The Crucial Role of Educational Psychology and Brain Research in Teaching - Essay Sample

Introduction

Good afternoon, Cassi Clausen, the founder of Open School, said, "Ask any child development expert, and they will tell you that children do not develop in a straight line. There are no average children. There are no standard children." Therefore, I am here to share with you the importance of applying the knowledge of educational psychology as well as brain research while teaching. A teacher plays an essential role in shaping the growth and career path of a learner. Beyond teaching in the classroom, an instructor builds a warm environment for learning, mentoring and nurturing students. A teacher becomes a role model for learners; monitor their behaviors change, as well as any physical signs of abuse. All these roles require a teacher to be well equipped with knowledge of educational psychology and brain research.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

From a general point of view, brain research is the analysis of a child's mind by mass, structure, and volume to determine its ability to absorb, accumulate, and retain biopotentials. Through brain research, a teacher can understand the biological basis of a child's learning, behavior, memory, consciousness, and perception. On the other hand, educational psychology plays a vital role in evaluating various indicators of effective teaching and learning, among them success rates, graduation rates, and retention rates. Through educational psychology, the teacher can explore the functionality and outcomes of learner's brain activity, which plays a critical role in the achievement of desired instructional results. Thus, educational psychology assists a teacher to study the functionality of the learner's brain during the educational processes.

One of the areas that teachers ought to focus on when teaching students is on the humanism of an individual. Every human being has a moral conscience and the ability to reason. Therefore, learning should focus on promoting these abilities for wholistic growth. For teachers in early childhood education, they ought to concentrate on improving the sensation and feelings of children at this level. They can do so by applying learning techniques that promote direct contact with the physical world. Learning should be based primarily on senses. For learners in higher grades, the teacher should employ the humanist philosophy to assist learners in improving their social and emotional wellbeing. This idea can be achieved through incorporating school policies and practices to control trauma or stressful events, making use of positive behavior interventions and supports in class, or training learners on mindfulness, observation, and modeling. Besides, engaging students in an interactive learning process as well as exploring resilience within the school environment can assist in improving their social and emotional wellbeing. As the theory of social learning dictates, the teacher can also incorporate some social practices such as singing and dancing to allow learners to interact.

Instructors should apply the knowledge acquired from educational psychology and brain research in developing the cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing of learners. There is a need to understand that every child has to pass through predictable stages of growth. However, children do so at different times, depending on the internal and external factors influencing the pacing. Therefore, the teacher is required to apply educational psychology and brain research to determine the individual learner's abilities as controlled by the internal and external environments as well as experience. By so doing, the instructor can be able to identify a child who requires more support or intervention. Similarly, a child is expected to go through various social interactions and conflicts during the different stages of development. Educational psychology can assist the teacher in understanding and managing the challenges associated with each step of psychosocial development.

One role of a teacher is to facilitate learning within the classroom. The function deals entirely with the cognitive development of a child. The instructor may use the knowledge acquired through educational psychology to plan and develop content to be taught at the various stages of cognitive development, as highlighted by Piaget. For instance, during the sensorimotor stage, which occurs between birth and two years, children should be given love and basic needs to help them grow healthy. During the preoperational stage, which occurs between two to seven years, kids require love and education to help them develop and become mentally stable. For learners in concrete operational and formal operational stages, learning should be logical and well organized since they have started to think logically concerning rational events. During these stages, some teenagers may begin using drugs or truancy if there is proper guidance. Therefore, the teacher should practice the knowledge acquired through educational psychology in guiding and counseling learners.

Jim Henson, an American puppeteer, and cartoonist said that "children mostly do not remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are." It is the same idea presented by Vygotsky that children will always learn well when they have hand-on experience. It is, therefore, necessary to understand that apart from teachers, other people play a role in influencing learning in a child. As educators, it is essential to understand people who are at proximal with the child and discuss with them how they can increase their skills and scope of understanding. Similarly, there is a need to understand that learning occurs as a result of association and reinforcement. The environment that a learner interacts with influences his or her behavior, and the experience shapes their characters.

Teachers ought to understand that active learning cannot occur if learners lack good morals. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both instructors and parents to ensure children are morally upright as they move from one stage to the other. According to educational psychology, morals can be acquired in three levels, which include pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. The teacher plays an essential role during the pre-conventional stage, since senses are controlled externally, and children judge actions depending on consequences. The growth and development of children are influenced by the interaction of their inherent qualities and immediate environments. From the home ecology to school and societal ecology, all interactions involved influence the behavior of a child.

Teachers must remember that during learning, information passes through an information processing linear way that requires maintenance rehearsal. Therefore, it is necessary to remind learners of the contents learned regularly to minimize forgetting. Also, teachers need to periodically test the intellectual capacity of a child to determine his or her range of talents and abilities. All these can only be achievable if teachers apply correctly the knowledge learned in educational psychology and brain research. As I conclude, it is our mandate as teachers to ensure that learners get and maintain the best practices while in or out of school. Thank you for your patience and attentiveness throughout the session.