PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 9

MODULE FOUR

MAJOR FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM (PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS)

I. LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the learning module, the student must have:
1. Explained the influence of the Psychological Foundations of Curriculum
2. Understood the application of Behaviorist, Cognitivist, Metacognition, Constructivist and
Humanists principles in the classroom.
II. TOPIC
MAJOR FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM (PSYCHOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS)
III. DISCUSSION/ABSTRACTION

PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
Psychology is derived from the Greek word psyche which means soul.it is discipline devoted to
the study of behaviour, mind and thought. Specifically, it deals with the study of mental processes that
determines a person’s behaviour and thinking. When applied to teaching and learning, it provides the
basis for understanding how students learn and understand a body of knowledge. The curriculum
developer has to know how students learn and to take into consideration individual differences when
designing a curriculu7m. It is only when students learn and gain from the curriculum will the curriculum
be considered to be successful.

The curriculum developer is interested in knowing how organization of the curriculum can
enhance learning. Ralph Tyler, a well-known scholar in curriculum development proposed in the 1960s
that anything that is to be taught in the classroom should be subjected to a psychology screen to establish
whether they are congruent with how humans learn. While there is a great deal of interest in studying
human learning, anyone involved in curriculum work should also be aware that there are many different
explanations of human learning.

BEHAVIORISM
 In 1897, Wilhelm Wundt established the first laboratory in Germany dedicated to the scientific
study of human thought processes which is often used as the beginning of modern psychology. His
approach to using experiments to studying the human mind moved psychology from the domain of
philosophy to the laboratory. Through introspection, Wundt and his colleagues tried to get their subjects
to reflect on their thought processes. Proponents of behaviourism argued that the introspection method
was too subjective and felt that scientific study of psychology must be restricted to the study of
behaviours that can be observed and the stimulus that brings about the behaviour.

IVAN PAVLOV (1849-1936)

The famous Russian Physiologist, Ivan Pavlov introduced the theory of classical conditioning
through the series of experiments with dogs. Based on the law of Association proposed by Greek
philosophers such as Aristotle, he showed that an organism can associate a particular stimulus(S) with a
particular response(R)). Learning is the result of an association formed between a stimulus ( such as
food ) and a response (the animal salivating). Later, one could substitute food with the sound of a bell ( a
neutral stimulus) and yet the animal salivates.

EDWARD THORNDIKE (1874-1949)

Thorndike also worked with animals and defined learning as habit formation. In one of his
experiments, a hungry cat was placed in a box and could escape and eat the food by pressing a lever
inside the box. After much trial and error behaviour, the cat learned to associate pressing the lever
(stimulus) with opening the door (response).

This S-R connection when established resulted in a satisfying state of affairs. Each time the
animal was put in the box, it took lesser time to press the lever and escape because the animal has learned.
Based on these experiments, Thorndike proposed three laws which he called:

LAW OF EFFECT- it response is followed by a pleasurable or rewarding experience the response will be
strengthened and become habitual.

LAW OF EXERCISE- connections between stimulus and response is strengthened with practice and
weakened when practice is discontinued.

LAW OF READINESS- certain behaviours are more likely to be learned than others because the nervous
system of the organism is ready to make the connection leading to a satisfying state of affairs. It is
preparation for action.
 The task of the teacher is to arrange the classroom and learning activities so as to enhance
connection between a stimulus and response.

BURRHUS FREDERIC SKINNER(1900-1980)

He worked with rats and pigeons. The theory of Skinner is based upon the idea that learning is a
function of change in overt behaviour. He introduced the term operant which means to act upon. He put a
hungry rat in a box and each time the rat pressed the lever, a food pellet would be given. This resulted in
the rat pressing the lever each time he wanted food. The change in behaviour or learning by the rat is the
result of animal’s response to events (stimuli)that occur in the environment. For example, the child will
do her homework because she knows that she will be allowed to watch her favourite TV programme.
When a particular response or behaviour is reinforced (rewarded), the individual is conditioned to
respond.

Reinforcement is the key element in the Skinner’s S-R theory. A reinforcer could be anything. It
could be a parent saying good work or the child obtaining an A in history which hives the child a feeling
of accomplishment and satisfaction.

What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning? In classical
conditioning the organism is not able to change the environment. For example, in Pavlov’s experiments,
the dog had no choice whether he salivate or not when given food or sound of the bell. In operant
conditioning the organism has the choice to act or not to act because its response is determined by the
stimulus or the given food.

