PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Psychology provides a basis to understand the
teaching and learning process. It unifies elements of
the learning process. Questions which can be
addressed by psychological foundations of education
are:
• How should curriculum be organized to enhance
learning?
• What is the optimal level of students’ participation in
learning the various contents of the curriculum?
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
We shall consider three groups of learning theories:
• Behaviorism or Association Theory
• Cognitive Information Processing Theory
• Humanistic Theory
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
- The oldest of the groups that deals with various
aspect of stimulus-response (S-R) reinforcers.
BEHAVIORISM OR ASSOCIATION THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• He is the father of the Classical Conditioning
Theory, the S-R theory.
• The key to learning is early years of life to train
what you want them to become.
• S-R Theory is a foundation of learning practice
called introdoctrination. IVAN PETROVICH
PAVLOV
1849-1936
BEHAVIORISM OR ASSOCIATION THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• According to the latest theory on conditioning, humans
became conditioned by habit and routine and largely lose their
individual conscious.
• About 90% of what people do every day is a habitual response
to predictable events, so we usually operate on “automatic.”
- Our behavior is conditioned by a set of expectations and
reward system.
- Once the brain becomes conditioned to crave a stimulus, a IVAN PETROVICH
person may become self-destructive or dangerous to others. PAVLOV
1849-1936
BEHAVIORISM OR ASSOCIATION THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
Negative reinforcement is
also considered to be a
punishment.
OPERANT
CONDITIONING
OPERANT CONDITIONING
REINFORCEMENT PUNISHMENT
POSITIVE NEGATIVE POSITIVE NEGATIVE
(Stimulus presented) (Stimulus removed) (Stimulus presented) (Stimulus removed)
+ - + -
Behavior increases Behavior increases Behavior decreases Behavior decreases
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• He championed the Connectionism Theory.
• He proposed the three laws of learning:
- Law of readiness: when the nervous system is ready to
“conduct,” it leads to a satisfying state of affairs.
- Law of exercise: provide justification drill, repetition, and
review. It is best illustrated by behavior modification and basic-skills
instructional approaches.
- Law of effect: responses accompanied by satisfaction strengthen
the connection; responses accompanied by discomfort weaken the
EDWARD LEE
connection. THORNDIKE
• Specific stimulus has a specific response. 1874-1949
BEHAVIORISM OR ASSOCIATION THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• He proposed the Hierarchical Learning Theory.
Learning follows a hierarchy.
• Behavior is based on prerequisite conditions.
• He introduced tasking in the formulation of
objectives.
ROBERT MILLS GAGNE
1916-2002
BEHAVIORISM OR ASSOCIATION THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
ROBERT MILLS GAGNE
1916-2002
BEHAVIORISM OR ASSOCIATION THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
We shall consider three groups of learning theories:
• Behaviorism or Association Theory
• Cognitive Information Processing Theory
• Humanistic Theory
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
- The way the learner applies information
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Theories of Jean Piaget:
- Cognitive development has stages from birth to
maturity:
Sensorimotor stage (0-2)
Preoperational stage (2-7)
Concrete operations stage (7-11)
JEAN PIAGET
Formal operational (11 onwards) 1896-1980
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Keys to Learning:
- Assimilation (incorporation of new experience)
- Accommodation (Learning modification and
adaptation)
- Equilibration (balance between previous and
later learning)
JEAN PIAGET
1896-1980
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Theories of Lev Vygotsky
- Cultural transmission and development:
Children could, as a result of their interaction with
society, actually perform certain cognitive actions prior
to arriving at developmental stage.
- Learning precedes development
- Sociocultural Development Theory LEV VYGOTSKY
1896-1934
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Keys to Learning
- Pedagogy creates learning processes that lead to
development.
- The child is an active agent in his or her
educational process.
LEV VYGOTSKY
1896-1934
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence
- Humans have several different ways of
processing information and these ways are relatively
independent of one another.
- There are eight intelligences: linguistic, logico-
mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. HOWARD GARDNER
BORN: JULY 11, 1943
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Emotion contains the power to affect actions.
- He called this Emotional Quotient
DANIEL GOLEMAN
BORN: MARCH 7, 1946
COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
We shall consider three groups of learning theories:
• Behaviorism or Association Theory
• Cognitive Information Processing Theory
• Humanistic Theory
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
- They consider the whole child, which includes their
social, psychological, and cognitive development.
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
GESTALT
• Gestalt Theory
- Learning is explained in terms of “wholeness” of the problem.
- Human beings do not respond to isolated stimuli but to an organization or pattern or stimuli.
• Keys to Learning
- Learning is complex and abstract.
- Learning analyze the problem, discriminate between essential and nonessential data,
perceive relationships.
- Learners will perceive something in relation to the whole. What/how they perceive is related
to their previous experience.
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• He advanced the Self-Actualization Theory and
classic theory of human needs.
• A child whose basic needs are not met will not be
interested in acquiring knowledge or the world.
• He put importance to human emotions, based on
love and trust.
- Produce a healthy and happy learner who can accomplish, grow ABRAHAM MASLOW
and actualize his or her human self. 1908-1970
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Nondirective and Therapeutic Learning
- He established counseling procedures and methods for
facilitating learning.
- Children’s perceptions, which are highly individualistic,
influence their learning and behavior in class.
• Keys to Learning
- Curriculum is concerned with process, not product;
personal needs, not subject matter, psychological meaning, CARL ROGERS
1902-1987
not cognitive scores.
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND SCHOOLS AND
PRINCIPLES SOCIETY
• Society as source of change
• Schools as agents of change
• Knowledge as an agent of change
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Considered two fundamental elements – schools
and civil society – to be major topics needing
attention and reconstruction to encourage
experimental intelligence and plurality.
JOHN DEWEY
1859-1952
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
CONTRIBUTIONS/ THEORIES AND
PRINCIPLES
• Wrote the book Future Shock
• Believed that knowledge should prepare students for
the future
• Suggested that in the future, parents might have the
resources to teach prescribed curriculum from home
as a result of technology, not in spite of it. (Home
Schooling)
• Foresaw students and school work creatively, ALVIN TOFFLER
1928-2016
collaboratively and independently of their age
HUMANISTIC AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL THEORY
The Teacher and The School Curriculum
“Every student has
something to offer, and
every student deserves a
nurturing learning
environment.”
~ Ilhan Omar
