The Art and Science of Teaching: Insights from Educational Psychology

By Kelly Hutton

Science has come a long way in understanding the brain, but are we using this information enough in Education?

Science has come a long way in understanding the human brain, but how much of that science actually reaches the teaching in our classrooms or homes? Enter Educational Psychology, the discipline which uses psychological theory and research to help us understand learning, development, and the way in which we can teach. It is described by Entwhistle (1998) as:

"a body of knowledge... derived from mainstream psychology and educational research, to illuminate the teacher"

However, ever since I began working in Education over 20 years ago, my fascination with the way in which children's brains and bodies learn to navigate the world, from their first word to their first step, only seems to occasionally rear its head in actual practice. It's a fascinating phenomenon and one which really challenges us to think about why we don't know more about it.

Educational Psychology, like all sciences, comes with nuances, however, and teaching our children does not come with a fixed set of rules or prescriptions - you only have to have met two children in your whole life to figure that one out. Psychologists as early as 1899 (when psychology was barely recognised as a science!) were quoted as saying:

"Psychology is a science, and teaching is an art; and sciences never generate arts directly out of themselves. An intermediary mind must make the application." (James, 1899)

A great example of why psychology cannot hand the teacher a set of ready-made methods is the recognition of the gap between theory and the classroom; we can use psychology to inform teaching, but it cannot dictate what is taught. Instead, if we frame Educational Psychology as a lens through which we can interpret behaviour, it can give us a language for discussing learning; it can help create frameworks for designing environments that reduce barriers; and it can create a bridge between the research and the practice.

Eggen & Kauchak (2020) emphasise this idea that Educational Psychology provides us with the professional knowledge that supports expert teaching, reflective practice, and evidence-informed decision-making, and this is exactly what I implement in every Functional Skills Tutor session.

Teaching Insights From Educational Psychology: How Children Learn

1. Learning is Active, Not Passive

   Entwhistle (1998) wrote about how learning isn't just sitting there and soaking up information like a sponge, and he has good reasoning as to why:

   When people are learning, they are not just listening; they are connecting new ideas to things they already know, they are asking questions, trying to fit things together and are thinking about whether something makes sense or not. This is showing that learning is something your brain works on, not something that "just" happens to you.

   The research conducted showed that learning comes in two flavours:

   Surface learning = memorising facts without understanding

   Deep learning = thinking, questioning, connecting ideas

   Deep learning requires active engagement, not passive intake of information.

2. Children Learn Differently - Therefore There is No Single "Best" Way to Teach

   The research here is really quite explicit, as you can imagine. Learners differ in everything from memory to reasoning, imagination, motivation, personality and prior experience. Teaching therefore has to remain flexible, responsive and varied.

3. Motivation is Central

   Eggen & Kauchak (2020) discuss how motivation is shaped by needs (autonomy, competence, belonging), beliefs (self-efficacy, mindset), goals, and emotions. It is with this in mind that we know the best classrooms have:

   1. Strong teacher-student relationships

   2. Provide meaningful challenge

   3. Offer autonomy

   4. Connect learning to real life

   5. Use mastery-focused feedback that tells the child what they did well, what they can improve on and how to improve it:

      "Your idea is strong, let's try adding an example here to make it clearer"

      "You're improving your paragraph structure. Next step: work on linking your points"

      "You've mastered the basics, here's how to level up"

4. Cognition Develops Over Time

   Children's thinking changes with development (Piaget, Vygotsky, etc), and with this knowledge, it is where Eggen & Kauchak (2020) emphasise the importance of:

   1. The role of schemas, assimilation and accommodation

   2. The importance of scaffolding

   3. Zone of Proximal Development

   (Check out my previous posts about this!)

Knowing this, teaching should therefore connect new learning to prior knowledge, provide structured support that gradually fades and use dialogue and interaction with children, which will build understanding.

5. Memory and Attention Are Limited - Teaching Needs to Reduce Cognitive Load

The part of the brain that holds information for a short time whilst we use it, much like the old software on an Apple product; if you keep many things open and then try to load too much at once, the app freezes or crashes. Eggen & Kauchak (2020) explain in their chapter on memory that it is limited, fragile and easy to overwhelm.

Knowing this, we can:

• Clear organisation - explain things in simple, logical orders to create a clear path for the brain to follow; like the instructions for a game, if they are organised, you will understand it faster.

• Chunking - break the information into smaller, easier parts, like when you remember a telephone number; rather than 123456789, you remember 123-456-789 as this takes up less space in working memory.

• High-quality examples - Good examples show you exactly how something works. Why? Because examples will help your brain connect new ideas to things you already know, which makes the learning easier.

• Visual Supports - Pictures, diagrams, charts, colour coding - anything you can see. This takes the pressure off the working memory, and your eyes help your brain understand faster than words alone. This is why I always try to make everything as practical, with real-life examples as possible... studying leaves? We use real leaves, find the trees and get as much information as possible from seeing it in real life.

6. Identity, Belonging, and Emotion Shape Learning

Foster et al (2024) highlight how adolescents' identity development, belonging needs and social comparison strongly influence behaviour and how this is recognised through teaching; it can have a real impact on the child.

The "2x10" strategy was recognised by Raymond Wlodkowski (1985), who found that if a teacher spent 2 minutes a day, for 10 days, talking with a student about anything the student cared about, just not what you were teaching, saw that the student's behaviour and effort improved massively. This wasn't about punishment or a lesson; it simply showed that connection makes a big difference, not correcting, no teaching, no telling off, just noticing them.

