**3. Critical thinking as a strategy for the evolution of educational psychology**

human characteristics, the solidary interconnection of the phenomena, and the uncertainty and the contradiction [3]. Its nature is holistic and evolutionary, in constant transformation, and includes the subject as an integral part of the construction of change. It sees knowledge as a multidimensional aspect, integrated by diverse approaches, which allow the integration of

This paradigm is characterized by a transdisciplinary conception of knowledge and praxis, which is achieved through an intricate conformation that must modify itself and, at the same time, modify the subjects that integrate its action, in a constant and participatory manner. In particular, it would allow the generation of a complex, dynamic and non-linear methodology that centrally deals with variability. This paradigm should be endowed with characteristics that are simultaneously so general as to explain phenomena in a vast variety of human situations, which is what science requires, and, at the same time, be able to accept specificities that

Thus, in educational psychology, a view that comes from this paradigm is needed to a great extent, due to the fact that education is, precisely, one of the eminently complex areas of human interaction that requires balancing community needs such as discipline, coexistence

It would imply constructing from psychoeducational knowledge, with awareness, participation and meaning, aiming for a change and allowing it to change us, that is, with a tension between the technical and the critical versus knowledge and practice. In other words, generating knowledge, tools and techniques from theoretical and empirical bases as it has traditionally been done, but reflecting and modifying said elements from experience and interdisciplinary

The preceding would also imply understanding and valuing the teaching-learning process as a tension between stability and change, given the need to transmit knowledge (what we call recurrence), in order to maintain the culture and, at the same time, to generate new knowledge, to produce what should lead us to change and transformation. In addition, it implies the establishment of a tension between the expertise, with all the knowledge and power that it can grant a person, and the inexperience, with all its ingenuity and dependence, while also valuing the social interaction and feedback that we generate with the other members of the educational community [13]. Finally, it would involve promoting the tension between the construction of knowledge, the techniques and professional identity, and the construction of knowledge based on the expert and inexperienced collaboration of the views, professional

To achieve this perspective from the complexity, it is of great importance to discuss the tensions of the discipline, as it is through reflection and dialog that we define the limits of knowledge and its adaptation to everyday reality. This does not involve leaving out research and disciplinary conceptualization, but establishing a balance between the latter and the social

Through this, it would be possible to channel one of the greatest challenges promoted by the perspective of complexity, that is, transdisciplinarity [3]. This concept has been recently developed, due to the evolution that disciplinary groups have experienced in research, as a

and the curriculum, with individual needs, motivation and learning demand.

and non-professional, of those who share the educational framework.

diversity, error, interculturality, emotionality and uncertainty [11].

10 Educational Psychology - Between Certitudes and Uncertainties

rescue individuality and subjective contextualization [12].

collaboration [6].

and cultural reality.

The critical perspective is a position in the search for knowledge that allows us to reveal other different perspectives, which opens our understanding toward interpretations different from those given to us by tradition. Critical psychology has its roots in the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, with thinkers such as Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, or Habermas [14].

In this view the acceptance of the world as it is was rejected, with its inequalities and injustices, and with the domination of classes, indicating that reality is not determined by natural reasons, but by historical and particular reasons that lead to a certain order [15]. Some of the most significant, worldwide known, authors of this perspective are Michel Foucault and Paulo Freire. Foucault is mainly known for the redefinition of concepts such as power, knowledge and discourse, as power is not exercised only with sovereignty or laws, nor with weapons or force, but with knowledge. In this sense, knowledge refers to all our opinions and knowledge about reality, to our convictions about basic facts of daily life, as well as to the value parameters we give to such events, good and evil, what is normal, and right or wrong, whether that is to an individual or social organization level.

Freire rescues the human sphere in a more social sense, politically committed with education, and argues that the traditional powers as well as authority impose an inequitable system in which the poor are deprived of their opportunity to participate and change the schemes that maintain said inequity. In addition, he advocates an education that breaks the culture of silence and generates awareness in the oppressed of the cultural and economic causes of their situation, that is, to free the human being through the awareness of their reality and their potential. For this purpose, education must be changed, because this is one of the great mechanisms that reproduce the established order and domesticates individuals in those realities that do not allow them to evolve as human beings [15].

Critical psychology does not act only on dominant theories, it also deals with methods, and its central task is to face the values and practices of psychology that do not review or question the forms of oppression that could be being transmitted or reproduced by them. The questioning, through critical judgment, of the different ways of exercising power, as well as its explicit and implicit manifestations in psychological practice and in daily life, are subject of critical studies, due to the fact that they can be presented as natural ways of being of some situations not discussed or, in some cases, argued as the only appropriate form of social existence.

