Psychology provides a basis for the teaching and learning process. It
unifies elements of the learning process and some of the questions which can be
addressed by psychological foundations of education. How should curriculum be
organized to enhance learning? What is the optimum level of the students‘
preparation in learning various contents of the curriculum?
Three groups of learning theories like behaviorism or association
theories; cognitive-information processing theories are considered to address
the4 above questions.
1. BEHAVIORIST PSYCHOLOGY - Behaviorism dominated 20th-century psychology. It
includes, among others, the following:
•
Connectionism-Edward
Thorndike, which influence both Ralph Tyler and Hilda Taba who considered to be
two of the well-know curriculars.
•
Classical
conditioning-Ivan Pavlov
•
Operant
Conditioning-B.F. Skinner
•
Modeling and
Observation Theory- Albert Bandura
•
Hierarchical
Learning/sets of behavior and five learning outcomes- Robert Gagne
-
Intellectual skills
or‖ knowing how‖ categorize and use symbols, forming concepts and
problem-solving.
-
Information or
knowing what‖ knowledge about
facts dates and names
-
Cognitive strategies
or learning skills
-
Motor skills: and
-
Attitudes, feelings
and emotions learned through experiences
The listed learning outcomes overlap with the domains in the taxonomy of
educational objectives, which are cognitive, affective and psychomotor.
To the behaviorist, learning should be organized to students can
experience success in the process of mastering the subject matter. The method
introduced in a step by step manner with proper sequencing of tasks, which is
viewed by other educational psychologist as simplistic and mechanical.
2. COGNITVE PSYCHOLOGY - How do learns store information? How do they retrieve and generate
conclusions? These are some of the basic questions asked by cognitive psychologists.
Advocates of cognitive psychology:
- Cognitive Development
Stages- jean Piaget
- Social Constructivism- Lev
Vygotsky
- Multiple intelligences-
Howard Garner
- Learning Styles- Felder and
Silverman
- Emotional Intelligence-
Daniel Goleman
To the Cognitive theorist, learning constitutes a logical method for
organizing and interpreting learning. Learning is rooted in the tradition of
subject matter and is similar to the cognitive development theory. Teachers use
a lot of problem-solving and thinking skills in teaching and learning,
intuitive thinking, discovery learning. These are exemplified by practices like
reflective thinking, creative thinking, discovery learning and many others.
3. HUMANISTICSPSYCHOLOGY -Humanist
psychologists are concerned with how learners can develop their human
potentials. Traditional psychologists do not recognize humanistic psychology as
a school of psychology, however, observes view humanistic psychology as the
third force learning theory after behaviorism and cognitive development.
-
Learning can be
explained in terms of the wholeness of the problem and where the environment is
changing and the learner is continuously recognizing his or her
perceptions-Gestalt Theory.
-
Theory of human needs
for self- actualizing persons- Abraham Maslow
-
Non-directive lives=
Carl Rogers
Among the humanistic psychologists, curriculum is concerned with the
process, not the products; personal needs, not subject matter, psychological
meanings and environmental situations.
In summary, psychology has a great influence on the curriculum. Learners
not machines, and mind is not a computer. Humans are biological beings affected
by their biology and cultures. The psychological foundations will curriculum
makers in nurturing a more advanced, more comprehensive and complete human
learning.