EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Meaning & Historical Background of Psychology

The word psychology is derived from Greek word psycho & logos. ‘Psycho’ means “soul” and
‘logos’ means “science”. The science of soul.

 First Stage: Psychology was defined as the “study of the soul”

 Second Stage: It was again defined as the “study of the mind”
 Third Stage: Again it was defined by William James (1890) as the “Study of Consciousness”
 Fourth Stage: “Study of total Behaviour” (consciousness and unconsciousness)
EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Education by all means, is an attempt to mold and shape the behavior of students. Its aims to
produce desirable changes in them for all-round development of their personalities.
AIM OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Educational Psychology as Peels puts it in the following words: “Educational Psychology helps the
teacher to understand the development of his pupils, the range and limits of their capacities the
process by which they learn and their social relationships” (1956)
NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Its nature is scientific since it has been accepted that it is a science of education. The relationship
between education and education psychology also throws light on its nature.
Educational Psychology limits its study to the behavior of the pupils(learner) in relation to
educational environment.
It gives the necessary knowledge and skill (technical guidance) for giving education to the pupils
in a satisfactory way. It is applied positive science. Educational Psychology is not a perfect science.
SCOPE OF EDUCATION PSYCHOLOGY

Some of the Scope of Educational Psychology

Learner: The total subject matter of educational psychology primarily revolves around this factor-
learner. This subject of the subject acquaints us with the need of knowing the learner and deals
with the learner and deals with the techniques of knowing him well.
Learning processes:
Educational psychology deals with the nature of learning and how it takes place and comprises
topics such as laws, principles and theories of learning, remembering and forgetting perceiving,
Concept formation, thinking and reasoning process, problem solving, transfer of training, ways
and means of effective learning and so on.
Learning situation or environment:
Under this topic, educational psychology focuses on the environmental factors and learning
situations which come between the learner and the teacher.
One must consider a person based on his/her environment and other factors such as what kind
of learner are each student.
Relevance of Educational Psychology
Educational psychology helps the teacher to know his interests, attitudes, aptitudes and the
other acquired or innate capacities and abilities; to know the stage of development linked with
his social, emotional, intellectual, physical and aesthetic needs; to know his level of aspiration,
his conscious and unconscious
Influence of Educational Psychology
Educational psychology can influence programs, curricula, and lesson development, as well as
classroom management approaches. For example, educators can use concepts from educational
psychology to understand and address the ways rapidly changing technologies both help and
harm their students' learning.
Conclusion
Educational psychology offers strategies and methods that will help the teacher to understand
the student's psychology, through the development of educational curricula in light of the
students' abilities and aptitudes so that students are not overloaded.