Four way agenda of teaching educational psychology

1. Why Study Educational Psychology?
Educational psychology makes an invaluable contribution to teaching. Teaching only seems easy, but in fact,
it is one of the most complex of human activities. Teaching is not merely the imparting of knowledge but
involves a complex interrelationship of several factors and processes.
Educational Psychology and Teaching:
(1) Educational psychology answers some very important questions in teaching.
Examples of some questions:
• How do people learn?
• How can we use what we know about learning and motivation to increase the effectiveness of our
instructional procedures?
• What do we know about people that might be of value to teachers who face student misbehaviour or want to
avoid being faced with such behaviour?
• How can we motivate learners?
(2) Educational Psychology solves the four main problems in the teaching/learning process – the students,
the teacher, the classroom strategies, and the content.
Spunthall et. al. (1994) refer to them as the Four-way agenda of teaching.
The Four-way Agenda of Teaching.
Mackey (1982) describes twenty-eight suggested behaviours that most often characterize the teaching
strategies of highly effective teachers. These behaviours are related to four (4) aspects of the teaching process:
- classroom management and discipline;
- instructional organization, sequence and presentation;
- verbal interaction (communication)
- interpersonal interaction.
Educational Psychology influences teachers as it focuses on these aspects of the teaching process.
(3) The teacher is a problem solver and therefore draws on Educational Psychology in decision making.
Teachers are faced daily with various problems which fall in the following categories:
i) Instructional problems
ii) Motivational problems
iii) Management problems
iv) Assessment problems.
Teaching therefore, requires continuous decision making. If teachers are to make good decisions, a thorough
grounding in educational psychology is required.