Handbook of psychology volume 7 educational psychology
Educational Programs, Research, and Policy
Download 9.82 Mb. Pdf ko'rish
|
- Bu sahifa navigatsiya:
- EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, RESEARCH, AND POLICY
- Teacher Learning, Education, and Curriculum
- A Case for Enhancing the Credibility of Educational-Psychological Intervention Research
- Summary 17 From Credible Research to Policy and Educational Reform
- Future Perspectives in Educational Psychology
Educational Programs, Research, and Policy 15 Walker and Gresham provide a critical examination of be- havior disorders in children and adolescents by first delineat- ing the current status of the field. This is followed by a discussion of current trends in research and practice in this field that the authors consider to be indicative of best practices, including functional assessment of behavior, interventions that utilize positive behavioral support, research examining teacher interactions with students with behavior disorders, the associ- ation between language deficits and behavior disorders in children, the utility of office referrals as a critical indicator of potential behavior disorders, and resistance to intervention as a cardinal symptom for the determination of treatment eligibility and selection. Walker and Gresham also describe a number of problems in the field of behavior disorders, most of which are at a policy or practice level. These include political turmoil in the field of behavior disorders as a specialty area; limited trans- lation of quality research on major problems in the field to everyday practice; the larger role of creating safe and healthy school environments; the propensity for postmodern and deconstructivist perspectives that devalue scientific research to be adopted by behavior disorder professionals; the general fail- ure of schools to serve the needs of students with behavior dis- abilities, in part due to interpretation of federal education legislation; and finally, the relative lack of attention by profes- sionals and leaders in the field to early identification and pre- vention activities. Instrumental to the provision of appropriate services is the utilization of well-researched interventions for the treatment of behavior disorders in children and adolescents in school settings. The authors provide an argument for the use of so- cial skills instruction with appropriate inclusion of proce- dures to modify maladaptive behaviors.
Educational psychology has had a significant role in the de- velopment and reform of educational practices. An important contribution of educational psychology is the knowledge and guidance provided to the education of teachers. As noted earlier, courses in educational psychology are required in most university teacher preparation programs. An examina- tion of introductory textbooks in educational psychology shows a strong preference toward teachers as their primary audience. Hoy (2000) observes that it is through textbooks in educational psychology that we can see what the general public and teachers learn about the application of psychology to teaching and related educational activities. The signif- icant breadth of methodological knowledge that educational psychologists bring to the political reform table has been in- fluential in stressing the need for credible school-based inter- vention research. In this respect, educational psychology acts as the conduit to introduce and apply research and principles of psychology to educational practices. The role of educa- tional psychologists will continue to be an important and credible voice in resolving ongoing controversies critical to the advancement and application of knowledge for educa- tional practice.
Learning to teach is arguably one of the most cognitively and emotionally challenging efforts one can undertake, and new teachers face greater challenges than ever before with today’s diverse student needs, public scrutiny, and political pressures (see chapter by Whitcomb in this volume). Concurrently, there is a critical need to prepare more teachers than ever before and there are deeply divided ideas about best practice for initial teacher preparation (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 1996). Whitcomb asserts that there is a critical need for rigorous empirical work on initial teacher preparation. Until recently, scholarly analyses of this pedagogy have been surprisingly limited. What do initial teachers need to know? Whitcomb re- views and synthesizes that large body of work dedicated to establishing teaching as a learning profession (Darling- Hammond & Sykes, 1999). Teaching is now viewed as a pro- fession with a complex and distinguished knowledge base. Current research is focused on the integrated processes and judgments teachers use to navigate this breadth of informa- tion. Whitcomb narrows the focus of this chapter to a critical review of cognitively oriented studies of new teacher’s learn- ing. There is an emphasis on what is known about the essen- tial knowledge base for new teachers and how teachers learn across diverse