Reconfiguring the “Top 20 Principles for PreK–12 Education” by Basing Them in the Dynamics of the Class and Extending Them to Higher Education

Abstract

Abstract To address the gap between the importance of the behavioral sciences to teaching and learning and the diminishing role of such sciences in teacher-leader preparation, the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education (CPSE) developed the “Top 20 Principles from Psychology for PreK–12 Teaching and Learning” (2015) as a resource for pre- and in-service teachers. This chapter presents an extended view of the principles in two ways. First, the principles are cast into a new organizational structure that reconceptualizes their application to teaching and learning in five areas. Discussed are how these behavioral science principles are grounded in psychological science theory and research and can be used to (1) empower students to facilitate their own learning, (2) implement teaching as a social-interactive process, (3) understand learning as taking place in situational contexts, (4) identify what teachers need to know about assessment, and (5) articulate how teacher expectations are critical to student learning. Second, their application to education and schooling is now extended to include illustrations of their use in the higher education setting, as well as the K–12 education setting.