Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

740 The Praeger Handbook of Education and Psychology
reproduction and to consider themselves as active decision makers, along with students in the
learning process.
In some settings, teachers demonstrate a metacognitive awareness of their own teaching and
respond to reject the hegemonic curriculum and to initiate and implement curriculum that is
outside not only the government determined curriculum, but often also the expectations of parents
and community for the possibility of improved social and academic achievement of their students.
Such actions require conscious decision making and civic courage on the part of teachers as they
develop and implement changed programs, aiming to reach beyond the basic demands of the
society for technical competence in literacy and numeracy or for welfare, as adequate focus for
the educational energy in working class schools. These teachers demonstrate an ability to act in
ways which reflect a “critical constructivism” of teaching as they seek new approaches and build
new curricula.
It is argued therefore that the perceptions of teachers and their understandings of their students,
their students’ abilities, and their learning environments are interrelated, indeed inseparable.
This has a critical impact for the work of education psychology; thinking, and action are not
context-free and understanding behavior is clearly demands consideration of sociological and
psychological factors, that is the sociocultural context as an integral part of teacher thinking,
behavior, attitudes and actions. This research highlights the need for the construction of a new
knowledge base for researching teaching, learning, and thinking. This new knowledge must be
eclectic, connect the disciplines of educational psychology and sociology to understand teaching
as a result of the ways in which teachers know and interpret sociocultural factors. It must be an
essential component of preservice and inservice teacher education and underpin decisions about
practice.
Educational psychology has a significant role to play if the school is to take a significant role
in deconstructing barriers to social mobility and supporting access, rather than creating barriers
and enabling exclusion. Understanding teacher cognition (as well as student learning behavior),
its impact on building social and intellectual capacity is critical at both the institutional and
personal level. As teachers engage in teaching practice, learning will be delivered at the point
of intersection of the sociological influences outlined above and the psychological influences of
teacher’s thinking. Any deliberate changes in teacher practices are responses to the interpretation
of family needs and wants, as well as to teacher’s education knowledge and experience, and set
within the framework of policy and practice at both the global and local levels of management of
education. Individual action is therefore always within the context of a wide range of structures and
institutional forces, so highlighting the importance of understanding the ways in which teachers
think about their students and students’ families and backgrounds as well as their personal goals
and practices. The model for the relationship outlined in Figure 86.1 illustrates how teaching
cognition (the psychology of education) filters and interprets school and community influences
(the sociology of education) in deciding curriculum, teaching, and learning.
Effective change is driven by the power to make decisions and to access the appropriate
resources to work against the prevailing culture to act critically to construct positive experience
and outcomes. Working against the prevailing culture is difficult, but can be sustained when the
innovative change is connected to cultural change and supported by systems and government
policy. The perceived influences of parents and community are as powerful as the explicit impact
of system and policy in supporting and inhibiting change and innovation. Without systemic and
policy support for practical reform, some teachers will continue to struggle to address issues of
equity and learning improvement in environments which very often serve to reduce the impact of
their efforts and abilities.
Such change begins with educational psychology leading the way in supporting teachers to
develop a critical understanding of personal knowledge and practice. Making this knowledge