ALBERT BANDURA (1925-PRESENT)

The social learning theory of bandura emphasized the importance of observing and modelling the
behaviours, attitudes and emotional reactions and others. According to Bandura, learning would be a slow
process if people had to rely solely on their own efforts to do anything. Fortunately, a substantial amount
of human behaviour is learned by observing others. For the student to learn he or she must watch and pay
attention to the model and the behaviour being modelled. The information observed must be retained in
some form by memory.

BEHAVIORISM IN THE CLASSROOM

The following is a list of behaviourist principles applied in teaching and learning:

  Use a system or rewards to encourage certain behaviours and learning
 When learning factual material provides immediate and frequent feedback for complex and
difficult concepts
 Provide practice, drill and review activities to enhance mastery of facts
 Break down complex task into smaller and manageable sub skills
 Sequence material to enhance understanding e.g. teach simple concepts first before proceeding to
more difficult and abstract concept
 Model the behaviour students are to imitate and repeat demonstrations when necessary
 Reinforce when students demonstrate the modelled behaviour
 State the learning outcomes desired for the benefit of both teachers and students
 Establish a contract with students on the work to be done and what rewards will be given
COGNITIVISM

In the 1950s there was a realization that behaviourism did not fully explain human learning.
Although behaviourism emphasized learning that was observable and measurable, there was something
missing, namely mental events. By observing the responses individuals make different stimuli,
cognitivists make inferences of the mental processes that produce those responses.

COGNITION can be defined broadly as the act or process of knowing. Cognitive theories of learning
focus on the mind or black box and attempt to show how information is received, assimilated stored and
recalled. Research in cognitive psychology has been prolific and many theories have been proposed based
on empirical evidence.

THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH

Learning has something to do with memory. If we cannot remember from what we have
experienced we will never be able to learn anything. Memory is crucial in learning and the Stage Theory
proposed by Atkinson and Shriffin (1968) argues that information is received, processed and stored in
three different stages. This theory has also been described as the Information Processing Approach.

Types of information Response

Visual S

Auditory E

Smell N

Touch S SHORT TERM MEMORY

LONG TERM

Taste O
MEMORY

MEMORY

THE THREE STAGES OF MEMORY (ATKINSON AND SHRIFFIN, 1968)

The sensory memory receives information from various sources ( visual, auditory, smell, touch
and taste) and the brain will only focus on information that has been attended to. Sensory memory is very
short and lasts for about ¼ second. Information that is attended to is encoded into short term memory.
Encoding is transforming information received into a form that can be deposited or stored in memory.

Information is stored in long term memory as a network and the more we elaborate on it, the
more you will remember. In other words, the more connections that are established between the new
information and what is already stored, the greater the number of retrieval possibilities. Information in
long term is usually encoded in terms of its meaning. Memory can be improved by making meaningful
connections between what is known and what is new.

MEANINGFUL LEARNING

The search for meaning or making sense of one’s experiences is innate and the need to act on
one’s environment is automatic. Our brain has been described as both artist and scientist as it is designed
to perceive and generate patterns. When confronted with meaningless or unrelated isolated pieces of
information, it tries to make sense and create order. Learners are constantly patterning, or perceiving and
creating meanings all the time in one way or another. Information is processed at multiple levels
depending upon its characteristics. The deeper the processing the more that will remembered(Craik and
Lockhart, 1972). Information that involves strong visual images or many associations with existing
knowledge or elaborations will be processed at deeper level. Things and events that are meaningful are
better remembered because it requires more processing than meaningless stimuli. The greater the
processing of information during learning, the more it will be retained and remembered.

Learning is seeing patterns, teaching is surrounding learners with the patterns that are already
known by the culture. And the difference between Nobel Prize winners and others is that they see patterns
that have not been seen before ( John Polanyi, Noble Laureate).

LEVELS OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

According to genetic epistemologist, jean Piaget(1955), information that is attended to is

absorbed by the senses and the human mind goes to work to organize it and to impose personal
understanding by relating it to what is already knows. When the new information is assimilated through
existing ideas and beliefs, it is usually combined with existing knowledge and reinforces the existing
views. On the other hand, when learners have to consider information through a new schema they may be
required to transform their beliefs to accommodate the information which is the basic process for
conceptual change. Through observation of his children, Piaget proposed the following theory of
cognitive development.

a. SENSORIMOTOR STAGE- (birth to age 2), in the early stage, the child’s reactions are based
on reflex operations and progresses towards being able to differentiate self from objects. By the
end of this stage, the child achieves object permanence and realizes that objects continue to exist
even when they cannot be seen or felt.
b. PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE-(2-7 years), the child learns to use language and is able to
represent objects symbolically. For example, a chair is used for sitting. Thinking is egocentric in
which the child finds it difficult to consider the viewpoints of others.
c. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL- (7-11 years), the child can think logically about objects and
events. For example, by age 7, the child knows that when 500 milliliters of water in a tall glass is
poured into a flat container, the volume of water is the same. The child can classify objects
according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size.
d. FORMAL OPERATIONS-(11 years and onwards), the young person can think logically about
abstract ideas, evaluate data and test hypotheses systematically. He or she is able to analyse ideas
and comprehend spatial and temporal relationships. At this stage, there are few or no limitations
 on what the young person can learn depending on his/her intellectual potential and environmental
experiences.

