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Critical Educational Psychology

A short text dealing with complex theoretical ideas, Stephen Vassallo’s book cannot meaningfully be read quickly. An American Professor of Education, Vassallo was previously best known for his critical theoretical accounts of self-regulated learning, rather than that of classroom practice. Vassallo extends his approach to Educational Psychology for American teachers, but the potential readership is broader, including anyone in need of support for their literature review for dissertations in education, or educational psychology, or those simply needing an overview. It is difficult to convey an account of “critical theory”, the keystone of Vassallo’s approach, or the content of his book succinctly and accurately in a brief review. Tim Corcoran and Erica Burman have provided lengthy reviews elsewhere. Vassallo’s starting point is the educational psychological curriculum for students seeking teacher certification in the USA. This is reflected in the chapter structure that includes Knowing Your Student’s, Motivation, Higher Order Thinking Skills, Theories of Development, Teaching as Management, Attention, and finally Assessment and Measurement. The approach to these topics is theoretical, rather than the scrutiny of which methods or approaches are most effective in the classroom, but Vassallo covers his brief. Critical analysis is applied to the theories, principles, concepts and models underlying these curriculum topics. If teachers are to be enabled to make informed ethical judgements, then for Vassallo they need to understand the political, historical, cultural, and ideological features that underlie such thinking. All knowledge therefore is embedded in a context that needs to be fully appreciated. Thus, this book reflects the broader “socio-cultural turn” and builds on, and introduces, the work of others in this genre such as Jeff Sugarman, Jack Martin, and Lynn Fendler. There are reservations, however. Vassallo’s criticisms do not extend to his own critical comments. Typically, they are accepted at face value, diminishing the utility of his book. Contemporary classroom management is stated as flowing seamlessly from American Slavery, through Industrialisation, and Taylor’s Scientific Management. Although an important issue, no supportive evidence is presented. “Neo-liberalism” as a free market ideology is used widely, both in the sense of favouring governmental intervention and opposition to it, but without clarifying how it is being used, obscuring the argument. Though a thought-provoking read, the decision to purchase any book is subjective. Personally, I feel that there are other books within the same genre that have greater utility for EPs, and clarity of argument.