Stephanie Taylor has blogged over on the DD317 Advancing social psychology blog about the ways in which Open University education can be regarded as a vital social project. In these times of uncertainty for the Open University this seems like an even more important topic than ever.
Psychologists have always been closely engaged with the study of education, developing theory and practice around teaching and learning at all levels, from early child development to tertiary and lifelong education. To reduce this to an individual ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ is too simple. Psychologists would draw attention to the relevance of technologies, contexts, practices and relationships. Of course a technology can be as simple as a chalkboard or as complex as a piece of customised software but it is always utilised within a context, as part of a practice, and social psychologists in particular would point out the social nature of those practices. The social is relevant in many ways, from the original motivation for learning at all, to the associations it may carry, to the implications for our identities and for society generally. Read more…
