PSYCHOLOGICAL

FOUNDATIONS OF
CURRICULUM
Mirasol S. Madrid
III-9 BS Psychology
 PSYCHOLOGY

0 Deals with how humans

learn and behave.
0 Since the main goal of
curriculum is to bring
about learning, therefore,
curriculum developers need
to know how humans
learn.
Why?
0 So that they can
incorporate psychological
principles when they design,
develop and implement
curriculum.
 LEARNERS

0 John Locke – compared

children’s minds to blank
slates or tabula rasa
 LEARNERS

0 Today, we know that children

are not empty vessels but
come to school with many
different experiences, prior
knowledge and expectations.
Psychological Perspectives Influencing Curriculum and their Proponents
PSYCHOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVES
BEHAVIORISM
 BEHAVIORISM
0 Learning is considered a
habit-formation
0 Teaching is regarded as
arranging learning experiences
in such a way as to promote
desirable beh.
 BEHAVIORISM
0 Behaviorists believe that
behavior can be conditioned
by altering the environment.

Manipulation of stimulus = desired

response
PROPONENTS
UNDER
BEHAVIORISM
IVAN PAVLOV
 IVAN PAVLOV
0 Russian psychologist

0 Introduced The
Theory of
Classical Conditioning
 IVAN PAVLOV
0 He showed that an organism
can associate a particular
stimulus (S) with a particular
response (R)
0 Stimulus = Response
 IVAN PAVLOV
0 Therefore, Learning is the
result of an association
formed between a
stimulus and a response
EDWARD THRONDIKE
 EDWARD THORNDIKE
0 Proposed three laws:
0 Law of Effect – the
response that is reinforced
(positive) will become
habitual
 EDWARD THORNDIKE
0 Proposed three laws:
0 Law of Exercise –
connection bet. stimulus
and response will be
strengthened with practice.
 EDWARD THORNDIKE
0 Proposed three laws:
0 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
BURRHUS F. SKINNER
 B.F SKINNER
0 Operant Conditioning
0 When a particular response
or behaviour is reinforced
(rewarded), the individual
is conditioned to respond.
 B.F SKINNER
0 Positive and Negative
Reinforcement

0 Punishment
COGNITIVISM
 COGNITIVISM
0 Cognitivists emphasized
that learning is
primarily cognitive in
nature
 COGNITIVISM
0 Growth and Development
refer to changes in the
structure and function of
human characteristics
JEAN PIAGET
 JEAN PIAGET
0 Introduced the theory
Cognitive Development
theory
0 Sensorimotor, Pre-
operational, concrete and
formal operations
 JEAN PIAGET
0 Sensorimotor – perception of
the environment through the
senses
0 Preoperational – the ability to
store words and language
increases
 JEAN PIAGET
0 Concrete Operations -
develop logical thinking in
relation to functions.
Questioning Age
0 Formal Operations –
hypothesis testing, abstract
thinking, maturity
CONSTRUCTIVISM
 CONSTRUCTIVISM
0 Learning involves the
construction of new
understanding by combining
prior learning with new
information
 CONSTRUCTIVISM
0 Knowledge is constructed in
the mind of the learner
0 Learning is active
HUMANISM
 HUMANISM
0 the learner is a person who has
feelings, attitudes and emotions.

0 Past experiences such as failing

grades have a huge impact on the
student’s current inability to learn
ABRAHAM MASLOW
 ABRAHAM MASLOW
0 Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs
0 Lower levels must be satisfied
first before one could function
at the higher levels
 ABRAHAM MASLOW
0 Schools cannot control all
the influence that impinges
on a learner, but they can
create an atmosphere of
trust, warmth and care.
CARL ROGERS
 CARL ROGERS
0 Client-centered therapy
0 he proposed that classrooms
should become learner-centered
and teachers should facilitate
learning