otirtial of Advanced Nursing, 1977, 3 , 447-455
Educating teachers of nursing: the contribution of educationai studies John Sheahan S.R.N. R.M.N. R.N.T. F.R.S.H. Principal Lecturer in Nursing, The Polytechnic, Huddersfield
Accepted for publication zy January 1978
SHEAHAN J. {1978) Journal of Advanced Nursing, 3 , 447-455
Educating teachers of nursing: the contribution of educational studies In this paper, the nature of educational studies is considered and discussed. Following some introductory comments, the paper deals with philosophy, psychology and sociology in relation to education. This is followed by a section on social psychology and the paper ends with a section on the history of education.
INTRODUCTION The history of the edueation of nurse tutors in the United Kingdom extends for nearly 60 years and during that time the pattern of education has undergone several changes. The story began in 1918 at King's College for Women, London, where the first course was held. This was a fulltime course and lasted a year. Similar courses were set up at other centres and this was the pattern until 1951 when the length was extended to 2 years. Whilst there was variation in the courses, as offered by individual centres, the syllabus for the London University sister tutor diploma included a considerable amount of subject matter such as anatomy, physiology, nutrition, microbiology and community health, as well as covering the principles and practice of education. A significant change took place in 1965. In that year, with the approval of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales (GNC), Bolton College of Edueation (Teelinical) accepted appropriately qualified nurses on its certificate in education courses. These nurses, on successful completion of the certificate of education course, were eligible for registration as nurse tutors with the GNC. The Bolton course was significant for two reasons. In the first place it lasted for i year, when the length of other courses offered at the time was 2 years. Second, since it was a certificate in education course, it was concerned with educational studies and not with professional subject matter as in London validated courses. An account of the Bolton course is to be found in Roberts & Dixon {1971). 0309-2402/78/0900-0447 $02.00 © 1978 Blackwell Scientific Publications
447
448
J. Sheahan
Further expansion in the provision for educating teachers of nursing has involved all four of the Colleges of Education (Technical). A course was started at Wolverhampton in 1971, and Huddersfield and Garnett followed in 1974. An account of the assessment procedures at Huddersfield has already appeared (Sheahan 1976). What follows is a more genera! account of the elements which may be studied in a certificate in education course.
What is education ? What is the nature of educational studies? Is education a homogeneous or a heterogeneous discipline? Woods (1972) sees education as a heterogeneous discipline incorporating four main disciplines—philosophy, history, psychology and sociology. Woods asks why does one have to contend with four disciplines when studying education. Why not simply study the discipline of education? The short answer to this is that education is not a discipline. Woods goes on to point out that while educational problems vary considerably in scope and complexity, there is no set of specific techniques and procedures for tackling them, and he gives examples of what he means by this; 'If one is enquiring into the role and function of head teachers, how can sociology be avoided? If the enquiry is into how the age of 11 came to be associated with the transition from primary to secondary schooling, how can history be avoided? If investigating the nature, point and purpose of intelligence quotients, how can psychology be avoided? If tlie concern is to lay down a curriculum for, say, general secondary education, how can philosophy be avoided?'. In order to reinforce the heterogeneous nature of education Woods cites the views of R. F. Dearden (1970), an authority on educational studies, who writes, 'In fact, I do not know quite what an "educationist" is, or what sort of expert or authority he is supposed to be. I know what a philosopher of education is, or an educational psychologist, or an educational sociologist, but I am not at all sure what a plain "educationist" would be'. Morrish (1967) also sees education as a heterogeneous discipline and the elements which he writes about are philosophy, psychology and sociology. Morrish goes on to justify the inclusion of these disciplines in educational studies and he writes, 'It is not academic perversity or vested interest which insist that the future educator should have more than just a nodding acquaintance with the disciplines of philosophy, psychology and sociology. If we are to educate for our society we must know and understand that society: we must, in fact, be educated ourselves'. He further suggests that the study of philosophrs such as Plato, Rouseseau and Dewey, the study of psychologists such as Freud, Piaget and Skinner, and the study of sociologists such as Dukheim, G. H. Mead and Mannheim will do much both to 'educate the educator' and to give that 'total' view of our society and its problems which educators need. As noted above, the pattern of educating British teachers of nursing has changed over the years. Changes have also taken place in the preparation of school teachers and one change concerns 'educating the educators'. Until fairly recent times, teachers were prepared for their task in teacher training colleges where there was
