Exploring Applications of Education Psychology in a Learning Environment
Psychologists in the field of Education work tirelessly in their endeavors to study how learners grasp and retained knowledge dissipated to them in the classroom by their teachers. It applies the tools of science and psychology to drive a campaign that seeks to promote the success that comes with Education by improving the processes of learning in a classroom environment. The study at hand was trying to explore an understanding of the application of tools of educational psychology in a classroom. The case study was done in particular, for a Grade 6 classroom learning experience. The observations made from this study experience prove that teachers strive to apply the fundamental theories of the development of humans in order to understand individual learners in the classroom. The students and the teachers had a mutual interaction. The students in the class were also interacting mutually in the classroom environment without any problems. The learning in the classroom was lively, an indication that the process was beneficial to students. The teacher gave the students a test to asses and evaluated their learning experience. In the process of teaching, the teacher continually encouraged her students to work hard in their studies as well as in their co curricula activities.
Participation in the learning experience will provide room for making analysis and coming up with recommendations that would otherwise help the educators roll sleeves in the quest to ensure that the learners get the best of learning experiences in the classroom and outside the classroom. To the community, this will be beneficial since the product of quality learning experiences in class will end up with the necessary skills that will help the community at large.
The education system around the world is very complex, and therefore it is correct to say that there is no single approach to learning that can potentially work for every student in the class. It is the reason why this study focuses on finding out the methods applied in teaching the learners and bring an understanding of nature with which people or rather students in classroom environment grasp and retain any given new information in the classroom by the teachers (Bogusevschi & Muntean, 2019).
Teachers are an essential tool in any learning experience for learners. Like any other human beings, learners do experience stress, anxiety attacks, and worries. It is, therefore, the initiative of the teacher in charge of the student to provide an environment that is conducive for the learners. Such students who experience trauma and stress are less likely to engage 100% in the learning processes. In this exploration, the teacher actually demonstrates the highest form of skills which she employs in the identification of individual student’s problems. The teacher quickly notices “Brian’s” unwell being and singles him out. She attends to the student by inquiring what the problem is with him. It turns out that the student was scolded by the father over poor grades. She writes a letter requesting Brian’s father to come to school for small talk over his son’s performance. Definitely, the student will feel encouraged now that the parent-teacher to student relationship is of much concern. The teacher applies teaching psychology to its greater heights (Hughes et al., 2016).
The psychological interests, abilities, styles of learning and aptitude of students vary from one individual to another. Learners often need guidance and counselling due to the diversified learning environment. The classroom explored, Grade 6 had students from different spheres of life. It had students of African descent, Asian, Korean and whites. The class also had few students from a wealthy background and the other group from a relatively rich and poor background. It is much of diversity, so to speak. The teacher discovers that “Candice” (not her real name) has a problem at home. Her parents could not afford to provide packed lunch to bring along to school. The teacher decides to guide and counsel her by encouraging her not to feel ashamed of her background. Other students offer to share lunch with Candice. The teacher acknowledges the students who offered to share their lunch with Candice. From this situation, we can actually see how the teacher has mentored her students in such a manner that they could share their packed lunch with other students who couldn’t afford the meal. The students in this class are developed in social, emotional perspective (Conners-Burrow et al., 2017).
Assessment is a tool that serves to evaluate the academic progress of the students (Suskie, 2018). The teacher provided an assessment test to the students for the evaluation of the previous class. The test provided for mathematics class was based on standard examination guidelines and clearly defined learning goals. The test exhibited quality and tested on skill, knowledge and competency of the students. The teacher marked the test papers over break time for the learners. The teacher ensured that the turnaround time for the papers was immediate after the break. The teacher is not lazy and has the best interest of the students at heart. The report for such tests is made available for the parents over an online platform and those who could not afford online platforms were provided with written scores and grades for the respective students. The learning, therefore, utilizes a competency-based curriculum.
The teacher has knowledge of exceptional learners in the class and also the students who were a bit slow in class. The teachers utilize individual-based learning processes such that each student is taught according to their abilities and not in general. It is encouraged to teach each student at a personal level depending on the strengths and weaknesses. With the knowledge of students on different diversified characteristics, based on special needs, fast learners, slow learners, strengths and weaknesses, the teacher defines the kind of pedagogy to use in the teaching process in the classroom. With the education system advancement, the teacher has the sole responsibility of identifying and utilizing different approaches to teaching base done the knowledge she has on her students (Crawford, 2017). The Pedagogy is, therefore, teacher-centered and at the class level.
Learning is critical in the quest for building a nation. Studies show that nations that are advanced in development are as a result of knowledge and skill. Imparting the necessary knowledge and skill in students is not an easy task. It requires determination and best interests of students at heart kind of commitment. It is, therefore, crucial to explore new teaching methods that can be incorporated into the learning experience of students in order to ensure the success of this endeavor. Students are the leaders of tomorrow and need to be groomed well by educators. The learning experience from the exploration, therefore, was an eye-opener in terms of dealing with different situations in the classroom environment. Educators need to come together and instil better approaches to the teaching design and ensure that the pedagogy design is left to the teacher for the betterment of the teaching experience in the classroom.
References
Bogusevschi, D., & Muntean, G. M. (2019). Water Cycle in Nature–An innovative Virtual Reality and Virtual Lab: Improving Learning Experience of Primary School Students. In 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU).
Conners-Burrow, N. A., Patrick, T., Kyzer, A., & McKelvey, L. (2017). A preliminary evaluation of REACH: Training early childhood teachers to support children’s social and emotional development. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(2), 187-199.
Crawford, R. (2017). Rethinking teaching and learning pedagogy for Education in the twenty-first century: blended learning in music education. Music Education Research, 19(2), 195-213.
Hughes, J. N., & Im, M. H. (2016). Teacher-student relationship and peer disliking and liking across grades 1–4. Child Development, 87(2), 593-611.
Suskie, L. (2018). Assessing student learning: A common sense guide. John Wiley & Sons.