contexts. The chapter begins with an overview of prior research conducted to identify a knowledge base associated with what an effective beginning teacher needs to know, to do, and to value (Ball & Cohen, 1999). Theoretical shifts in studies of teaching have followed much the same route as that observed in the broader field of educational psychology. Views of a good teacher have moved from a focus on discrete knowledge and skills, to studies of the cognitions and decisions that occur during teaching, to more recent studies on the interplay of personal beliefs, knowledge, skills, and situational or con- textual mediators of initial teachers’ learning. From the early 1980s educational researchers have focused on building an understanding of the specialized knowledge base required to effectively teach content in
16 Current Perspectives in Educational Psychology multiple ways to diverse learners. This work has been strongly influenced by the work of educational psychologists working within social constructivist models that view physi- cal and social contexts as integral parts of any cognitive endeavor. Research within this tradition stresses that the situ- ations and the social environments within which they are learned influence skills and that such situated knowledge becomes a fundamental part of what is learned. Currently there is a move away from studying individual teachers’ knowledge to studies that focus on interactive sys- tems as the unit of analysis (Putnam & Borko, 2000). Recent work has focused on the dispositions that underlie good teaching—how teachers become committed to students, to meeting individual student needs, and to monitoring their own and their students’ learning. In this respect, teaching and teachers are viewed as part of learning communities that require judgment and ongoing, flexible decision making to support student learning in culturally inclusive settings. Re- searchers are now examining how teachers learn to teach— how they actively construct a personal knowledge base and then use it to guide everyday classroom judgments and learn- ing. These contemporary efforts are critically relevant to ini- tial teacher preparation. Whitcomb goes on to highlight key features of effective initial teacher preparation programs. This work supports the critical role of prior beliefs, content knowledge, mentors, col- leagues, and the setting in which teacher candidates learn to teach. Two promising lines of research are summarized that embody some of these essential characteristics—research on how initial teachers learn to teach writing and research on the impact of case methodology in teacher preparation. The chapter ends with a critical analysis of the limits of current research and the need for stronger empirical work to enhance our understanding of initial teacher pedagogy in the future. The conclusion drawn from this review is that educa- tional psychologists are in a unique position to influence and conduct rigorous inquiry that will further unravel the com- plexity of teaching and contribute to the development of effective initial teacher preparation models. A Case for Enhancing the Credibility of Educational-Psychological Intervention Research Educational psychology has for over a century been at the forefront in the development of research methodologies and statistics. Educational psychologists have been active in the fields of educational measurement, statistics, and research designs. Notable journals include the Journal of Educational Measurement, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Journal of Educational Statistics, Applied Psychological Measurement, Educational Assessment, and others that have as a primary focus the presentation of new measurement, statistical, and research methodologies. In the chapter by Levin et al. (this volume), a very provoca- tive argument is forwarded that stresses the need for more credible, rigorous standards in the conceptualization, design, and evaluation of instructional educational research. These authors follow up on the work of Levin and O’Donnell (1999), who—after reviewing the thoughts of many prior editors and presidents representing the field of educational psychology—noted collective concerns about the nature and quality of educational research and the preparation of the next generation of researchers. Educational psychology more than ever before is expected to improve our ability to understand, predict, and control human behavior as well as our ability to design instructional practices with potential applications to problems of school- ing. Recognizing the inherent difficulties in conducting educational research and the importance of bridging many different communities across a wide array of academic disci- plines, there is a call for a broader array of naturalistic and empirical methodologies, ranging from case studies and ob- servations to multivariate designs and analyses (Wittrock, 1994). Contemporary methodological debates about qualita- tive and quantitative or applied and basic inquiry oversimplify and trivialize the issue of how to best obtain quality support- ive