Psychological Foundation on Education

Jeanny C. Espejo ECF-Foundation of Education

March 14, 2011 Prof. Glenard Madriaga

Tutorial Commentary on Psychological Foundation of Education Educational psychology is an interdisciplinary subject that incorporates human development, learning strategies, intelligence, motivation, measurement, and classroom management. The author defined that, Psychology is one of the basis of Education. Because psychology deals with human behavior, of how a person acts and reacts under different situations, consciously or unconsciously, mentally, physiologically, physically, overtly, or covertly. Education depends deeply upon psychology because the kind and amount of education that the learner acquires in conditioned by his psychological traits such as general mental ability, aptitudes, temperament, interest, effort-making capacity, physical condition, etc. It was said that the principles of education are principally based upon the facts and principles of psychology. Many important educational principles are based on different schools or system of psychology. Some of them are the following: Structuralism – according to Wudnt & Titchener. “Experience or mental states are made of sensation, images or ideas and feelings.” In other words, All consciousness of facts and phenomena of experiences are based upon the operation of the brain or the nervous system. Functionalism – functionalist are interested in how an organism makes adjustment to its environment, that is, either it changes or makes adaptation to it. Behaviorism – this theory believes that a stimulus, physical or otherwise, creates a response. Behavior is considered the result of various responses to stimulation and should be controlled or directed by modifying either the stimulus or the response without regard to consciousness. Temperament / Emotion - this refer to certain emotional predispositions of an individual. Emotional stability and emotional maturity are important assets in the development of one’s capabilities. Dealing with different individual is very complicated. The learners are the most important component in educative process and they are the center of attention in whole educational system. Therefore, it is necessary to study the characteristics, capacities and the rest of their personality traits so that ways and means may be devised to enhance their ability to absorb learning. Heredity and environment affect the factors that cause the uneven rate of growth and development among individuals. These factors are called individual differences, such as age, physical condition, intelligence, aptitude and special talent, temperament and many others that can affect among individual development. – Age is a big factor in making one different from another. Maturation and readiness are important in learning. Physical condition - healthier persons progress more rapidly in their development than those who are less healthy. Mental ability – children do not have the same level of mental ability. Some are more intelligent than others. And those who are more intelligent progress and grow faster than those who are less intelligent. Aptitude and special talent – children are gifted with special aptitude and talents in music, painting, etc.. These children, given the chance, often show excellence of performance and leadership in their respective fields of specializations far above the ordinary individuals. Emotional maturity and stability – I believed that children who are more emotionally mature and stable are more patient in studying their lessons, learn faster than those who are more temperamental.

Family background – children coming from affluent families and educated parents with the right values can grow and develop more progressively than children coming from poor families. Community background – majority of the children coming from squatter or slum areas and from crime-infested areas have a very slim chance of growing progressively because of the bad influence of “barkada” or their neighborhood. Minority can reach optimum development in such areas, surely the majority cannot. On the other hand, those children coming from affluent areas and from average social class have all the opportunities offered by society for them to attain optimum growth and development. School – the school is a very important factor in learning and development. Good school can develop learners better than the poor ones. Good school has an efficient teacher, sufficient school supplies, good location and facilities for conducive learning of the pupils. Thus, the school is an important factor in the wide variation of the levels of development of individuals. In the learning process, the author clearly defined learning as an attainment through maturation and experience, of new and more knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable the learner to make better and more adequate reactions, responses, and adjustments to new situations and conditions.. The gaining of knowledge, facts/information, principles, ideas, concepts, understanding, reasoning, etc., are the outcome of cognitive learning. While the formation of good and acceptable attitudes, judgments, appreciations and values are under in affective learning. Psychomotor learning, involves the use of the muscles in bodily movement. The reflexes are important because the activities are usually responsive to certain stimuli. Motivation is another important factor in learning. First of all, because you spend more time in school doing different activities than when you’re at home. Second, without motivation, not much or no learning at all will take place. A teacher has to provide the necessary motivating factors to awaken the interest of the learners toward a goal or to perform an activity to satisfy a requirement. Classroom activities can be planned so that students are required to compete with one another, work individually, or cooperate with one another to get the rewards that teachers make available for successfully completing these activities. Traditionally, competitive arrangements have been assumed to be superior to the other two in increasing motivation and learning. But researchers found cooperative arrangements to be far better in producing these benefits because what is beneficial to the group is also beneficial to the individual and vice versa. This is reflected in the statement "We can do this if we work together and try our best to do the task." Discipline is also an important factor in learning. It is training the learners to act in such a manner that will create classroom conditions conducive to the attainment of instructional objectives. Lack of classroom discipline results in academic disorder, low pupil performance and teacher exhaustion and frustration. However, a successful solution involves asking the community to assist in solving the situation. The making of a well-disciplined classroom should include not only the teacher but also the parents, administration and the community. When there is discipline inside the classroom, teachers can deliver effective lesson presentation without classroom disruption, and students can receive a quality education without constant distractions. Discipline is designed to produce well-mannered person with proper personal, social and ethical abilities. These abilities may in the end give them the chance to make worthy contributions to their communities. An undisciplined classroom wastes time and energy, deprive pupils of a quality education and reduces a teacher's overall effectiveness in classroom management.