Introduction

Abstract

The purpose of this book is to acquaint the reader with those areas of psychology of most practical value to the teacher. It deals, therefore, not only with matters relating directly to the classroom, but with matters pertaining to the child’s background outside school and to his own self-perceptions and self-concepts. The teacher’s task can only be clarified if he has a knowledge of children as complete persons rather than simply as individuals who spend the hours from nine o’clock until four sitting in classrooms. The child’s personality, his ability to learn, his motivation, his social behaviour, his attitudes towards school, are all formed as a consequence of a complex set of interrelated factors which begin at birth (and even before) and extend throughout each moment of his waking life. By the time he has finished this book the reader should have a clear idea of what these factors are, and of how they influence child behaviour. He should also have a clear idea of the part the teacher himself plays in the determination of this behaviour, and of how the teacher can best help children to benefit from the learning opportunities that school has to offer.