Educating teachers of nursing
449
more emphasis on learning the 'tricks of the trade' than on other aspects of education. More recently, these estabhshnients have hecome colleges of education concerned to 'educate the educator' in line with the above cited views of Morrish. THE N A T U R E OF THE DISCIPLINES I N C L U D E D W I T H I N E D U C A T I O N A L STUDIES
Philosophy of education There are several entries in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary under philosophy, but only two will be cited. Philosophy is 'The love, study or pursuit of wisdom, or of knowledge of things and their causes, whether theoretical or practical' and 'that department of knowledge or study which deals with ultimate reality, or with the most general causes and principles of things. Modern philosophy, it is said, begins with Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes philosophy [Priiicipia Philosophiae, 1644) held out the great hope that '. . . knowing the force and actions of fire, water, air, the stars, the heavens, and all other bodies that surround us we should be able to utilize them for all the uses to which they are suited and thus render ourselves masters and possessors of nature'. Collins et al. (1973) deal with the philosophy of education which they defme as 'the discipline which rigorously, logically and self-critically concerns itself with values, the self, truth, existence, reality, purpose, meaning etc, in so far as they underlie educational concepts and practices.' Woods (1972) attempts to distinguish between a philosopher's approach and the approach of other disciplines to the study of concepts and theories and takes physics as an example. According to Woods, the physicist will use concepts and theories to explain natural phenomena and will carry out experiments in his study of the subject. The physicist studying his subject in this manner is said to be interested in first-order questions. Conversely, the philosopher is not interested in the conduct of experiments, but he may be interested in the nature of the observations made and how they would compare with everyday observation. The philosopher may question the reality of things like atoms, electrons, neutrons and so on, which are the subject of the physicist's study. The philosopher is said to be concerned with second-order questions. Woods goes on to write, 'Note that when I talk of the "physicists" and the "philosopher" this way of talking is consonant with the fact that physicist and philosopher may be one and the same person undertaking different jobs at different times. There is nothing to stop a physicist reflecting about the nature of his concepts and theories; indeed, sometimes it is necessary that he do so in order that first-order work can proceed.' Some students may be inclined to leave philosophy to the philosophers. The pursuit of wisdom may be too lofty an ideal for somebody who is simply interested in getting on with a job. Descartes' mastery of nature may seem too global an aspiration. Similarly, concepts such as values, truth, reality, purpose and meaning set out by Collins et al. (1973) may be seen as the concern of philosophers rather than the concern of practitioners such as nurses or teachers. However, when the
450
y. sheahan
concept of first-order and second-order questions is introduced, and when it is suggested that the practitioners (the physicist in example above) and the philosopher may be one and the same person, then I believe philosophy may be seen in a different light. Woods (1972) suggest that there is nothing to stop the physicist reflecting about the nature of his concepts and theories. In fact he suggests that it is sometimes necessary to do so in order that first-order work can proceed. when viewed in terms of first-order and second-order questions, the subject matter of the philosophy of education is a simple matter, since it w^ill be concerned with looking at exactly the concepts and theories which concern the practitioners in the subject. Woods (1972) sets out the scope of the subject in the following manner: 'The philosophy of education will be concerned with the clarification of concepts such as education, teaching, indoctrination, conditioning, training, socialization, intelligence, needs, interacts, creativity, understanding, motivation, authority, punishment, discipline, growth and development. Additionally it will be concerned with the critical evaluation of arguments employing these concepts and others like them, arguments directly related to the practices and procedures of education.' Practitioners, whether teachers, nurses or teachers of nursing, are expected to think analytically, to reason critically and to act reasonably. Here is a mixture of first-order and second-order questions. In fact the second-order questions come first. Perhaps this is the right way round. Whichever is to come first may be arguable, but the arguments for including an element of philosophy in a preparation course for teachers are easier to defend than to refute.
