of psychological influence on various categories of pedagogy in the form of upbringing, development, training and education without a specific setting of tasks to be performed:
- The positive impact of training and upbringing on the development of a person as a person - the work of establishing the relationship between the theoretical knowledge provided by teachers and the practice in which he must show the received baggage of information instilled by teachers and professors should not go unnoticed.
- Consolidation of the acquired knowledge in the consciousness of the student - all the information submitted must be absorbed by the student or student as a sponge to achieve the desired result, namely, to apply his knowledge in the right direction in future practice.
- Organization of the educational process in the most convenient presentation for perception - this task of pedagogical psychology as a science suggests that it is much easier for school students and university students to perceive information if it is presented in an interesting form, using vivid life examples, because, in addition, it develops associative thinking.
- Improving the individual skills of the teacher - the knowledge obtained from the teacher or teacher should be confirmed by the methodological base, therefore, the monitoring of the mechanism of his work should be carried out at the proper level, because each teacher as a qualified specialist should carry exclusively reliable information to the masses.
- Improving the psychological foundations of the further modernization of the educational process - the educational system must function at the highest level and constantly improve, modernize in order to form a truly educated, intellectually developed society.
The structure of educational psychology
Pedagogical psychology is the science of the laws governing the development of society in the framework of constant observation, analysis, changes in the psyche that occur during the educational process. As a volume segment of theoretical and practical activity, this type of psychology has certain components in its structure:
- Educational activity - covers the sector of educational psychology, which provides for the unity of educational and pedagogical activity.
- Educational activity with the object of educational psychology in the person of the student. It is difficult to imagine the educational process without a party for which information is provided (student, student).
- Psychology of pedagogical activity. It is no less difficult to imagine the learning process without a knowledgeable speaker in the person of a teacher, teacher.
- The psychology of educational and pedagogical interaction - the coordinated work of the student and teacher, student and teacher leads to an objective exchange of information between them.
Educational Psychology in Science. Features of the phenomenon
The connection of psychology with pedagogical science and practice is justified by the need not only for theoretical perception by students in the educational process, but also the possibility of further application of the skills acquired in lessons in practical activities.
How does pedagogical psychology manifest itself in science? It should be noted that with its existence, this industry predetermines the transformation of education into a special social function that regulates the formation of a specific type of activity, the purpose of which is to prepare the younger generation for life on the basis of qualified familiarization with human cultural values. In other words, the essence of pedagogical psychology in science is to make cognitive information available to students in such a way that it is effective and subsequently applied in practice.
The foundations of the psychology of pedagogical science lay in the minds of today's youth that useful methodological base and in such a psychologically understandable and high-quality form that from uneducated and not yet formed personalities subsequently become highly developed, intellectually savvy people.
Educational psychology in practice
If we talk about the place of pedagogical psychology in practical application in life, one cannot but note the enormous contribution to the modern pedagogy of educational institutions. How it works? For example, the teacher went into the audience to read the next course of lectures. Monotonously wrote a topic on the board, marked the annotation, and started dictating. Students indifferently recorded the information received, without even delving into what was written. Such pedagogy is devoid of any stimulating effect on the fact that students really become interested in the readable subject.
At this time, a much more entertaining lecture is taking place in the neighboring audience. The teacher applies psychological influence to students, asks them questions, while they themselves give out information that should be reported to them today. Playing with associative thinking, giving examples with psychological overtones and the need to develop logic - all this with the example of pedagogical psychology leads to the fact that students become interested in a readable subject, they easily and quickly learn the methodological base in a very convenient presentation form.
So, the connection of psychology with pedagogical science in practice allows us to improve the educational process and bring it to a whole new level.
The relationship of psychology with pedagogy
As can be seen from the foregoing, the merger of psychology and pedagogy into a single science gives rise to its beneficial fruits. The introduction of a psychological approach into the modern pedagogical presentation of information to students in the mainstream of the educational process has a positive effect on how students learn the theory and how it then applies them in practice. Indeed, pedagogical psychology is a science about the laws of formation of human development in modern conditions of training and education, and it, like everything else, requires teachers to keep up with the times in order to achieve the desired result and convey high-quality information to students.
The value of educational psychology
The effectiveness of pedagogical psychology is justified by the value of its essence. The significance of this branch of science is manifested in a number of aspects that directly affect the current society:
- the study of teaching and upbringing methods, which radically change the form of presentation of the theory and maximize the effectiveness of educational tasks;
- a positive impact on the quality of providing students with information in the form of improved qualifications and improved the effectiveness of pedagogical measures;
- improving the psychological aspects of teaching, reflected in the faster adaptation and assimilation of the subject by students.
So, it is not difficult to assess the importance of pedagogical psychologists in the modern educational process. This science of the laws of human perception of information developing his mind in terms of training and education today helps to model a fundamentally new, intellectually highly developed society.
The need for educational psychology
Today, pedagogical activity is determined by the need for the current society. Why is it so necessary in the educational system? What specific needs justifies the need to apply educational psychology in practice?
- Bio-need - based on the provision of individual and species predestination of a person as a rational being.
- Social need - the need to belong to a social group and occupy a specific niche in it.
- The ideological need is the validity of knowing the world as a whole and the search for one's “I” in the system of social ideology.
- The need for mastery of knowledge is the realization of one’s needs through the assimilation of social experience.
- The need for knowledge - due to mental activity.
As a science that studies the laws of human development in terms of training and education, educational psychology is determined by the mass of human needs. The methods used by her have a beneficial effect on the formation of a person as a person: observation, oral and written surveys, methods of analyzing activity products, content analysis, experiments - all this, of course, takes the educational process to a new level. And the merit of improving the effectiveness of education in educational institutions should rightfully be given to educational psychology. The latter in modern realities is becoming increasingly important in the field of education and training of representatives of the younger generation.