A Manuscript On Educational Implications in Individual Differences

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Republic of the Philippines

EASTERN VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY


GRADUATE SCHOOL
Tacloban City

Submitted by: JOHN PAUL B. JERUSALEM


Submitted to: DR. ROSEMARIE ABOCOT
Subject: PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
Schedule: 2ND and 4TH SUNDAY, 7:00 -12:30 PM
Date of Submission: October 24, 2021

A MANUSCRIPT ON PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION


John Paul B. Jerusalem, MAED Student

Psychological Foundations of Education presents some of the principles of psychology


that are relevant to learning and teaching. It focuses on the application of those psychological
principles to planning for teaching and instruction particularly at the childhood and adolescence
levels. It discusses the main learning theories and their applications in the learning and teaching
process. These include traditional and modern theories, behavioral and cognitive, social learning,
structural, and the socio-structural theories. Higher-order thinking skills such as problem solving,
cooperative learning, motivation, individual differences, intelligence, and creativity are also
discussed in this course. While the solution is provisional and has obvious imperfections, it is
offered in the hope that it may stimulate discussion of the problem and other solutions and or
explicit justifications for past practice.

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 manuscript 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.

Psychology contributes to a better understanding of the aims of education by defining


them and making them clearer. Psychology makes ideas of educational aims clearer. It influences
education very strongly due to its blend with different features pertaining to teaching and
learning. If a teacher has no knowledge about psychology, the teacher will not be able to
understand the needs and problems of a child. Psychology guides to comprehend the differences
individually and counter them with suitable educational strategies. It also helps teachers in
guiding learners and counselling them.

Psychology provides a scientific basis to education. It also gives a dignified appearance


and discipline to it. One can use the methods of experimentation, due to psychology’s
contribution to education. An analysis has been carried out on the tendency and power of the
mind, by using psychology as an objective science. In addition, one can also determine the
different dimensions of mental operations.

As I write this manuscript, I have gained several insights as to how it is relevant to study
psychology, particularly in the field of education. As we know, psychology deals with the study
of mind and behavior, so, as an educator, knowing how to deal with different kinds of people
(i.e., learners, colleagues, etc.) is necessary. That is why, we have to instill in our minds basic
theories or concepts that psychologists and its pioneers have shared with us. Psychology makes
ideas of educational aims clearer. When one says that the aim of education is culture, or
discipline, or efficiency, or happiness, or utility, or knowledge, or skill, or the perfection of all
one's powers, or development, one's statements and probably one's thoughts, need definition.
Different people, even amongst the clearest headed of them, do not agree concerning just what
culture is, or just what is useful. Psychology helps here by requiring us to put our notions of the
aims of education into terms of the exact changes that education is to make, and by describing
for us the changes which do actually occur in human beings.

In the field of education, you must know where you can provide something; where you
could give something in terms of the delivery of quality education to your learners, so they can
have a better future. Teachers must know how to develop the learners’ linguistic and social
intelligence and capabilities, stimulate imagination and creativity, establish logical thinking,
develop communication tools from the arts of persuasion and dialogue, and feed their artistic
talents (Cherry, 2020), and creating a wholesome and globally competitive learner. A teacher
must understand how the minds of the learners work so that they can assess as to what are the
methods or strategies that will be effective for long-lasting learning. In psychology, there is the
concept of cognition, which is entirely devoted to assessing how people think. Psychology
contributes to knowledge of methods of teaching in three ways. First, methods may be deduced
entirely from the laws of human nature. For instance, we may infer from psychology that the
difficulty learners have in learning to divide by a fraction is due in large measure to the habit
established by all the thousands of previous divisions which they have done or seen, the habit,
that is, of "division -- decrease" or "number divided -- result smaller than the number." We may
then devise or select such a method as will reduce this interference from the old habits to a
minimum without weakening the old habits in their proper functioning. Second, methods may be
chosen from actual working experience, regardless of psychology, as a starting point. Therefore,
it is believed that in the elementary school a class of fifteen pupils for one teacher gives better
results than either a class of three or a class of thirty. Thus, also, it is believed that family life is
better than institutional life in its effects upon character and enterprise. Thus, also, it is believed
that in learning a foreign language, the reading of simple discussions of simple topics is better
than the translation of difficult literary masterpieces that treat subtle and complex topics. Even in
such cases psychology may help by explaining why one method does succeed better and so
leading the way to new insights regarding other questions not yet settled by experience. Third, in
all cases psychology, by its methods of measuring knowledge and skill, may suggest means to
test and verify or refute the claims of any method. For instance, there has been a failure on the
part of teachers to decide from their classroom experience whether it is better to teach the
spelling of a pair of homonyms together or apart in time. But all that is required to decide the
question for any given pair is for enough teachers to use both methods with enough different
classes, keeping everything else except the method constant, and to measure the errors in spelling
the words thereafter in the two cases. Psychology, which teaches us how to measure changes in
human nature, teaches us how to decide just what the results of any method of teaching are.

