Confessions of an educational psychologist.

Abstract

I am always attempting to develop new and better ways to teach beginning teachers “all there is to know” about child development and special education. Over the years this process has lead me to feel more and more disillusioned. I am convinced that we need a total revamp of how we approach teaching educational psychology and propose that our discipline re-define what is considered to be essential knowledge and skills for teachers in the twenty-first century. I begin my argument with a review of typical educational psychology courses in initial teacher education, and what my experience with content and process has been over the past 19 years of my career. I then outline the basic tenets of twenty-first century learning and compare these to a “typical” introductory course in educational psychology. Finally, I suggest possible alternatives to the current curriculum and pedagogy of educational psychology in order for it to align with the principles of twenty-first century learning.