Book Series in Applied Psychology: Educational Psychology

Author: Feng Zhongliang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-04-01
Features: The views, system, and content of this book are unique and novel. While elaborating on our academic perspectives, it also extensively introduces the research findings of other scholars. Therefore, this book is not only a monograph with unique academic value but also a textbook for students in psychology and education departments to study and research educational psychology. It can also serve as an important reference book for teachers in various schools and enterprises to further their studies and for employee training in enterprises.
Educational psychology, as an important branch of psychology, is a product of the close integration of the development of psychological science and the needs of educational practice. If we date its origins from the attempt in 1806 by German philosopher Herbart to systematically explain educational practice from a psychological perspective in his General Pedagogy, educational psychology has nearly two hundred years of history. If we consider the formal establishment of educational psychology as an independent discipline in 1903 with the publication of Educational Psychology by American psychologist Edward Thorndike, then educational psychology has also gone through nearly a century. Over this long period, educational psychologists have made unremitting efforts, conducting numerous fruitful theoretical discussions and experimental research, which have transformed educational psychology from an experience-based and behavior-oriented field to a cognition-oriented one, and it is gradually moving towards constructivist and integrative approaches. However, at the same time, we must acknowledge that as a discipline, despite achieving many accomplishments, educational psychology still fails to fully meet expectations. The fundamental issue lies in the unclear research object, the overly complex content, and the disorganized system of educational psychology, which fails to deeply engage with educational realities and adequately serve educational practice. In fact, educational psychology is a foundational discipline within the field of educational science. Other educational disciplines would become superficial and struggle to solve practical problems without the support of educational psychology. Given this, over the past forty years of my teaching career, I have dedicated myself to this field, hoping to contribute to the grand edifice of educational science.
Looking at the problems in the field of educational psychology, they primarily stem from a lack of clear understanding of the essence of education in educational philosophy and a lack of profound insights into theoretical issues such as the nature and characteristics of student learning, the nature and structure of abilities and moral character, among others, in psychological science. These three major theoretical issues continue to perplex many and severely hinder the innovation of the educational system. As an educational psychologist, it is impossible to establish a scientific system of educational psychology without first clarifying these three theoretical issues. Therefore, I have taken the study of the essence of teaching and learning, the nature of student learning, and the nature of abilities and moral character as the starting point for creating a new, scientific system of educational psychology. Compared to similar works both domestically and internationally, the most prominent feature of this book is its novelty, which is reflected in the following three aspects: first, the novelty of its views; second, the novelty of its system; and third, the novelty of its content. The views, system, and content of this book are unique and novel, elaborating on our academic perspectives while extensively introducing the research findings of other scholars. Thus, this book serves as both a monograph with unique academic value and a textbook for students in psychology and education departments to study and research educational psychology, as well as an important reference book for teachers in various schools and enterprises to further their studies and for employee training in enterprises.
This book is the culmination of years of teaching experience in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Education at Beijing Normal University in the field of educational psychology. Since the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1978, under my guidance, master's student Lin Qiyun, doctoral student Yao Meilin, doctoral student Wu Jianmin, and doctoral student Wu Xinchun have successively taught the course on educational psychology. We have continuously revised the teaching syllabus, updated the teaching content, and tried to apply educational psychology theories to educational practice, which has, to some extent, promoted the in-depth development of China's educational reform movement. The specific writing process of this book was completed over three years by three talented young doctoral students who once studied under me. They are Dr. Wu Xinchun, Dr. Yao Meilin, and Dr. Wang Jianmin. I was responsible for designing the overall framework of the book and determining the chapters, while the specific details were determined by the authors themselves. The writing assignments were as follows: Feng Zhongliang wrote Chapters 1, 2, and 3. Wu Xinchun wrote Chapters 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 23, and 24, as well as Sections 2, 4, 5, and 6 of Chapter 5. Yao Meilin wrote Chapters 9, 10, 12, 16, and 18, as well as Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter 3. Wang Jianmin wrote Chapters 20, 21, and 22, as well as Sections 1 and 2 of Chapter 22. Additionally, Feng Ji wrote Sections 3 of Chapter 5 and Section 3 of Chapter 22. After the initial draft was completed, Dr. Wu Xinchun conducted a preliminary review of each chapter, and I made the final revisions.
Professor and Doctoral Supervisor Feng Zhongliang
Beijing Normal University Department of Psychology
October 10, 2000