Jelaika C.

Baldicantos

BSED-FILIPINO

The 14 Learner-centered Psychological Principles

The American Psychological Association(APA) developed 12 Learner-Centered

Psychological Principles (LCP) in 1993, which were expanded to 14 in 1997. The

principles are designed to deal with learners holistically in the relation to real learning

contexts. These 14 principles are classified into four categories: cognitive and

metacognitive, motivational and affective, developmental and social, and individual

differences influencing learners and learning. Learner-centered psychological principles

focus on providing a foundation for developing and combining the elements of new

educational designs. These principles highlight the productive and reflective essence of

learning and learners. The principles are designed to be applicable to all learners,

including children, educators, administration and staff, parents, and members of our

society who are associated in our learning system.

My reaction to the first category, which is cognitive and metacognitive, would be that it

speaks for its own word. This concentrates on the learners' minds, how we gain

knowledge on our own, and what we think about thinking. The first principle in the

category of cognitive and metacognitive is the “nature of the learning process”, and I

believe it is fair to think that learning could really come to us naturally or intentionally

without even being forced to learn by anyone, because being compelled to learn or do

something may not be effective for us. In view of the fact and based on my experience,

learning by force does not really help me to be an active, goal-directed, and self

regulating person because I am deprived of what I want. I think that as I would-be

teacher it is important to know about the Principles, as I would also be the facilitator of

learning and guide learners in order for them to construct their own knowledge without

compromising and spoon feeding all the information to the learners so that they can

discover on their own. As well as utilizing methods to help students create purpose

based on relevant data, experiences, and their own views and opinions. The second

principle, which is the "goal of the learning process," truly helps to the development of

the learners, — particularly because we all have different principles, priorities, and
interests in life, and it is necessary that we are given instructional guidance and support

to our goals, which may contribute in meaningful learning for the student, educator, or

an individual. It is also important for me as a future educator to establish and align my

goals with full respect and understanding for the learners' various interests and goals.

The third principle in this category is "construction of knowledge," which provides me

with more information on how someone like me, a future educator, can link information

to my students. It is essential to review the previous lesson before providing students

with new knowledge or information so that we can connect their previous knowledge

about the topic to the new ones. I as well consider the methods mentioned in the article

for obtaining a substantive construction of knowledge, such as concept mapping,

organization, and categorizing, which I have found very useful on my learning journey

because I've been utilizing these methods to interconnect my previous knowledge to

new ones. The fourth principle under the first category is “strategic thinking” which I

think we future educators should focus on higher thinking skills such as applying,

assessing, developing, and evaluating the learners strategic learning skills. Committing

to continuous learning and self-improvement helps us establish strategic thinking skills. I

also think that strategic thinkers do not ignore any potential sources of education,

whether it is learning through our own life experience, the perspectives of others, books,

lectures, networks, conventions, or sophomore peers. The fifth principle, which is part of

metacognition, is "thinking about thinking." It took a while for it to sink in that it was just

like gaining knowledge about learning, which is great for us learners and future

educators if we internalize and cultivate this principle within ourselves. We learners,

especially during this time of pandemic, need to discover on our own and fully

comprehend what the lesson is all about even though we can't always direct our

concerns and thoughts to the teachers, so we may also need to learn how to apply

these principles to our development. In fact, educators play an important role in the

development of students. We could use methods of instruction that put emphasis on

assisting learners in developing these higher-order strategies in order to improve

learning and personal obligation for learning. The last principle for the first category is

the “context of learning”. This last principle is extremely beneficial not only to the

learning and development of the learners, but it also takes into account numerous
components that a student is more comfortable with and what could influence them in

that type of learning environment. As a result, discomfort caused by the environment

may have an impact on the learners' progress. That is why, I believe that future

educators must also take into account these components in order to assist students in

their learning process. Ascertain that the classroom/online class environment is

conducive to having a significant impact on students ’ learning.

To my response on the 7th principle which is the “motivational and emotional influences

on learning” that is under the second category is it has a big influence and development

to our learning if we can know how to motivate ourselves in learning and emotionally

into learning which can be influenced by our beliefs, interest, goals, and habits . I find it

also important to me as a future educator to help my students on developing their

motivation on learning by giving them more knowledge on focusing more on the positive

side of learning and by not pressuring them to do so because it might result in panic and

anxiety and of course insecurity. Students' perceptions of themselves as learners and

the natural order of learning have a significant impact on motivation. Positive emotions,

in a broad sense, boost motivation and improve learning and performance. I also

believe that we must regard each student equitably and without favoritism, as this may

have an emotional impact on them along with their motivation to learn. The eighth

principle is "Intrinsic motivation to learn." There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation. The first type of motivation to which I would want to give a

response is intrinsic. I'm not sure what intrinsic motivation is, which is why I'm

researching it. It's all about motivation that comes from within each of us. This relates to

the first principle, that is learning comes to us intentionally, therefore it should be willful,

or we already have motivation because it comes to us naturally and is under our control.