Psychology of education 'Psychology of education is the science which deals with the nature and functioning of the psyche or mind; with the ways in which the world is experienced subjectively', (Collins ct al. 1973). This is a dictionary definition. Another way of looking at the psychology of education is to attempt to relate it to teaching. In order to do this the concept of teaehing must be clarified. Teaching can be considered as the process of stimulating others to attend, to observe, to associate, to remember and to reason. When approached in this manner the element of the psychology of education, which emerges first from the vast store of knowledge on the subject, is motivation. Teaching consists, in the first place, of stimulating people to attend and one of the central questions of motivation is why a human or animal interacts with its environment and does one thing rather than another. A second question is how does one bring about a change in the direction of any activity? This is an important question for practising teachers and help and guidance is to be found through a study of theories of motivation and through the study of concepts such as needs, drives, curiosity, levels of aspiration, incentives, knowledge of results and concepts such as cooperation and competition. The study of motivation provides an example of the many paradoxes found in the human condition. The inherent curiosity which people possess is on the
Educating teachers of nursing
451
side of the teacher because it facilitates learning, but there is a hierarchy of human needs starting with the basic physiological ones such as freedom from hunger and thirst. After these come the need for company of other people and the person's self-esteem. Finally, there is learning and when placed in the context of the hierarchy of human needs, learning is sometimes the last thing people want to do. Having stimulated the will to learn, the next step is to consider the collection of information and this is where perception comes in. Perception includes the study of the way information is gathered by the brain and liow it is interpreted. It provides guidance on the structure of information to be presented to the learner and, among other things, perception deals with the question of whether information should be presented as a 'whole' or 'in bits.' Perception is thus involved in the second element in this definition of teaching which is concerned with observation. Learning and memory deal with the way information is stored, once it has been gathered, and how it is retrieved when wanted. These two closely related topics are of vital importance in the study of educational psychology. Buzan (1974) suggests a number of techniques to help the memory processes and Gagnc {1977),
7
Problem-sotving
Principle formation Concept formation Multiple discrimination Verbal association Chaining Stimulus response
Signal FIGURE I
Conditions of learning modified from Gagni's {1977).
for example, deals with the conditions of learning (see Figure i). It is interesting to note that this element of psychology is related to the remember part of the tcacliing definition and in Figure i Gagnc's conditions of learning takes account of association. Another important area of psychology includes personality and thinking. This area deals with concepts such as consciousness, self-awareness, intelligence, thought and language, all of which have a bearing on the process of education. This element takes account of the reason aspect in the definition of teaching. Other areas where psychology is involved includes programmed learning and behavioural objectives. It is becoming increasingly common to conduct education through the statement of behavioural objectives. Since learning is taken to be permanent
452
J. Sheahan
changes in bcKaviour not due to maturation or to the influence of drugs or disease, the statement of behavioural objectives is obviously in the domain of psychology. Psychology, like the other disciplines involved in the study of education, is a major discipline in its own right, but the aspects chosen (motivation, perception, learning, memory, personality, thinking, intelligence, consciousness and language) should be adequate to justify the inclusion of psychology in courses in the study of education. If teaching is about stimulating people to attend, to observe, to associate, to remember and to reason, then it is possible to identify the psychological concepts which underlie each aspect.
Sociology of education Sociology is the science of society, which studies the forms of social relationships, either in specific institutions, i.e. marriage, denomination, factory, or, more abstractly, leadership and obedience and relationships in management and government etc. Sociology examines the ways in which persons and groups act upon one another, together with the conditions and sequences of such activity—hence the nature of social change. It aims to describe the pattern of such relationships (social structure) and the way they operate (social function). There are special sociologies of large groupings—sociology of industry, administration, politics, religion, education etc (Collins et al. 1973). Politics Family 8- kinship
Education
Economics
i.^.r^n.
Military
Religion
Judiciary Police
FIGURE 2
Representation of social institutions
Sociology is concerned with the study of social institutions (Figure 2). Collins et al. (1973) goes on to define the sociology of education as the study of institutional forms of educational activity (schools, staff, administrators and pupils) which seeks to describe accurately a pattern of relationships and activities that can be submitted to deliberate analysis. Also, the relationsliip of educational institutions with others, i.e. family, industry, and the conditions (economical, physical etc) in which educational institutions operate.