Criticism as a reflective activity, in a kind of thinking that allows us to analyze the level of foundation of an information or idea, based both on reflection itself and on the reflection of others [16, 17]. In this way, psychology has been developed into two flows, on one hand, from social critical psychology, that is, a more theoretical approach that questions the processes and sociocultural phenomena [18]. And on the other hand, from cognitive psychology, which has developed the concept of critical thinking, which has historically been defined as a type of elaborate thinking, that is, a cognitive process that involves evaluation and reflection [16, 19].

Not considering these aspects (a path taken by traditional educational psychology) involves constructing fragmented and reductionist proposals of the human being, the educational process and the sociohistorical and political context [13], this fragmented view has allowed our discipline to be co-responsible and complicit in situations that are seen as negative. For example, the labeling and maintenance of conditions that enabled, and still enable today, discriminatory education of children and young people who present situations of intellectual

A Critical Role of the Psychologist: A Way to Achieve Complexity in Educational Psychology

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80509

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We must have a reflection in regard to the way in which educational systems are confronted with current social requirements [5], asking, what education does the twenty-first century need? This question can be accompanied by our question stated in the introduction to this chapter. What educational psychology does the twenty-first century education need? The

**4. A critical educational psychology as a means to achieve a complex** 

A critical educational psychology should be understood as a field of action, training and critical research in the face of situations that negatively affect the educational process, including discrimination in policies and the educational system, which prevent the achievement of an education for all, as well as the recognition of human diversity as a universal right of the human being. In order to achieve this, such education should use critical thinking in massive standardization processes that fail to generate good levels of meaningful or contextualized

In addition, a critical educational psychology could provide new insights into teaching-learning techniques and processes, so that they are able to generate both a result that is appropriate for students (and that meets quality criteria for teachers), and a process that enables the experimentation of a satisfactory pedagogical relation. And, in this context, this kind of education could support the generation, promotion and prioritization of democratic, liberating and significant relationships among the members of the educational community, in order to promote actions, spaces and policies of school and social coexistence that promote happiness, participation and meaning. As Redondo points out [30], we should not only expect from educational psychology a proposal based on scientific knowledge that enables a psychological explanation to individual and social problems, and on more than one occasion, that makes a tradition of the psychologization of social problems, but we should also expect a proposal of empowerment that allows educational communities (at any level) to collaborate in the co-construct of their own meaningful educational establishments. The foregoing is relevant due to the fact that that is precisely the purpose of inclusive education [31], which is directly linked to the search for common welfare, through meaningful and dialogued consensus, an idea that can also be

The school organization is a complex reality as the notion of education itself is complex, thus, its study and action should be approached from the same perspective. It is possible to find the conditions of complexity that pointed out for organizations in general (related to the productive

disability, endorsing an unfair and segregating system.

**educational psychology**

learning for the vast majority of students [6].

achieved through critical perspective.

answer is, in my opinion, a critical and complex educational psychology.

This type of thinking allows the construction of new knowledge, and the strategic use of it in the solution of problems present in everyday life [19–21]. Critical thinking is also defined as a type of process that is both complex and cognitive, and is composed of interrelated subprocesses that allow a person to evaluate analytically and reflectively process, judge and accept, or reject information produced in social contexts or in scientific studies [22].

However, it should not be considered only as a process oriented toward information but also to action, in a context of problem solving and interaction with other people [23, 24]. Likewise, Saiz [25] states that critical thinking is aimed at the effective resolution of situations that allow achieving wellness.

Taking account of these considerations, it is possible to consider critical thinking as a fundamental tool for the twenty-first century professionals, due to the fact that, currently, society requires professionals with high-quality work and research skills for the development of disciplines. Professionals that will not be influenced by ideological pressures or power groups, but rather, be able to move toward an autonomy of thought [26, 27]. Critical thinking is a fundamental tool in order to achieve the above, as it allows the development of high-level cognitive skills needed to achieve these tasks. This kind of thinking is considered + a tool that allows people to confront situations with less ingenuity while transcending toward the implicit objectives of processes, thus, it is essential for today's professionals, who must face increasingly complex and diverse social situations [27].

