DTE3

Continuous Assessment - CA2

DTE3

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION (PE)

2013-2014

PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION - TUTORIAL PAPERS

Name of Student: Trevor Burke DTE 3

Article/Reading: Chapter 5 Psychology of Education Geraldine Scanlon, Dublin
City University.
Date of Submission: 04-10-2013
1. CONCISE SUMMARY OF READING
Chapter 5: Psychology of education can be described as the three s scientific
and systematic study of animal and human behaviour(Carlson et al.,
2006;Child,2007).
What is psychology of Education?
Is a set of fundamental topics about human teaching and learning, with
particular emphasis on the empirical study of those phenomena (Alexander,
2006).
This chapter explains the development, application and theoretical perspectives
on development both cognitive and prenatal, it looks at the special educational
needs, both psychosocial and brain development of children. It looks at all the
additional factors that affect these behaviours.
The first page looks at the explanation of psychology and the different areas that
exist. It explains that psychology establishes the scientific foundations to enable
professionals to understand human being and their challenges, as well as the
problems associated with them. (Walsh B. , 2011).
Research in Psychology and its Application to Education
This section looks at the external aspects that affect behaviour and the areas of
research that have helped these findings example Diet, Drugs, SNA, Peers,
Teachers, Parents, Cyber bullying, Schools and the Adolescent Brain.
The findings of some of the above research topics have been hugely important
contributions to teacher knowledge in both schools and education programs.
Cognitive Theories
The report goes on to explain Social Learning Theory which leads to Piagets
CA Brief No 2 (PE)

DTE3

Continuous Assessment - CA2

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION (PE)

2013-2014

stages of cognitive development where the writer goes into depth on Piagets
beliefs and theories.
Additional Factors for consideration in Cognition
The report looks at the additional factors for example;

Intelligence
Memory
Motivation

You also have individual differences, biological and experience. Behaviour

genetics,
A child does not inherit genes that will result in a specific level of intelligence;
rather, the extent to which their intelligence develops is dependent on the
quality of the environment provided(Pressley and McCormick).
The contribution of prenatal development to individual differences
In this section the writer talks about the external environment that influences the
development, for example teratogen is used to describe damage in the foetus
by overuse of drugs, alcohol, radiation, caffeine, and disease. This can have a
long term effect on the development of the child.
Special education needs and inclusive education
In this section the writer talks about the changes that have occurred in recent
time in regards to SNA integrated into mainstream education. He talks about
numerous acts. He shows a table with the categories of special needs and
examples of the disability and the difficulty the said pupil will have in regards to
learning.
Policy versus practice
As the title suggests this section is about what happens with SEN in the class, it
is very different to what the policy suggests.
Curriculum and Pedagogy
This section talks about the NCCA assessing and modifying the approach for the
senior cycle for pupils with SEN. In turn the curriculum and pedagogy can be
adapted to the needs of the specific learners.
The Context of Adolescence
Here the writer explains the difficulties the child confronts in the transition from
primary school and secondary school and it is a significant educational and
psychological milestone in their lives. Adolescence is considered the most
challenging developmental stage of human development. Gender differences
exists, with young males generally evaluating their growing body more in terms
of body efficiency and physical ability. Conversely, young women evaluate
themselves more in terms of physical attractiveness and the reactions of others
(Trew et al.,2006).
Psychosocial Development
There is 8 sub heading in this section;
1/The Emergence of Self
CA Brief No 2 (PE)

DTE3

Continuous Assessment - CA2

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION (PE)

2013-2014

In this section the writer talks about the emergence of self from infancy to a
more composite sense of self emerges around eight to eleven years of age
through to teenage years.
2/Adolescent Identity
This section shows the fundamental feature of adolescent development involves
self-identity.
3/Parent/Child Relationships
This section explains that for most of the parent child relationships the problem
lies with the parents, many parents current perceptions of adolescence is by
their memories of their own youth and view them as been more troubled, less
respectful, more self-centred, more assertive and view them as being more
adventurous than they were (Feldman and Elliott, 1990) (Walsh B. , 2011).
4/Peers
This section talks about the influence of peers, that from the age of 14-15 years
the adolescent child spends more time with their friends. He continues to talk
about the peer groups forces adolescents to act in ways that they otherwise
would not. The lack of adult supervision increases the risk of the adolescent to
risk-taking behaviour.
5/Cognitive Changes
The writer explains that when a child enters adolescence they engage in more
abstract reasoning process. They become more aware of the worlds concerns.
6/How the brain development might explain behaviour changes in
adolescence
This section talks about the development of the brain, the writer believes that
the adolescence brain is less developed than we previously believed. He talks
about MRI studies by the Harvard Medical School to back this theory. Thus, the
adolescence child is more prone to making poor decisions and risk taking.
7/School Climate
The writer emphasises the importance the school climate has on the childs
development. This section shows research that proves this.
8/Teacher
This highlights the importance of the role of the teacher supporting the students
through the vast development stages. Over controlling teachers are seen to have
a negative impact on school climate and students.

2. CRITICAL REFLECTION

CA Brief No 2 (PE)

DTE3

Continuous Assessment - CA2

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATION (PE)

2013-2014

Research in Psychology and its application to education is a critical

area for student teachers. The author has provided excellent reading, I
found the material well written, well laid out and very interesting. There is
no real debate in this reading, the writer is giving you the facts and
providing explanations on each fact. The author uses words like research
methods, from an educational perspective all these worlds strengthens
my belief that this reading is fact backed by research.
The strengths of this article are the simplified English, well-structured and
the author ability to back his facts with research. This article would be
advantageous to all student teachers and I believe that for any student
teacher to become an educator you need to be familiar with these areas.
The only weakness in this article is the length of same, I believe the
author could have kept the article shorter and still get the same results.
The only improvement I would suggest is that the author could have
achieved the same results in a more concise manner and I believe he
made the reading more laborious with volume.
All of the material in this reading is relevant to our course and the vast
majority of this information was covered last year in Teaching
Management Techniques class. Even though we covered this topic last
year I still found this interesting reading which proves the author was
successful.
The most significant learning for me was the overview of categories of
special educational need (SEN) Table 5.4. I was surprised that there were
so many different types of special needs and now realising this, what
difficulty this will bring to the classroom environment for me as an
educator.

3. LIST OF REFERENCES

Alexander, P. &. (2006). Handbook of Educational Psychology. In P. &. Alexander,

Handbook of Educational Psychology (p. 953). New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum ass.
Walsh, B. &. (2009). 17 Guide to Teaching Practice in Ireland. Dublin: Gill &
Mcmillen.
Walsh, B. (2011). Education Studies in Ireland. Dublin: Gill & McMillen.

CA Brief No 2 (PE)