Educating teachers of nursing
453
Reference to a standard work on the subject provides an alternative view of the topics encompassed in the sociology of education. Banks (1976), for example, includes chapters in her book on education and the economy, education and social mobility, family background, values and achievement, the family, the socialization process and achievement, the politics of education, the teaching profession, the sociology of educational knowledge, the school as an organization, and the sociology of the classroom. There are many reasons for including sociology as a subject in a course of educational studies, but there are two of particular importance. Education takes place in institutional settings and involves staff, administrators and learners. Since the task of the soeiology of education is to analyse and describe the patterns of these relationships, the case for including sociology in education becomes a strong one. The second reason concerns the sociology of knowledge. It is suggested that knowledge is socially determined. In the words of Durkeim (1858-1917), 'Education is only the image and reflection of society; it imitates and reproduces the latter in an abbreviated form, but it does not create it.' (Durkeim 1956). Since there is support for the suggestion that knowledge may be socially determined, the case for including sociology in education studies becomes even stronger.
Social psychology Social psychology, as its name implies, draws on psychological and sociological concepts. Collins et al. (1973) defines the subject as follows: 'Social psychology is the study of individual social behaviour (response, interaction, development, motivation etc) against a background of social groups.' It is possible to gain a more comprehensive view of the range of topics, which are of concern to social psychologists, by again referring to a standard work on the subject. Kelvin (1973), for example, approaches the subject in terms of order and values and progresses through attitudes, norms, roles, and groups to socialization (Figure 3).
Socialization Groups Leadership Power and status Roles Stereotypes Norms Attitudes
Order and values FIGURE 3 Representation of some concepts in social psychology
454
J- Sheahan
There is much common ground between sociology and social psychology. Socialization is but one example of a concept which is considered by both disciplines. Rather than attempting to delineate between these disciplines, it is helpful to consider them as alternative ways (different perspectives) of looking at the same problems.
History of education Educational developments arc usually associated with official reports and these are often used, together with the ensuing acts of parliament, as a means of studying this aspect of education. A synopsis of over 20 reports on the development of education in England and Wales can be found in a publication by May & Greer (1973)An alternative approach in the study of the history of education is to consider the ideas of educational thinkers through the ages. Curtis & Boultwood (1956), for example, use the biographical approach to set out the educational ideas of contributors to education, ranging from Plato, Aristotle and St. Augustine, in the early days, to Comenius, Lock and Rousseau at later periods, and to Dewey and Montessori nearer to the present. CONCLUSIONS The nature of educational studies has been set out and their heterogeneous nature has been established. The component parts in the study of education of philosophy, psychology, sociology, social psychology and history have been identified. Comparative education, for example, could have been added, but the contribution of these disciplines, as related to educational practice, has been noted, and justification in relation to philosophy, psychology and sociology has been put forward. What has been discussed so far goes mostly under the title of principles of education, also known as educational studies, and their main purpose is to contribute a theoretical basis for the practise of teaching, as well as educating the educator.
References BANKS O . (1976) The Sociology of Education. Batsford, London. BuzAN T. (1974) Use Your Head. British Broadcasting Corporation, London. COLLINS K.T., DOWNES L.W., GRIITITHS S . R . & SHAW K . E . (1973) Key Words in Education-
Longmans, London. CURTIS S.J. & BOULTWOOD M . E . A . (1956) A Short History of Educational Ideas. University Tutorial Press, London. DEARDEN R . F . (1970) Philosophy and the curriculum. In Curriculum Development. Themes in education no 21. Conference report. University of Exeter Institute of Education. DuBKHEiM E. (1956) Education and Sociology. Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois. GAGN£ R . M . (1977) Conditions of Learning: ^rd edn. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, London. KELVIN P. (1973) The Bases of Social Behaviour: An Approach in Terms of Order and Value. Holt, Panchart & Winston, London.
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M A Y J . & GREER A. (1973) A Sttidail's Guide to the Development of Education in England and Wales.
Strawberr)' Hill Booklet. Rcigatc Press Limited, Surrey. MoRRiSH I. (1967) Disciplines of Education. George Allen & Unwin, London. ROBERTS M . E . & DIXON K . (1971) A course in a college of education for nurses preparing to become nurse tutors in England and Wales. International Journal of Nursing Studies 8, 163-175. SHEAHAN J. (1976) Continuous assessment in the preparation of teachers of nursing. Nursing Times 72, 21-25.
WOODS R.G. (1972) Education and its Disciplines. University of London Press, London.
