EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERVIEW PAPER

Educational Psychology Interview Paper

Fitti Kolbe
College of DuPage

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Educational Psychology Interview Paper

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mind. However, this is a rather broad
definition for a term of such great complexity. In fact, psychology can be subdivided into many
different categories. One of which is educational psychology. As per definition by John W.
Santrock educational psychology refers to the specific branch of psychology that specializes in
understanding teaching and learning in educational settings. But what exactly does this
definition mean in a real life application? To find out the answer to this question I got in contact
with multiple members of the educational system.
Throughout the interviewing process I took advantage of the various technologies that are
available to me, precisely I made use of social media to get in contact with individuals. In an
education class that I took in the previous semester I had learned that educators are the people
who are most represented on the social network Twitter. Since then I have learned that Twitter is
an excellent medium to get in contact and communicate with individuals of the educational
system. It further is a great tool for advanced self-training and development. The convenience of
around the clock accessibility and not being limited by ones own or the interviewees time
schedule allowed me to interview not only two individuals but a total of six female and male
individuals from the United States and Canada. The interview itself was not held via Twitter,
however, but via digital communication through Google Drive. Among my interview partners
were two professors of education, a university professor who has a specified interest in
educational psychology, as well as two middle school instructors and a psychologist from New
York. In order to keep the interviewees anonymity, I chose to use made up names for each
individual who I will introduce throughout the paper.
It turned out that at least four out of the six people interviewed have more than just one
role at their institution. For example, in addition to being a male eighth grade science teacher at
an Iowa public school Kevin Roy is also is part of a district improvement team. In other words,
he does not only teach science and health to his students, but he also spends extra time on district
and staff development. Yet, other educators choose to become active in extracurricular activities
such as sports and clubs. All other interviewed educators also mentioned that their actual job
goes beyond what most people think they are doing. In reality most teachers responsibilities also
include some form of advising, counseling and assessing students development. Additionally,
each one of them is expected to put time and effort in the own professional development and
improvement. For professor of education Juana Casey this also means to network with other
professors and educators and to share and discuss the most recent practices and trends in
education.
Next, I would like to further elaborate the meaning of educational psychology and its role
within the school system. Like I already mentioned further above, educational psychology is a
subfield of the umbrella term of psychology. Throughout the history of educational psychology
both the behavioral approach, as well as the cognitive approach have been highly discussed. The
former stresses the importance of experiences and behavior in an individuals learning process
(Santrock). The ladder focuses more on knowledge and understanding, often referring to the
social environment of the individual (Santrock). Lastly, the relatively new social and emotional
approach also plays an important role.
Even though the researched topic consists the word psychology, all the individuals that
I interviewed agreed that school psychologists are not the only ones who use educational
psychology for their work. When asked who else is involved in educational psychology and how,

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all interviewees replied that teachers also play a major role. Other individuals involved are
administrators, counselors, parents or simply everyone [involved] in teaching and learning, as
stated by professor of education Kristin Berry. Considering that basically everybody in the
educational setting is to some extend involved with educational psychology, this specific area of
psychology is assigned with a very meaningful role. A role that focuses on the cognitive,
emotional, and behavioral development of children and young adults in the academic
environment (Nina Peterson, personal communication, February 4, 2015). But what exactly
makes educational psychology so important?
On a large scale it can inform policy and curriculum. More importantly, however, is
educational psychology on an individual level as it aides to support students reach their
achievement potential in school (Nina Peterson, personal communication, February 4, 2015).
One could possibly even say that without educational psychology teaching would be
meaningless. Educational psychology is the study of how students and learn and why, says
professor of education Juana Casey. It is needless to say that as a teacher one will meet various
learners. Some learn faster, others take some extra time, and yet others may require special
assistance. Through the use of educational psychology, teachers prepare themselves to think
more creatively at finding ways to reach all students, which consequently allows the individual
to teach differently and hence help students more efficiently and effectively (Kevin Roy, personal
communication, January 29, 2015). For the creation and implementation of lessons plans, for
instance, the educator has to know the students strengths and weaknesses and design
developmentally appropriate activities. What is important for a first grade student may not be
appropriate for a middle school student, as stated by local Illinois middle school teacher
Winston Goodman.
Taking into account how many different people are using educational psychology, and
most of all how essential it is to being a good teacher, does certainly not take away from the
important role that a school psychologist plays within the educational system. The relevance of a
school psychologist clearly emanates from the words said by psychologist Nina Peterson.
Through psychological assessment, psychologists can help students identify learning deficits or
potential strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, through therapy they can help patients or
students deal with stressors that contribute to emotional and behavioral dysregulation (Nina
Peterson, personal communication, February 4, 2015). For her job she works closely together
with educators, and parents, but most importantly with the individual student. Her area of work
covers a broad spectrum from assisting students who may struggle on a personal level, for
instance, because of bullying, and others who struggle academically. But overall, the main goal is
to create a learning environment that allows the students to succeed on many different levels.
It appears to me that educational psychology is easy to be understood in theory, but not
always in practice. This is because the term, regardless of its definitions, is rather vague. The
point Im trying to make is that for example both the behavioral and cognitive approach are
essential, but the actual implementation of both ideas into a classroom setting cannot be studied
by a step-by-step instruction. In addition, the socio-emotional aspect of educational psychology
also plays a significant role. So instead of reflecting on each approach individually, I think it is
more important to be aware and cooperation of all and implement each one accordingly.
This experience has given me some valuable information about a school system that I
only have very limited personal experience with, since I never attended an American public
school. One of the most important things I have learned from this process is that many different
professionals with different roles in the educational system all work together in order to promote

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a students success. This does not only refer to educational psychology, but it is just as well
applicable to all of education. I further realized that the individuals success depends on much
more than just the academic professionalism of the teacher, but that it depends on a complex
interplay of all people who appear in a students life. Knowing this, it is easier for me to
understand all the opportunities and challenges that the work in education bring about.
On a professional level, I benefited from this experience in many ways. First of all, I
learned how to network and get in contact with many different people of whom most were
complete strangers to me. Second, through my research I received inside information on
educational psychology from professionals. This information is based on years of experiences
and practical work, which makes it so much more relevant and valuable to me than merely
theoretical writings from a textbook.

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY INTERVIEW PAPER

References

Santrock, J. W. (2011). Educational Psychology (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

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