There is diversity in a classroom setting particularly in learners and Howard Gardner, a


well-known psychologist, asserts that there are multiple intelligences. Even though the pattern of
development is similar for all children, the rate of development still varies among children. Each
child develops through his own skills and awareness of his environment. Children differ from
each other both by how they were born (genetics) or how they are raised in a particular
environment. So, both biological factor and environmental situations have their impacts on the
individual’s development which leads to individual differences in development. Understanding
this fact of individual differences in the different stages of development should make us become
aware and be careful about using and relying on age and stage characteristics to label children.
Individual differences refer to the variations in learners' own traits or personal factors that affect
learning, including factors such as age, language capability, cognitive style, learning motivation,
and personality. There are five distinct areas which we could consider in the educational
implications in individual differences: Streaming or Grouping of Children, Curriculum Planning
and Individual Differences, Disciplinary treatment, Methods of Teaching, and Guidance
(Agarwal, Nidhi; Kumar, 2015).

With this implication, it can be suggested that many educational institutions group their
learners according to their intellectual capacity, and that they are grouped or sectioned
homogeneously. Although, it has been favorably argued by experts and theorists that learners can
be grouped heterogeneously. According to Agarwal & Kumar (2015), the learners should be
diversified so that the intellectually challenged can be motivated and take advantage of the
normal students. Similarly, the normal and students can get the same from the gifted. And the
gifted get chances to lead others.

Speaking of learners, as educators, we also have to take note of the key factors of human
development as it is important in assessing what needs to be catered to them. Of course, there are
also several factors of human development that needs to be considered in assessing the learners
such as hereditary factors, environmental factors, cultural factors, socioeconomic status, norms,
and the existing foundation of education and training. Developmental psychologists believe that
knowledge of an accurate stages of development is fundamental to understanding children.
Human development also involves change, continuous process, uniform direction and pattern,
individual differences, maturation and learning, predictable patterns, social expectations,
potential hazards, and others. Eric Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development asserts that
“crises” in personality in every human stage of development and it must be balanced so that there
will be no sense of guilt or misconstrued conflicts. I like this topic because it gives us the liberty
to understand that in each stage of our lives, we have certain crisis that we have to solve in our
own ways or may have solved it depending on other influential factors. And it has consequences
if we have not been able to deal with these crises. I think it is a very lovely thought to decipher
on this and reflect in our lives if we have been living it worthwhile. In application to education, it
is essential that we see what stage our learners are in terms of their development and check what
they can do and feel in terms of learning the subject matter given to them. It is also important to
be creative in the delivery of the lesson. The teacher must, if possible, exhaust resources and
strategies in teaching. We also have to give in to what the learners need for self-growth.
According to the hierarchy of needs of Abraham Maslow, people strive to fulfil their basic needs
and it motivates human behavior. In our interaction with the real world, it is necessary to process
information from it for the purpose of making sense of the world and also making ourselves safe
and reassured. And as we human beings enjoy the abilities to hear, see, smell, touch and taste,
we are able to sense the outside and be aware of what happens around— this process of sensing
the outside world is completed by our perception, which, with our sensory organs, allows us to
recognize and identify the existence of all kinds of stimuli.