Educating teachers of nursing: the contribution of educationai studies John Sheahan S.R.N. R.M.N. R.N.T. F.R.S.H. Principal Lecturer in Nursing, The Polytechnic, Huddersfield
Accepted for publication zy January 1978
SHEAHAN J. {1978) Journal of Advanced Nursing, 3 , 447-455
Educating teachers of nursing: the contribution of educational studies In this paper, the nature of educational studies is considered and discussed. Following some introductory comments, the paper deals with philosophy, psychology and sociology in relation to education. This is followed by a section on social psychology and the paper ends with a section on the history of education.
INTRODUCTION The history of the edueation of nurse tutors in the United Kingdom extends for nearly 60 years and during that time the pattern of education has undergone several changes. The story began in 1918 at King's College for Women, London, where the first course was held. This was a fulltime course and lasted a year. Similar courses were set up at other centres and this was the pattern until 1951 when the length was extended to 2 years. Whilst there was variation in the courses, as offered by individual centres, the syllabus for the London University sister tutor diploma included a considerable amount of subject matter such as anatomy, physiology, nutrition, microbiology and community health, as well as covering the principles and practice of education. A significant change took place in 1965. In that year, with the approval of the General Nursing Council for England and Wales (GNC), Bolton College of Edueation (Teelinical) accepted appropriately qualified nurses on its certificate in education courses. These nurses, on successful completion of the certificate of education course, were eligible for registration as nurse tutors with the GNC. The Bolton course was significant for two reasons. In the first place it lasted for i year, when the length of other courses offered at the time was 2 years. Second, since it was a certificate in education course, it was concerned with educational studies and not with professional subject matter as in London validated courses. An account of the Bolton course is to be found in Roberts & Dixon {1971). 0309-2402/78/0900-0447 $02.00 © 1978 Blackwell Scientific Publications
447
448
J. Sheahan
Further expansion in the provision for educating teachers of nursing has involved all four of the Colleges of Education (Technical). A course was started at Wolverhampton in 1971, and Huddersfield and Garnett followed in 1974. An account of the assessment procedures at Huddersfield has already appeared (Sheahan 1976). What follows is a more genera! account of the elements which may be studied in a certificate in education course.
What is education ? What is the nature of educational studies? Is education a homogeneous or a heterogeneous discipline? Woods (1972) sees education as a heterogeneous discipline incorporating four main disciplines—philosophy, history, psychology and sociology. Woods asks why does one have to contend with four disciplines when studying education. Why not simply study the discipline of education? The short answer to this is that education is not a discipline. Woods goes on to point out that while educational problems vary considerably in scope and complexity, there is no set of specific techniques and procedures for tackling them, and he gives examples of what he means by this; 'If one is enquiring into the role and function of head teachers, how can sociology be avoided? If the enquiry is into how the age of 11 came to be associated with the transition from primary to secondary schooling, how can history be avoided? If investigating the nature, point and purpose of intelligence quotients, how can psychology be avoided? If tlie concern is to lay down a curriculum for, say, general secondary education, how can philosophy be avoided?'. In order to reinforce the heterogeneous nature of education Woods cites the views of R. F. Dearden (1970), an authority on educational studies, who writes, 'In fact, I do not know quite what an "educationist" is, or what sort of expert or authority he is supposed to be. I know what a philosopher of education is, or an educational psychologist, or an educational sociologist, but I am not at all sure what a plain "educationist" would be'. Morrish (1967) also sees education as a heterogeneous discipline and the elements which he writes about are philosophy, psychology and sociology. Morrish goes on to justify the inclusion of these disciplines in educational studies and he writes, 'It is not academic perversity or vested interest which insist that the future educator should have more than just a nodding acquaintance with the disciplines of philosophy, psychology and sociology. If we are to educate for our society we must know and understand that society: we must, in fact, be educated ourselves'. He further suggests that the study of philosophrs such as Plato, Rouseseau and Dewey, the study of psychologists such as Freud, Piaget and Skinner, and the study of sociologists such as Dukheim, G. H. Mead and Mannheim will do much both to 'educate the educator' and to give that 'total' view of our society and its problems which educators need. As noted above, the pattern of educating British teachers of nursing has changed over the years. Changes have also taken place in the preparation of school teachers and one change concerns 'educating the educators'. Until fairly recent times, teachers were prepared for their task in teacher training colleges where there was