There are some situations that nowadays would benefit educational psychology by using critical thinking as a tool of their performance, as they would allow educational psychology to contribute not only to knowledge but also to social change. One of these situations is related to the relevance and effectiveness of cognitive assessment models and instruments, which are very needed in education; another example is the overcoming of the gap between theory and practice that has characterized various conceptualizations and proposals of educational psychology [6].

It is necessary to understand that the use of critical thinking as part of professional development must consider the purpose of community change in order to achieve greater welfare situations, both individual and collective [25]. This implies serious ethical considerations regarding the way in which we face both the professional exercise and the generation of disciplinary knowledge.

The ethical component in professional construction has been considered as a secondary element in the conceptualization of educational psychology in different cultures [28], due to the fact that usually, as a scientific discipline, it should be axiologically neutral (trait inherited from the paradigm of simplicity). However, this alleged neutrality is unthinkable of achieving in the educational context as its essence is eminently cultural [29].

A proposal with critical thinking in educational psychology needs to consider, among others, the previously seen topics, and complement their conceptual and practical evolution with them. This path is fundamental for the present time, based on the multiplicity of challenges that society, history and politics have brought to the education of the twenty-first century, which affect, I believe directly, this discipline.

Not considering these aspects (a path taken by traditional educational psychology) involves constructing fragmented and reductionist proposals of the human being, the educational process and the sociohistorical and political context [13], this fragmented view has allowed our discipline to be co-responsible and complicit in situations that are seen as negative. For example, the labeling and maintenance of conditions that enabled, and still enable today, discriminatory education of children and young people who present situations of intellectual disability, endorsing an unfair and segregating system.

and sociocultural phenomena [18]. And on the other hand, from cognitive psychology, which has developed the concept of critical thinking, which has historically been defined as a type of elaborate thinking, that is, a cognitive process that involves evaluation and reflection [16, 19]. This type of thinking allows the construction of new knowledge, and the strategic use of it in the solution of problems present in everyday life [19–21]. Critical thinking is also defined as a type of process that is both complex and cognitive, and is composed of interrelated subprocesses that allow a person to evaluate analytically and reflectively process, judge and accept,

However, it should not be considered only as a process oriented toward information but also to action, in a context of problem solving and interaction with other people [23, 24]. Likewise, Saiz [25] states that critical thinking is aimed at the effective resolution of situations that allow

Taking account of these considerations, it is possible to consider critical thinking as a fundamental tool for the twenty-first century professionals, due to the fact that, currently, society requires professionals with high-quality work and research skills for the development of disciplines. Professionals that will not be influenced by ideological pressures or power groups, but rather, be able to move toward an autonomy of thought [26, 27]. Critical thinking is a fundamental tool in order to achieve the above, as it allows the development of high-level cognitive skills needed to achieve these tasks. This kind of thinking is considered + a tool that allows people to confront situations with less ingenuity while transcending toward the implicit objectives of processes, thus, it is essential for today's professionals, who must face

There are some situations that nowadays would benefit educational psychology by using critical thinking as a tool of their performance, as they would allow educational psychology to contribute not only to knowledge but also to social change. One of these situations is related to the relevance and effectiveness of cognitive assessment models and instruments, which are very needed in education; another example is the overcoming of the gap between theory and practice that has characterized various conceptualizations and proposals of educational psychology [6]. It is necessary to understand that the use of critical thinking as part of professional development must consider the purpose of community change in order to achieve greater welfare situations, both individual and collective [25]. This implies serious ethical considerations regarding the way in which we face both the professional exercise and the generation of disciplinary knowledge. The ethical component in professional construction has been considered as a secondary element in the conceptualization of educational psychology in different cultures [28], due to the fact that usually, as a scientific discipline, it should be axiologically neutral (trait inherited from the paradigm of simplicity). However, this alleged neutrality is unthinkable of achieving

A proposal with critical thinking in educational psychology needs to consider, among others, the previously seen topics, and complement their conceptual and practical evolution with them. This path is fundamental for the present time, based on the multiplicity of challenges that society, history and politics have brought to the education of the twenty-first century,

or reject information produced in social contexts or in scientific studies [22].

increasingly complex and diverse social situations [27].

12 Educational Psychology - Between Certitudes and Uncertainties

in the educational context as its essence is eminently cultural [29].

which affect, I believe directly, this discipline.

achieving wellness.

We must have a reflection in regard to the way in which educational systems are confronted with current social requirements [5], asking, what education does the twenty-first century need? This question can be accompanied by our question stated in the introduction to this chapter. What educational psychology does the twenty-first century education need? The answer is, in my opinion, a critical and complex educational psychology.
