Abstract
Teaching and learning are fundamentally social enterprises. In attempting to understand, explain, and predict social behavior, social psychologists have amassed scores of empirically grounded, fundamental principles. Yet, many such principles have yet to be applied to classrooms despite the social nature of these settings. This article illustrates how infusing novel concepts from social psychology into teachers’ repertoires holds untapped potential to improve their pedagogy, ability to motivate students, and capacity to enrich students’ understanding of subject matter. This article first examines three domains of social psychology—social cognition, influence/persuasion, and interpersonal relations—and illustrates how applications of principles from each domain could benefit classrooms. Next, two exemplars are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of past interventions that are rooted in social psychological principles. Finally, pathways through which teacher educators can introduce new social psychological concepts and applications to teachers are explored.
Highlights
Running head: THE SOCIAL SIDE OF SCHOOL The social side of school: Why teachers need social psychology
Given the fundamentally social nature of learning and teaching, greater knowledge of core concepts that elucidate complex social dynamics and guide ensuing behavior would be a tremendous boon for teachers
This study provides a dramatic example of how a small intervention at the level of students’ social cognitions can result in a large outcome in actual achievement over an extended period of time
Summary
Running head: THE SOCIAL SIDE OF SCHOOL The social side of school: Why teachers need social psychology. These examples illustrate the breadth of social psychology with potential classroom applications (e.g., social cognition, influence and persuasion, and interpersonal relations) while illustrating a range of outcomes (improved pedagogy, bolstered student motivation, and increased student understanding) that these applications might impact.
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