Educating teachers of nursing
449
more emphasis on learning the 'tricks of the trade' than on other aspects of education. More recently, these estabhshnients have hecome colleges of education concerned to 'educate the educator' in line with the above cited views of Morrish. THE N A T U R E OF THE DISCIPLINES I N C L U D E D W I T H I N E D U C A T I O N A L STUDIES
Philosophy of education There are several entries in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary under philosophy, but only two will be cited. Philosophy is 'The love, study or pursuit of wisdom, or of knowledge of things and their causes, whether theoretical or practical' and 'that department of knowledge or study which deals with ultimate reality, or with the most general causes and principles of things. Modern philosophy, it is said, begins with Descartes (1596-1650). Descartes philosophy [Priiicipia Philosophiae, 1644) held out the great hope that '. . . knowing the force and actions of fire, water, air, the stars, the heavens, and all other bodies that surround us we should be able to utilize them for all the uses to which they are suited and thus render ourselves masters and possessors of nature'. Collins et al. (1973) deal with the philosophy of education which they defme as 'the discipline which rigorously, logically and self-critically concerns itself with values, the self, truth, existence, reality, purpose, meaning etc, in so far as they underlie educational concepts and practices.' Woods (1972) attempts to distinguish between a philosopher's approach and the approach of other disciplines to the study of concepts and theories and takes physics as an example. According to Woods, the physicist will use concepts and theories to explain natural phenomena and will carry out experiments in his study of the subject. The physicist studying his subject in this manner is said to be interested in first-order questions. Conversely, the philosopher is not interested in the conduct of experiments, but he may be interested in the nature of the observations made and how they would compare with everyday observation. The philosopher may question the reality of things like atoms, electrons, neutrons and so on, which are the subject of the physicist's study. The philosopher is said to be concerned with second-order questions. Woods goes on to write, 'Note that when I talk of the "physicists" and the "philosopher" this way of talking is consonant with the fact that physicist and philosopher may be one and the same person undertaking different jobs at different times. There is nothing to stop a physicist reflecting about the nature of his concepts and theories; indeed, sometimes it is necessary that he do so in order that first-order work can proceed.' Some students may be inclined to leave philosophy to the philosophers. The pursuit of wisdom may be too lofty an ideal for somebody who is simply interested in getting on with a job. Descartes' mastery of nature may seem too global an aspiration. Similarly, concepts such as values, truth, reality, purpose and meaning set out by Collins et al. (1973) may be seen as the concern of philosophers rather than the concern of practitioners such as nurses or teachers. However, when the
450
y. sheahan
concept of first-order and second-order questions is introduced, and when it is suggested that the practitioners (the physicist in example above) and the philosopher may be one and the same person, then I believe philosophy may be seen in a different light. Woods (1972) suggest that there is nothing to stop the physicist reflecting about the nature of his concepts and theories. In fact he suggests that it is sometimes necessary to do so in order that first-order work can proceed. when viewed in terms of first-order and second-order questions, the subject matter of the philosophy of education is a simple matter, since it w^ill be concerned with looking at exactly the concepts and theories which concern the practitioners in the subject. Woods (1972) sets out the scope of the subject in the following manner: 'The philosophy of education will be concerned with the clarification of concepts such as education, teaching, indoctrination, conditioning, training, socialization, intelligence, needs, interacts, creativity, understanding, motivation, authority, punishment, discipline, growth and development. Additionally it will be concerned with the critical evaluation of arguments employing these concepts and others like them, arguments directly related to the practices and procedures of education.' Practitioners, whether teachers, nurses or teachers of nursing, are expected to think analytically, to reason critically and to act reasonably. Here is a mixture of first-order and second-order questions. In fact the second-order questions come first. Perhaps this is the right way round. Whichever is to come first may be arguable, but the arguments for including an element of philosophy in a preparation course for teachers are easier to defend than to refute.