evidence using a variety of rigorous inquiry standards that could be reflected in any methodological orientation. The acronym CAREful (Comparison, Again and Again, Relationship and Eliminate) research is used to review com- ponents of scientific integrity that can enhance the evidence credibility of educational research. A framework for concep- tualizing different stages of such research is forwarded, and promising methodological developments in instructional re- search are reviewed. Preliminary phases of inquiry place a fundamental value on subjective reflection, intuition, and ob- servation as important steps for guiding further inquiry using objective, scientifically credible methodology in order to make valid prescriptions for future intervention. Trustworthy and credible instructional research to assess the relative impact of educational and psychological treatments or inter- ventions is of critical importance for policy makers. Indeed, as Levin (1994) eloquently argued previously, the future via- bility of the field will depend on our ability to craft edu- cational intervention research that is both credible and creditable. The development of such innovative methodologi- cal continua should become a top priority for future educa- tional researchers. Summary 17 From Credible Research to Policy and Educational Reform Educational psychology as a discipline has from its inception sought to inform and help guide the education of students and the development of local and national education policies and reforms. Educational psychology has accomplished this goal by maintaining a strong linkage to credible school-based research and associated methodologies. McCombs (this vol- ume) illustrates how research in educational psychology can be translated to changes in educational practice, with a par- ticular reference to how teachers can be informed by research to modify and enhance their classroom and instructional procedures. McCombs discusses the learner-centered psychological principles (McCombs & Whisler, 1997), a set of practices that are designed to enable teachers to gain an understanding of cognitive and metacognitive factors in learning, motiva- tional and emotional influences on learning, developmental and social influences on learning, and individual differences in learning and evaluation (APA Work Group of the Board of Educational Affairs, 1997). These principles were designed to provide teachers with a set of practices that focus on the learner, including an understanding of individual differences and diversity of learners and learner styles. The principles originated with the 1990 appointment by the APA of the Task Force on Psychology in Education, which sought to provide for the application of psychological research and theory to learning in educational contexts. McCombs also delineates significant contributions of educational psychology to educa- tional reforms. McCombs notes that educational psychology is an applied science, with knowledge created that drives the practice of teaching and the study of learner characteristics. It also informs policy and educational reform, particularly as we enter the twenty-first century.
In writing their chapters for this book, contributors were asked to provide insight as to what future trends and directions were anticipated for their respective fields of inquiry. By synthesiz- ing these ideas, Miller and Reynolds (this volume) sought to highlight critical theoretical, research, and practical issues likely to inform and direct the field of educational psychology well into the twenty-first century. Future issues that uniformly surfaced across a majority of chapters were reviewed for their potential of advancing our understanding of individual learn- ers and learning contexts; interpersonal, relational, and in- structional processes; curriculum development; and teacher preparation. Implications are presented for translating theory into educational practice that increases student learning, en- hances teacher preparation, and improves schooling practices. Contemporary educational research issues, methodological ad- vances, and the impact of educational research on learning, teaching practice, and educational policies are supported by exemplars posed by authors in this volume. The chapter concludes with an overview of prospective issues relevant to transforming a vast empirical knowledge base into sound educational policy and practice. Significant contributions of educational psychologists are highlighted, as is the need for trustworthy and credible instructional research to assess the relative impact of educational and psychological treatments or interventions. Future educational psychology researchers must take a leadership role to reduce the tendency to overgeneralize when looking for solutions to very complex challenges in education. There is a strong sense that the field of educational psychology will continue to enhance our understanding of critical educational issues and—most important—will lead to higher standards of quality and cred- ibility to guide future educational policy and reform.