After 10 days, the teachers who took part in the study reported better behaviour, more effort, more trust, fewer arguments and more engagement in class.

7. Inclusive Design Should Be Built From The Start

Inclusive educational design means making it easy for everyone to access the learning right from the beginning, not fixing it later when someone is struggling. This idea comes from the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and it uses three big ideas:

• Multiple means of engagement (motivation, relevance, autonomy), so choosing topics that the child cares about, with opportunities to work with others, doing hands-on tasks and connecting learning to real-life tasks.

• Multiple means of representation (varied formats and multimodal input) so varying the way in which the information is accessible: videos, diagrams, pictures, models... making it clearer and easier to understand.

• Multiple means of action and expression, so not just expecting everyone to be able to produce an essay, allow a variety of ways for learning to be demonstrated: a video, building something, drawing, presentation, etc.

This all matters because the science and SEND practice both say the same things: People learn differently, so teaching should give everyone different ways to understand, join in, and show their learning.

UDL basically makes education accessibility fairer, clearer and more flexible for all students.

Does Our Education System in the UK Fully Utilise Educational Psychology?

The short answer is no, whilst it is using some of the principles, structural constraints mean that it simply cannot allow for teachers to fully implement the key things we understand about the way children learn; structurally, it will not allow it.

It is now all bad; it does align well with:

• The EYFS, which is strongly developmentally informed

• SEND legislation, with the graduated approach, reasonable adjustments reflects some of the psychological principles

• Teachers do scaffold, use retrieval practice, modelling and metacognition

• And UDL style approaches appear in pockets of excellent practice...

But it massively diverges from the science with:

• High-stakes assessments which contradict what we know about motivation (our system is dictated to massively by SATs, GCSEs, A-levels, Progress 8 and Ofsted!)

• Curriculum pacing often exceeds developmental readiness (this is a real bug-bear of mine!). Cognitive developmental research (Piaget, Vygotsky) emphasises readiness, scaffolding, and conceptual depth, but the National Curriculum often prioritises coverage over understanding.

• Individual differences are acknowledged, but not accommodated, meaning Entwhistle's warning that "no single way of teaching suits all learners" is still unmet. Class sizes, limited adult support and rigid timetables all restrict the ability to differentiate and really provide scientifically backed education for our children.

• Inclusion is policy-driven, not resource-driven. I have written about this before (see here): schools in the UK often rely on retrofitting, with interventions, withdrawal groups or EHCPs because the universal design is not funded or mandated...

• Mental health and identity needs are rising faster than support systems are being put in place... systematic barriers to diagnosis, long waiting lists and the role of identity formation online (I have written about this too - read it here!) all have a massive impact on schools expected to respond without adequate CAMHS capacity...

• And finally, in my rant, and one of what I think is the biggest barrier, the workload of teachers prevents reflective practice. Educational psychology emphasises reflection, adaptation, and professional judgement to have real impact on teaching practices. Eggen & Kauchak (2020) frame this as essential to expert teaching. UK teachers in particular often lack time for this due to administrative and accountability pressures, and it just strips them of their ability to really respond to the children they are teaching and in my opinion, strips them of their ability to apply professional judgement. They are the experts in this sector; they should be allowed time to understand and adapt to the needs of their children and, more importantly, be trusted to do so.

Putting Educational Psychology into Actual Practice

I truly believe that all of the science really matters if we are to provide a world-leading education for our children. This is why all my practice reflects all the elements recognised across educational psychology research to ensure that children have the opportunity to learn in environments that truly work with and for them.

Every session is designed to strengthen the executive functions that educational psychology identifies as essential for independence: planning, organisation, flexible thinking, working memory, attention, and self-monitoring. I use the principles seen across the research: clear structure, visual scaffolds, chunking, modelling, echoing, metacognition, autonomy-supportive language, and an emotionally safe learning environment to make Functional Skills genuinely accessible.

Because the sessions mirror what we know about educational psychology, from motivation, identity, belonging and cognitive load, the children learn in ways that work with their brains rather than against them. In practice, this means the sessions are not just teaching maths and English, but they build on the thinking habits, confidence, and regulation skills that allow children to thrive beyond the lesson.

This is the joy of being independent, outside of the structured educational system; I can bring learning to children which we know really works... for every different child.

Want to find out more about Functional Skills Tutoring? Take a look at how I am not just making this stuff up as I go; everything is grounded in research, built upon decades of science and aimed to ensure the very best understanding of every single child, individually. I document the Projects that children undertake in the Functional Skills Tutor sessions every week on the socials, so see for yourself just what education that is embedded in the science can look like.

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References:

Entwistle, N. Styles of Learning and Teaching (1998).

Eggen, P., & Kauchak, D. Using Educational Psychology in Teaching (2020).

Foster, A., & Ellis, N. (2024). TikTok-inspired self-diagnosis and its implications for educational psychology practice. Educational Psychology in Practice, 40(4), 491–508. Sewell, A., Kennett, A., & Pugh, V. (2022). Universal Design for Learning as a theory of inclusive practice for use by educational psychologists. Educational Psychology in Practice, 38(4), 364–378.

Wlodkowski, R. J. (1985). Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn. San Francisco: Jossey‑Bass.