How Teachers Integrate Psychological Concepts into the Classroom

An elementary teacher establishes a student’s educational foundation through leadership and commitment, and in order to do so effectively, time and patience is a necessity. First, a teacher must engage in the students’ learning by inviting them to share their thoughts, opinions, and ideas, while actively listening and providing feedback. Furthermore, peer interaction should be encouraged to supplement the course material. Finally, teachers should explain concepts thoroughly and cater to each child’s learning style, while encouraging the students to envision new ideas and think “outside the box.” After completing the subject matter, performance should be evaluated to determine concept mastery and evaluate teaching methods. Psychology then becomes relevant because a teacher has to have a sense of behavioral management and should know how to appropriately handle emotional issues. Understanding learning styles and psychological issues can affect a child’s learning capacity is necessary in order to address various issues when they arise, thereby managing and maximizing each child’s learning potential.

Behavioral management is essential for a teacher because behavioral problems can be an issue if not controlled; misbehavior is usually indicative of underlying psychological issues and can interfere with and impede all students’ learning. Thus, understanding behavioral management can help in mediating the aforementioned challenges. For instance, if one student has a behavioral problem and has frequent outbursts that cause disruptions to the class, a student’s learning ability can be hindered. Behavioral problems need to be addressed, and the correct behavior needs to be modeled (Chen). If the student continues to have problems, the...

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... guides the student to success. Teachers should stress the importance of the students to develop goals, beliefs, and attitudes in order for the students learning ability to be maximized. Elementary teachers should frequently praise the young student’s efforts, this helps build up the confidence of the student and their ability. Mastery-oriented students are those who strive to learn new things and are highly motivated to accomplish their goals. These students are willing to learn something new, regardless of the difficulty. It is the mastery-oriented students who are more likely to develop independent learning and sustained involvement in achievement activities. The emphasis of motivation is in identifying strategies that develop mastery goal orientation in students and relates to all aspects of the classroom learning and organization ("Houghton Miffilin," 1997).