Piaget’s view on how children think and develop has had a significant impact on
educational practice and curriculum development.
METACOGNITION

Metacognition is thinking about thinking and involves:

 Your knowledge of the task

 Awareness of your own ability
 And the action you will take

KNOWLEDGE: Unless you know how to order your thoughts, attention goes to whatever is
in the surroundings.

AWARENESS: Awareness of your cognitive behaviour includes being:

 Aware of the purpose of the task
 Aware of what you know about the task,
 Aware of what needs to be known and
 Aware of the strategies which facilitate or impede learning

ACTION: Action is the ability to use self-regulatory mechanisms to ensure successful

completion of the task such as:
 Planning your next move
 Checking the outcome of any move made and
 Evaluating the effectiveness of any attempted move

COGNITIVISM IN THE CLASSROOM

The following is a list of cognitivist principles that may be practiced in the teaching and
learning of various subject areas:

GAIN THE STUDENTS ATTENTION

 Use cues to signal when you are ready to begin

  Move around the room and use voice infections (changing tone)
BRING TO MIND RELEVANT PRIOR LEARNING

 Review previous day’s lesson

 Have a discussion about previously covered content
POINT OUT IMPORTANT INFORMATION

 Provide hand-outs
 Write on the board or use transparencies
PRESENT INFORMATION IN AN ORGANIZED MANNER

 Show a logical sequence to concepts and skills

 Go from simple to complex when presenting new material
SHOW STUDENTS HOW TO CATEGORIZE (CHUNK) RELATED INFORMATION

 Present information in categories

 Teach inductive reasoning
PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO ELABORATE ON NEW INFORMATION

 Connect new information to something already known

 Look for similarities and differences among concepts
SHOW STUDENTS HOW TO USE CODING WHEN MEMORIZING LISTS

 Make up silly sentence with first letter of each word in the list
 Use mental imagery techniques such as the keyword method
PROVIDE FOR REPETITION ON LEARNING

 State important principles several times in different ways during presentation of information
 Have items on each day’s lesson from previous lesson
 Schedule periodic reviews of previously learned concepts and skills
CONSTRUCTIVISM

A baby is born and soon takes his first step. In that short period the amount of learning and
understanding of his immediate environment is enormous. The early years are significant because it
provides the basis for language, physical dexterity, social understanding and emotional development for
the rest of the child’s life. The child teaches herself by absorbing information and experiencing the world
around him. Such learning is the basis of constructivism, an idea that has generated much excitement and
interest among educators.

LEARNING IS AN ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE

Constructivism is a perspective of learning that has its origins in the works of Bruner, Piaget and
Vygotsky. Learners are not passive recipients of information but are active agents engaging in
constructing their own knowledge. Learning involves the construction of new understanding by
combining prior learning with new information.

Knowledge is the result of an individual subject’s constructive activity, not a commodity that
somehow resides outside the knower and can be conveyed or instilled by diligent perception. Or
linguistics communication. Learners construct their own knowledge by looking for meaning and order,
they interpret what they hear, read and see based on their previous learning habits and experiences. In an
authentic environment, learners assume responsibilities for their own learning. The goal is to create
learning communities that is more closely related to collaborative practice in the real world.

LEARNING IS A SOCIAL ACTIVITY

Constructivism emphasizes that learning is a social activity. The environment in which young
people learn has a very powerful influence on them. The subtle and overt cues that pervade a community
influences them. Often it is social experiences, rather than what is taught in schools, that accounts for
much of the variation in student learning. The community is the basic fabric of student learning
encompassing the values, beliefs, norms, habits and behaviours of a culture (Vygotsky, 1978). As a
students enter adolescence, the social fabric of their learning expands as their contacts broaden and they
become more closely identified with peers. Within their peer group, young adolescents encounter many
new ideas and points of view.

If learning is social and students are social, it seems logical engagement is a powerful vehicle for
enhancing learning. Cooperative, Collaborative and group investigation methods allow students to discuss
ideas, beliefs, conceptions, inconsistencies and misconceptions with their peers and teachers. Learning is
enhanced when students learn how to learn together, engage in serious discussion, examine important
topics and have shared responsibility for applying what they know to new situations. Organizing for this
kind of learning is a much more complex kind of teaching compared to lecturing or demonstrations.

