ABSTRACT
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, educational psychology became characterized by a much more child-centred approach, with the emphasis more upon the study of children’s actual behaviour than upon the application of models of the mind or mental abilities. Educational technology and educational management have moved into such areas as learning, social relationships, and classroom control; special education has taken over work on individual needs; school effectiveness has appropriated work on social organization and assessment; and pastoral care has annexed work on psychological counselling. The relative impotence of educational psychology to make statements about individual abilities capable of greatly influencing day-to-day classroom practice may well be a reflection of the impotence of psychology itself. Educational psychology embraces the ways in which affective factors influence both learning and the personal-social development of the child. Child development is a vast, well-researched subject within psychology; although marked by pluralism, major areas are relevant to education.
