Educational Psychology and Pedagogy
Educational Psychology and Pedagogy tests learning theory, motivation, individual differences and classroom practice. ADEO candidates must connect theory to supervision: a teacher who only lectures may ignore the concrete-operational needs of young learners.
Core frameworks
- Piaget: sensorimotor (0–2), preoperational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11+). Development precedes learning in his view.
- Vygotsky: social interaction, Zone of Proximal Development, scaffolding and language as a tool. Learning drives development.
- Behaviourism: Pavlov (classical conditioning), Skinner (operant conditioning, reinforcement), Thorndike (laws of exercise and effect).
- Motivation: Maslow's hierarchy; intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation; praise and success build self-efficacy.
- Bloom's revised taxonomy: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create.
Worked example
A five-year-old says a tall narrow glass holds more water than a short wide glass, though both hold the same. Reasoning: the child centres on height and lacks conservation, a preoperational trait. The teacher should use wide and narrow containers, pour back and let the child observe, not merely explain conservation verbally.
Traps
Do not say Piaget and Vygotsky agree on the role of language. Do not treat stage ages as cut-offs. Do not call all rewards intrinsic; intrinsic motivation comes from interest, not stickers. In Bloom questions, apply is not remember.