CONSTRUCTIVISM IN THE CLASSROOM

STUDENT AUTONOMY AND INITIATIVE ARE ACCEPTED AND ENCOURAGED

  Respect student’s ideas and encourage independent thinking
 Teachers help students attain their intellectual potential
 Students take responsibility for their own learning
HIGHER-LEVEL THINKING IS ENCOURAGED

 Teachers challenge students to make connections, analyse, predict, justify and defend their ideas
 Way in which teachers ask questions will influence student response
 Teacher asks open-ended questions and allows wait time for responses
STUDENTS ARE ENGAGED IN EXPERIENCE THAT CHALLENGE HYPOTHESES AND
ENCOURAGE DISCUSSION

 Students generate varying hypotheses about phenomena

 Provide opportunity to test their hypotheses through dialogue
 The class use raw data, primary sources, manipulatives, physical and interactive materials
 Involve students in real-world situations
CURRICULUM

 Curriculum emphasizes big concepts, beginning with the whole and expanding to include the parts
 Knowledge is seen as dynamic, ever changing with experience
HUMANISM

The humanistic approach to learning refers to a wide variety of ideas and techniques. While there
may be many interpretations, they all advocate humanizing teaching and learning. The learner is a person
who has feelings, attitudes and emotions. Emotions such as self-efficacy, self-assurance, intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation determine how a student approaches learning.

Personalities who have had an impact on the emergence of humanistic psychology are
Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and Arthur Combs

ABRAHAM MASLOW

He observed that humans are constantly striving to control their behaviour and seeking to gratify
themselves. He proposed his well-known theory called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to this
theory, individuals satisfy their needs as follows:

a. Survival needs: food, water, air and rest

b. Safety needs: to be safe and avoid danger
 c. Belongingness and love needs: gain affection of people and need to belong to a group
d. Esteem needs: to be recognized and feeling worthwhile
e. Knowing and understanding needs: a desire to know, learn and understand things
f. Self-actualization needs: to develop one’s full potential and to fulfil one’s aesthetic needs
CARL ROGERS

Carl Rogers was a psychotherapist who believed that the client is the most important person and
developed what he called client –centered therapy. The therapist was not to tell the client what to do but
rather the client should learn how to control his or her own behaviour. He established a warm, positive
and accepting atmosphere in which he was able to empathise with his clients and sense their thought and
feelings. When applied to education, he proposed that classrooms become learner-centered and teachers
should facilitate learning.

ARTHUR COMBS

Arthur Combs believed that how a person perceives himself or herself is most important and that
the basic purpose of teaching is to help each student develop a positive self-concept. The role of the
teacher is that of facilitator, encourager, helper, colleague and friend of his students. Combs elaborated on
these points by listing six characteristics of good teachers:

1. They are well-informed about their subject

2. They are sensitive to the feelings of students and colleagues
3. They believe that students can learn
4. They have a positive self-concept
5. They believe in helping all students do their best
6. They use many different methods of instruction
HUMANISM IN THE CLASSROOM

The following are some humanistic techniques in the classroom:

1. Establish a warm, democratic, positive and non-threatening learning environment in which

learner’s self-concept and self-esteem are considered essential factors in learning:
2. When it seem appropriate, function as a facilitator where he or she works and shares ideas with
students
3. When the teacher is comfortable, the teacher may occasionally show his or her real person by
telling students how he or she feels.
4. Provide learning experiences that will lead to the development of habits and attitudes that
teachers want to foster.
5. Teachers should be role models and should set good examples
6. Students and teachers plan together the experiences and activities of the curriculum
7. Students are given choices (with limitations) and freedom (with responsibilities) the extent of
choices and freedom is related to the maturity level and age of student.
8. Learning is based on life experiences, discovery, exploring and experimenting
IV. STUDENT’S EXPEWRIENCES AND ACTIVITIES
Directions: Study the figure below and discuss how the psychological perspective or school of
thought influenced the curriculum:

BEHAVIORISM COGNITIVISM

- PAVLOV - WERTHEIMER -
TULVING
- SKINNER - KOHLER -
AUSUBEL
- THORNDIKE - MILLER
- BANDURA - KRAIK

CURRICULUM

CONSTRUCTIVISM HUMANISM

- BRUNER - MASLOW
- PIAGET - ROGERS
- VYGOTSKY - COMBS
- VON GLASERFE

END OF THE LEARNING MODULE…..

ENJOY AND GOD BLESS…..