Psychology of education 'Psychology of education is the science which deals with the nature and functioning of the psyche or mind; with the ways in which the world is experienced subjectively', (Collins ct al. 1973). This is a dictionary definition. Another way of looking at the psychology of education is to attempt to relate it to teaching. In order to do this the concept of teaehing must be clarified. Teaching can be considered as the process of stimulating others to attend, to observe, to associate, to remember and to reason. When approached in this manner the element of the psychology of education, which emerges first from the vast store of knowledge on the subject, is motivation. Teaching consists, in the first place, of stimulating people to attend and one of the central questions of motivation is why a human or animal interacts with its environment and does one thing rather than another. A second question is how does one bring about a change in the direction of any activity? This is an important question for practising teachers and help and guidance is to be found through a study of theories of motivation and through the study of concepts such as needs, drives, curiosity, levels of aspiration, incentives, knowledge of results and concepts such as cooperation and competition. The study of motivation provides an example of the many paradoxes found in the human condition. The inherent curiosity which people possess is on the
Educating teachers of nursing
451
side of the teacher because it facilitates learning, but there is a hierarchy of human needs starting with the basic physiological ones such as freedom from hunger and thirst. After these come the need for company of other people and the person's self-esteem. Finally, there is learning and when placed in the context of the hierarchy of human needs, learning is sometimes the last thing people want to do. Having stimulated the will to learn, the next step is to consider the collection of information and this is where perception comes in. Perception includes the study of the way information is gathered by the brain and liow it is interpreted. It provides guidance on the structure of information to be presented to the learner and, among other things, perception deals with the question of whether information should be presented as a 'whole' or 'in bits.' Perception is thus involved in the second element in this definition of teaching which is concerned with observation. Learning and memory deal with the way information is stored, once it has been gathered, and how it is retrieved when wanted. These two closely related topics are of vital importance in the study of educational psychology. Buzan (1974) suggests a number of techniques to help the memory processes and Gagnc {1977),
7
Problem-sotving
Principle formation Concept formation Multiple discrimination Verbal association Chaining Stimulus response
Signal FIGURE I
Conditions of learning modified from Gagni's {1977).
for example, deals with the conditions of learning (see Figure i). It is interesting to note that this element of psychology is related to the remember part of the tcacliing definition and in Figure i Gagnc's conditions of learning takes account of association. Another important area of psychology includes personality and thinking. This area deals with concepts such as consciousness, self-awareness, intelligence, thought and language, all of which have a bearing on the process of education. This element takes account of the reason aspect in the definition of teaching. Other areas where psychology is involved includes programmed learning and behavioural objectives. It is becoming increasingly common to conduct education through the statement of behavioural objectives. Since learning is taken to be permanent
452
J. Sheahan
changes in bcKaviour not due to maturation or to the influence of drugs or disease, the statement of behavioural objectives is obviously in the domain of psychology. Psychology, like the other disciplines involved in the study of education, is a major discipline in its own right, but the aspects chosen (motivation, perception, learning, memory, personality, thinking, intelligence, consciousness and language) should be adequate to justify the inclusion of psychology in courses in the study of education. If teaching is about stimulating people to attend, to observe, to associate, to remember and to reason, then it is possible to identify the psychological concepts which underlie each aspect.
Sociology of education Sociology is the science of society, which studies the forms of social relationships, either in specific institutions, i.e. marriage, denomination, factory, or, more abstractly, leadership and obedience and relationships in management and government etc. Sociology examines the ways in which persons and groups act upon one another, together with the conditions and sequences of such activity—hence the nature of social change. It aims to describe the pattern of such relationships (social structure) and the way they operate (social function). There are special sociologies of large groupings—sociology of industry, administration, politics, religion, education etc (Collins et al. 1973). Politics Family 8- kinship
Education
Economics
i.^.r^n.
Military
Religion
Judiciary Police
FIGURE 2
Representation of social institutions
Sociology is concerned with the study of social institutions (Figure 2). Collins et al. (1973) goes on to define the sociology of education as the study of institutional forms of educational activity (schools, staff, administrators and pupils) which seeks to describe accurately a pattern of relationships and activities that can be submitted to deliberate analysis. Also, the relationsliip of educational institutions with others, i.e. family, industry, and the conditions (economical, physical etc) in which educational institutions operate.