In studying psychology, I also learned the concept of motivation – what it is, and what it
does to a person. As we live in a very depressing world nowadays, we need motivation.
Motivation to do good and do the things that would make us become better versions of ourselves.
From the moment you wake up, you need to be motivated to do your work, whatever it is, with
positivity and willingness or a sense of purpose, and until you snuggle to your bed, you still need
to be motivated to rest for a while so that you can still look forward to doing great things for the
following days ahead. Motivation reflects something unique about each one of us and it allows
us to gain valued outcomes like improved performance and personal growth. In relation to
education, teachers must see to it the that flames of motivation of the learners must continue to
ablaze from the beginning of the school year until the end. Teachers must also be considerate
towards the feelings of their learners. At the onset of the teaching and learning process, the
teacher needs to set expectations to students and motivate the learners to do their work and to go
beyond the expectations. Although it is a hefty task to keeping the flame of motivation burning,
commitment to teaching and drive must consistently be present from the teachers so that despite
challenges and setbacks, both the teacher and the learners are still on the journey and will not
veer off the path to success.
In education, our main goal is, of course, learning. It is necessary for all educational
processes. It involves ways of doing things in an individual attempt to overcome obstacles or to
adjust to new situations. There are four main theoretical approaches to educational psychology,
Behaviorism, 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. These are some of the theories of learning that I
have learned by studying psychology. One theory is the theory of connectivism. It asserts that
learning is a process that occurs within vague environments of shifting core elements – not
entirely under the control of the individual. Connectivism is driven by the understanding that
decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations. New information is continually being
acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is
vital. The ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions
made yesterday is also critical. Another various theory of learning I have learned are from
Thorndike’s experiment. It asserts that learning involves trial and error and that for every
stimulus, there is a response. He explained three laws to strengthen or weaken the stimuli-
response bonds – law of effect, law of exercise, and law of readiness. In another theory that
involves stimulus and response, Ivan Pavlov conducted experiments with dogs and created the
theory of classical conditioning. In learning behavior, there is a close relationship between
behavioral reaction with stimulation. Teachers who hold the view that the past, present and all
behaviors are reactions to their environment and are the result of learning. This theory analyzes
the incidence of behavior by studying the background of reinforcement towards the behavior.
Another similar theory is that of B.F. Skinner. Skinner considers reward or reinforcement as the
most important factor in the learning process, and the purpose of psychology is to predict and
control behavior. An important difference between Pavlov Classical Conditioning and Skinner
Operant Conditioning is that in Classical Conditioning, there are consequences to that behavior.
Reinforcement is not needed because the stimulation gives the wanted response. In education,
operant conditioning guarantees a response to stimulus. If the student does not propose a reaction
to the stimulus, the teacher may not be able to guide the behavior toward the goal of behavior
change.
There is no doubt that educational psychology plays an important role in the teaching and
learning process, because of its impact on the level of students, and taking their hand towards
achieving the best results during the study period. It is said that Educational Psychology has
revolutionized the process of Education. It is true. New education is a complete departure from
the old. In the scheme of old education, the child had no place, discipline was very rigid and
repressive, curriculum was fixed and formal, and the whole of education was drifting away from
the life of the child.

New education is not mere acquisition of knowledge and information. It is the alteration
of the child’s behavior and an all-round development of the child’s personality. New education is
for the child and apart from child it has no purpose. Thus, in the picture of new education it is the
child that figures most. This conception is a gift of Educational Psychology. Good teaching
requires a good understanding of how learning takes place and the ways in which it occurs
because effective learning means effective changes in human behavior under well-directed
environmental conditions. Effective learning requires creating an appropriate learning
environment by providing curricula and school management techniques, and positive interaction
between students and the teacher, using appropriate incentives and reinforcement schedules,
classroom control, and organizing communication processes.

Educational Psychology has revealed that all possibility of education lies in the potentials
of the child and his nature. Rousseau said, “Study the child as we do not understand him.” To
him, child was a book which had to be studied by every teacher. In this way, as a result of the
insight given by Educational Psychology a new child-study- movement has started in the field of
education. Education has brought about a revolutionary change in the field of Education.
Measurement and evaluation are the most important topics of educational psychology as they
address the measurement of learning outcomes, evaluate the success of the learning process,
develop plans to reform education system and direct it for the better, and provide the most
appropriate feedback to students and parents about the progress of the learning process.

In other words, they say, education has been psychologized. This change has shifted the
emphasis from matter to the child. All that is to be taught to the child should be determined by
the nature, needs and capacities of the child himself. In the same way, introduction of
psychology to education has also changed the conception of discipline. Discipline in the new
education should be positive, not negative.

A theory of child and adolescent development should reflect an attempt to relate


behavioral to chronological age; that is the diverse behavioral characteristics should be related to
specific stages of growth. The rules governing the transitions between these growth states also
must be identified.

Finally, as I end this manuscript, let me say that a teacher is like a philosopher who
guides his student. They are responsible to be aware about growth and development of the
students. It is educational psychology which enables the teacher to use various techniques.  The
importance of educational psychology and teachers has the following points. Educational
Psychology helps teacher to know how learning takes place. It enables a teacher how learning
process should be initiated, how to motivate, how to memorize or learn. It helps teachers to guide
the students in right direction in order to guide student’s abilities in right direction. It informs a
teacher about the nature of the learners and his potentials. It helps a teacher to develop a student
personality because the whole educational process is for student’s personality development. It
helps a teacher to adjust his methodologies of learning to the nature or demand of the learner. It
enables a teacher to know the problems of individual differences and treat every student on their
merit. It helps a teacher how to solve the learning problems of a student. It helps a teacher how to
evaluate students whether the purpose of teaching and learning has been achieved.

Bibliography

Agarwal, Nidhi; Kumar, P. (2015). PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION MA


[Education] First Semester II (EDCN 702C). www.vikaspublishing.com

Cherry, K. (2020). What is Psychology? https://www.verywellmind.com/psychology-4014660

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