Despite the fact that I, as a learner and future educator, have been motivated without

any sort of return or reward, I have been grinding my way through any difficulties

because I am already motivated within me. I'm not looking for medals or recognition. I

just feel responsible about my own and my family's success. Extrinsic motivation is the

absolute opposite of intrinsic motivation because it is a method of motivating learners by

providing a reward, medal, incentives, and appreciation so that the learners will do well
in their studies. However, as an individual, I would not recommend this type of

motivation to the learners. It may be good to do this occasionally, but not to the extent

that the learners anticipate to be rewarded for each and every excellence they achieve.

That is why it is important to cultivate intrinsic motivation in ourselves by encouraging

and facilitating students' natural curiosity and motivation for learning while accounting

for individual differences in their perceptions of ideal innovation and problems,

importance, and personal decision and control. The last principle under the second

category is “effects of motivation on effort”. When we are intrinsically motivated to

learn, it has a significant impact or influence on the level of effort that we have

expended. In view of this fact, and also in my opinion, learning on the things we enjoy

and choosing a course that we put effort into and being motivated even when we don't

expect rewards for our excellence is because we chose a program that we want to learn

rather than because we are forced to. As a future educator, I will indeed admit that it is

beneficial to me and that I should develop intrinsic motivation simply because I know

that teaching is my vocation and mission. That learning education program was not a

choice for me but because I have my passion for this course.

The tenth principle which “developmental influences on learning” is under the third

category of Developmental and Social Factors. I would say that motivation is not the

only one that affects us but also our developmental factors especially that now we are

facing many challenges and we are in a global pandemic. As for me, when we are

transferred to a new set up in the online world or online classes I feel that it was really

hard and I was not happy about it. I sometimes neglect those modules for days because

I find it boring and unproductive but then as the 9th principle let us know we should be

intrinsically motivated and I always find that in myself. I find a way to make it more fun

for myself and to feel productive in every module I do and that is why as a future

educator I need to take into account and accommodate the establishment of efficient

learning environments, be aware of and understand developmental differences between

learners with and without emotional, physical, or intellectual learning difficulties.

Choosing this course and being in college do have different influences on my

developmental learning simply because I love what I am learning and the way of the
teachers and all the materials given to us is appropriate to our level of learning and we

really are having fun even in this time of pandemic. The eleventh principle is the “social

influences on learning”. My response about it is that there is a big impact on our

learning when we interact with other people, talk and communicate, and also

collaborate with them. Social learning was really fun and do let us learn productively not

just because it was then face to face but because we can share ideas and thoughts

easily without hindrance but now in the new normal or the new setting of learning is also

fun but it really is different when learners meet with each other and collaborate face to

face. As a result, as future educators, we must allow for engaging and cooperative

educational environments that enable individuals and learners to engage in perspective

taking and thinking skills, that may also contribute to increased levels of intellectual,

social, and morality, as well as personality.

Down to the last category which is Individual differences factors consist of the last three

principles. The 12th principle is “individual differences in learning” . As a learner and

individual I think we all have come from diverse backgrounds of our life; mentally,

biologically, physically, and culture. So I think we future educator need to consider these

factors on handling each learners because there are students that are below average,

average, and above average and they’re not the same so I think if in the future as I

handle students I need to consider all the aspects specially the students differences

because I would know that they don’t have the same capabilities in learning for instance

I am more an auditory learner I can learn just by listening but also visuals could also

add up but there other learners that really can’t easily comprehend if it is just orally

discussed they really need a visual representation and things to manipulate or work on

so they can understand the lesson. That is why we future educators as much as

possible, and if absolutely necessary, we should assist students in examining their own

learning preferences and broadening or modifying them. The thirteenth principle is

“learning and diversity” . I think that this focuses more on our overall aspects of diversity

as an individual. Learners have different backgrounds that we future educators also

need to account for such as our beliefs, religion, values, and different cultural

backgrounds. In view to the fact on what I have experience especially those students
that have different religions or beliefs they are being respected and is treated equally by

everyone and even those muslims students especially those who can’t speak cebuano

because their dialect is tagalog so teachers tend or preferred to speak in their dialect or

translate it’s because they are diverse in our own culture, dialect, and beliefs. It is also

essential to cater, respect, value, and accommodate individual differences even if we

are in a global pandemic we still need to value their diversities even in the online world.

In learning there are a lot of aspects that we need to know so that the learners can have

a better understanding and comprehension to what is being taught because sometimes

there learners who have disabilities in hearing, sight, and physical disabilities also we

need to account their experiences it may be traumatic or happy still we future educators

need to know and account this aspects. The last and fourteenth psychological principle

is “Standard and assessment” which is very important for me as a future teacher since

every lesson needed an assessment but also a standard to set because assessing

student in every end or not only in the end of the lesson it may be in the beginning of

the lesson or during let us teachers know if the students did learn and also we need to

set standard for instance my teacher always say to us to pass our assessment test we

need to get a 18 points out of 20 so my teacher give us standard and also to motivate to

get a higher mark. Also the assessment process of the learner's comprehension of

educational content could provide us learners and educators with valuable responses

on advancement toward our learning objectives.

In conclusion, I would strongly recommend and encourage individuals, especially those

learners who are taking an educational program because this can really help the ways

you can handle and develop the students. It will also help you to become a better

educator not just to the students but also to everyone.