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Reference to a standard work on the subject provides an alternative view of the topics encompassed in the sociology of education. Banks (1976), for example, includes chapters in her book on education and the economy, education and social mobility, family background, values and achievement, the family, the socialization process and achievement, the politics of education, the teaching profession, the sociology of educational knowledge, the school as an organization, and the sociology of the classroom. There are many reasons for including sociology as a subject in a course of educational studies, but there are two of particular importance. Education takes place in institutional settings and involves staff, administrators and learners. Since the task of the soeiology of education is to analyse and describe the patterns of these relationships, the case for including sociology in education becomes a strong one. The second reason concerns the sociology of knowledge. It is suggested that knowledge is socially determined. In the words of Durkeim (1858-1917), 'Education is only the image and reflection of society; it imitates and reproduces the latter in an abbreviated form, but it does not create it.' (Durkeim 1956). Since there is support for the suggestion that knowledge may be socially determined, the case for including sociology in education studies becomes even stronger.
Social psychology Social psychology, as its name implies, draws on psychological and sociological concepts. Collins et al. (1973) defines the subject as follows: 'Social psychology is the study of individual social behaviour (response, interaction, development, motivation etc) against a background of social groups.' It is possible to gain a more comprehensive view of the range of topics, which are of concern to social psychologists, by again referring to a standard work on the subject. Kelvin (1973), for example, approaches the subject in terms of order and values and progresses through attitudes, norms, roles, and groups to socialization (Figure 3).
Socialization Groups Leadership Power and status Roles Stereotypes Norms Attitudes
Order and values FIGURE 3 Representation of some concepts in social psychology
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There is much common ground between sociology and social psychology. Socialization is but one example of a concept which is considered by both disciplines. Rather than attempting to delineate between these disciplines, it is helpful to consider them as alternative ways (different perspectives) of looking at the same problems.
History of education Educational developments arc usually associated with official reports and these are often used, together with the ensuing acts of parliament, as a means of studying this aspect of education. A synopsis of over 20 reports on the development of education in England and Wales can be found in a publication by May & Greer (1973)An alternative approach in the study of the history of education is to consider the ideas of educational thinkers through the ages. Curtis & Boultwood (1956), for example, use the biographical approach to set out the educational ideas of contributors to education, ranging from Plato, Aristotle and St. Augustine, in the early days, to Comenius, Lock and Rousseau at later periods, and to Dewey and Montessori nearer to the present. CONCLUSIONS The nature of educational studies has been set out and their heterogeneous nature has been established. The component parts in the study of education of philosophy, psychology, sociology, social psychology and history have been identified. Comparative education, for example, could have been added, but the contribution of these disciplines, as related to educational practice, has been noted, and justification in relation to philosophy, psychology and sociology has been put forward. What has been discussed so far goes mostly under the title of principles of education, also known as educational studies, and their main purpose is to contribute a theoretical basis for the practise of teaching, as well as educating the educator.
References BANKS O . (1976) The Sociology of Education. Batsford, London. BuzAN T. (1974) Use Your Head. British Broadcasting Corporation, London. COLLINS K.T., DOWNES L.W., GRIITITHS S . R . & SHAW K . E . (1973) Key Words in Education-
Longmans, London. CURTIS S.J. & BOULTWOOD M . E . A . (1956) A Short History of Educational Ideas. University Tutorial Press, London. DEARDEN R . F . (1970) Philosophy and the curriculum. In Curriculum Development. Themes in education no 21. Conference report. University of Exeter Institute of Education. DuBKHEiM E. (1956) Education and Sociology. Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois. GAGN£ R . M . (1977) Conditions of Learning: ^rd edn. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, London. KELVIN P. (1973) The Bases of Social Behaviour: An Approach in Terms of Order and Value. Holt, Panchart & Winston, London.
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M A Y J . & GREER A. (1973) A Sttidail's Guide to the Development of Education in England and Wales.
Strawberr)' Hill Booklet. Rcigatc Press Limited, Surrey. MoRRiSH I. (1967) Disciplines of Education. George Allen & Unwin, London. ROBERTS M . E . & DIXON K . (1971) A course in a college of education for nurses preparing to become nurse tutors in England and Wales. International Journal of Nursing Studies 8, 163-175. SHEAHAN J. (1976) Continuous assessment in the preparation of teachers of nursing. Nursing Times 72, 21-25.
WOODS R.G. (1972) Education and its Disciplines. University of London Press, London.
