1. Psychology of Education
Dr. Paul Conway
PDE @ UCC
2010-11

2. Developing a “psychological
perspective” on teaching
 Understanding learning and
development in school (and out)
 E.g. Learning in V out of school
(Resnick, 1987)
 Become more aware of your own
and learning and development as
basis for supporting that of others in
schools
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3. Some of the topics to be
addressed
 Changing social context of adolescence
 Family, school-work, globalisation, ICTs
 Ability, ‘intelligence’ and achievement
 Motivation: that of students & teachers
 Technologies: tools to amplify the mind
 Promoting well-being (including mental
health)
 The ‘good teacher’
 Different schools of psychology:
 (psychodynamic), behaviorist, cognitive,
socio-cultural, (neuro-psychological,
evolutionary)
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5. Developing a “psychological
perspective”
 A psychological perspective has the potential
to help us be more thoughtful, effective,
caring & ethical as professional educators
 Psychology: a very significant influence in/on
education in the last 100 years
 E.g. the ‘self’ alphabet, ‘mastery’, teaching
≠ learning, IQ tests, core conditions for human
change, stages & critical periods, emotional
intelligence(s), stereotype threat, FCL, motivation
(incl. praise), teacher knowledge
 Different schools of psychology have (very)
different ways of thinking about teaching,
learning and development
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6. Teachers’ use of praise
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8. Novice-experts and
professional knowledge
 Experts in any area or profession
have deep and flexible knowledge
(Berliner, 2004), e.g.
 The 10,000 hour rule & deliberate
practice (with coaching)
 Comparisons between novice and
experts in various professions and
activities
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9. What do teachers need to
know?
 Teacher knowledge (Shulman, 1987)
 Content knowledge
 General pedagogical knowledge
 Curriculum knowledge
 Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
 Knowledge of learners & their culture
 Educational contexts/settings
 Goals & purposes of teaching
 Technology pedagogical content knowledge
(TPCK) (Mishra et al, 2004)
 Knowledge of self (Grossman, 1995)
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10. Are the so-called foundations
‘foundational’?
 Myth of technical rationality, I.e. an
applied science view based on
flawed ‘transfer’ assumption
(Peterson et al, 1991)
 Moving from a rational technical to
reflective practice
 Knowledge for teaching
 Knowledge in teaching
 Knowledge of teaching (Cochran-
Smith & Lytle, 1999)
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11. A cautious optimism
 “Psychology ought certainly to give
the teacher radical help. And yet I
confess that, acquainted as I am
with the height of your expectations,
I feel a little anxious lest, at the end
of these simple talks of mine, not a
few of you may experience some
disappointment at the net results….”
William James, (1892) Talks to
Teachers, p. 22
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12. “An intermediary inventive
mind”
 “Psychology is a science, and
teaching is an art; and sciences
never generate arts directly out of
themselves. An intermediary
inventive mind must make the
application, by using its originality”
James, 1892, p. 24
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