Educational psychology, broadly described, focuses on the ap- plication of psychology to the understanding of learners and the learning environment. However, such a broad generalization of the field does not do justice to the myriad of domains and appli- cations represented by this field of psychology. As this intro- duction to the field and to this volume of the Handbook illustrates, the field of educational psychology represents an im- portant area of psychological research, theory, and practice. The five major areas of contemporary research and prac- tice in educational psychology covered in this volume include cognitive contributions to learning; development and in- struction; sociocultural, instruction, and relational processes; curriculum applications; exceptional learner programs and students; and educational programs, research, and policy. Within these areas, individual chapters provided for broad coverage of nearly all the domains identified by Pressley and Roehrig as having the most significant impact on the field of educational psychology. Individually, each chapter describes a rich domain of research; almost universally, they note a burgeoning of new research paradigms, perspectives, theories, and major concep- tualizations that have emerged over the last quarter of a cen- tury. It is noteworthy that some of these so-called new insights into human behavior and psychology applied to education
18 Current Perspectives in Educational Psychology have been predicated on newly recognized and acknowledged contributions made by psychologists (e.g., Vygotsky, etc.) in the early part of the twentieth century. Although the scope of educational psychology as a field of psychology is quite broad, numerous communalities can be seen across the varied chap- ters of this volume. These communalities suggest a connect- edness that supports educational psychology as a rich and vital field of scientific inquiry. The influence and impact of research in educational psy- chology on society are probably best recognized by applica- tions to the education and training of teachers and the development of procedures to enhance classroom instruction and learning, ways to motivate learners, and the integration of technology into the classroom. These and other applications in educational psychology are buttressed by an empirical rigor of research methods in the design of both basic and ap- plied experiments and field-based investigations. It is evident that researchers in educational psychology are addressing major issues related to the education of learners in regular and special education contexts. In addition to the impact of educa- tional psychology on learning and learners, it has also played a major role in informing policy and educational reform. The mosaic of educational psychology is well represented by the authors of this volume and their respective chapter contributions. The sum of knowledge presented in the chap- ters of this volume illustrates the diversity of research and practice domains. This introduction to current perspectives in educational psychology provides a snapshot of the breadth and scope of this field but does not do justice to the depth of research and applications. For the latter, the following chap- ters provide excellent description, evaluation, and synthesis. The dynamic nature of this field of psychology is evident across the chapters and serves to illustrate the importance of educational psychology research and practice to individuals and society. It is our expectation that this importance will continue and grow throughout the twenty-first century.
Ainsworth, M. D., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, D. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Ames, C. (1984). Competitive, cooperative, and individualistic goal structures: A motivational analysis. In R. Ames & C. Ames (Eds.), Research in motivation in education (Vol. 1, pp. 117– 207). New York: Academic Press. Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivational processes. Journal
Anderson, R. C., & Pearson, P. D. (1984). A schema-theoretic view of basic processes in reading comprehension. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), Handbook of reading research (pp. 225–291). New York: Longman. Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J. M. (1986). Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Ball, D. L., & Cohen, D. K. (1999). Developing practice, develop- ing practitioners: Toward a practice-based theory of professional education. In L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching
(pp. 3–32). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of behavior modification. New York: Holt.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavior change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215. Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanisms in human agency.
Berliner, D. C., & Calfee, R. (Eds.). (1996). Handbook of educa- tional psychology. New York: Macmillan. Binet, A. (1898). La mesure en psychologie individuelle. Revue Philosophique, 46, 113–123. Binet, A., & Henri, V. (1896). La psychologie individuelle. L’Annee Psychologique, 2, 411–465. Binet, A., & Simon, T. (1905). Application des methodes nouvelles au diagnostic du niveau intellectuel chez des enfants normaux et anormaux d’hospice et d’ecole primaire. L’Annee Psycho- logique, 11, 255–336. Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books. Brainerd, C. J. (1978). Cognitive development and instructional theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 3, 37–50. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of devel- opmental processes. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Hand-
Brophy, J. (1986). Teacher influences on student achievement. American Psychologist, 41, 1069–1077. Brophy, J., & Good, J. L. (1974). Teacher-student relationships. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Brown, A. L. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical and method- ological challenges in creating complex interventions in class- room settings. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2, 141–178. Bruner, J. S. (1960). The process of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a theory of instruction. London: Belnap. Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297–301. Darling-Hammond, L., & Sykes, G. (Eds.). (1999). Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. |
ma'muriyatiga murojaat qiling