Running head: PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM

Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

Rogelio Nava Jr.
Concordia University

PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM

Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

The authors begin this section by addressing the importance of human psychology to
curricularists in that it should be a focus when developing curriculum.

[Teaching and

learning]processes are essential to curricularists because the curriculum has worth only
when students learn and gain knowledge, (Madrigal-Hopes, Villavicencio, Foote and Green.
2014). This perspective shapes the chapter as the authors discuss the three major theories
of learning, behaviorist or association theories, cognitive information-processing theories,
and finally phenomenological and humanistic theories.

Behaviorism highlights the

importance of the students environment as an agent responsible for the shaping of learning
as well as the application of knowledge.

This approach also underscores the role of

connectivism in learning. The five major theories that fall under the umbrella of behaviorism
include, law of effect, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning,
and heirarchial learning.

These principles are primarily concerned with the roles of

environmental situation, stimulus, and the response or nonresponse elicited. Each of the
five is rooted in the rudimentary drivers of human nature, which are arrived at through
philosophical speculation about the nature of learning, (p. 92).

While behaviorism

champions the role of the learners environment, cognitive psychology on the other hand, is
a bit more ambiguous about how much importance environment has on a students ability to
learn.

This approach reconciles the shaping of an individuals characteristics by giving

credence to both heredity and environment. Under this psychological approach fall eight
major theories, structured play, cognitive stages of development, theory of language and
cultural transmission, structure of a subject, eight multiple intelligences, 120 potential
cognitive processes, and critical thinking. Current curricula have increasingly operated from
this approach since the 1950s while combining it with the more traditional behaviorist
theories.

Cognitive psychology deals with the observed cognitive stages developed in

humans as well as, increasing complexity, relating concepts, and teaching students how to
think critically. Proponents of this school of psychology include Montessori, Piaget, Gardner,

PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM

and Guilford who emphasize a learner-centered approach and have had a tremendous
impact on the basis from which curricularists shape and create their curriculum.
I agree with the authors that humanistic psychology stands in stark contrast to
behaviorist psychology but take issue with their presentation of the third force learning
theory, (p. 118). I felt as though the stance taken by traditional psychologists of viewing
phenomenology as being based on little knowledge and therefore inherently inferior was
perhaps subconsciously translated while writing this section. This chapter was organized in
a way that placed humanistic psychology at the end, perhaps because it is the least popular
or practiced or possibly because the authors viewed it as the least important to discuss.
There is not nearly enough written about this third psychology as the first two and it feels
sort of like an after thought.

In working with students who come from unstable home

environments and challenging situations I felt this section spoke to me the most while also
aligning with my personal philosophy of developing the whole child. That being said I do not
agree with the authors presentation of the information in this section but can appreciate
their methodology in structuring the chapter the way they did.
I feel as though the authors influenced my thinking of the psychological foundations
of curriculum by detailing the many facets of each foundation. I too agree that curriculum
should encompass and stem from various degrees of all three psychological foundations.
There is no denying the validity of the practical albeit mechanistic and rigid behaviorist
approach, the logical yet constrictive cognitive approach nor the holistic but qualitative
characteristics of the humanistic and phenomenological approach. Reading and analyzing
these three methods has helped me clarify and name the practices and approaches I employ
in my classroom and has also afforded me the opportunity to achieve a heightened level of
self-awareness.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM

References
Madrigal-Hopes, D. L., Villavicencio, E., Foote, M. M., & Green, C. (2014). Transforming English
Language Learners Work Readiness: Case Studies in Explicit, Work-Specific Vocabulary
Instruction. Adult Learning, 25(2), 47-56.