CHAPTER 8 – PHILOSOPHIES OF EDUCATION

Teacher need to be guided by a sound philosophy in the practice of their profession. It is a

statement that outlines their view on education and how it is to be delivered to the learners. Teachers
plan lessons, interact with their students and evaluate their performance according to their own
personal view of teaching and learning-their philosophy of education. Their personality, their values,
their principles in life as a teacher are reflected in this philosophy of education.
It is therefore important that teachers and students understand one another’s philosophy to
better understand their behavior in the class which is crucial to a healthy leaning environment.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

 Summarize at least seven (7) philosophies of education and draw their implications to teaching-
learning.
 Formulate your own philosophy of education.

Take Off Activity (Individual)

1. Find out to which philosophy you adhere. To what extent does each statement apply to you?
Rate yourself 4 if you agree with the statement always, 3 if you agree but not always, 2 if you agree
sometimes, and 1 if you don’t agree at all.

Statement 1 2 3 4
1. There is no substitute for concrete experience in learning
2. The focus of education should be the ideas that are as relevant today as when
they were first conceived.
3. Teacher must not force their students to learn the subject matter if it does not
interest them.
4. Schools must develop students’ capacity to reason by stressing on the humanities.
5. In the classroom, students must be encouraged to interact with one another to
develop social virtues such as cooperation and respect.
6. Students should read and analyse the Great Books, the creative works of history’
finest thinkers and writers.
7. Teachers must help students expand their knowledge by helping them apply
those previous experiences in solving new problems.
8. Our course of study should be general, not specialized, liberal, not vocational,
humanistic, not technical.
9. There is no universal, inborn human nature. We are born and exist and then we
ourselves freely determine our essence.
10. Human beings are shaped by their environment.
11. Schools should stress on the teaching of basic skills.
12. Change of environment can change a person.
13. Curriculum should emphasize on the traditional disciplines such as math, natural
science, history, grammar, literature.
 14.Teacher cannot impose meaning; students make meaning of what they are
taught.
15. Schools should help individuals accept themselves as unique individuals and
accept responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions.
16. Learners produce knowledge based on their experiences.
17. For the learner to acquire the basic skills, s/he must go through the rigor and
disciplines of serious study.
18. The teacher and the school head must prescribe what is most important for the
students to learn.
19. The truth shines in an atmosphere of genuine dialogue.
20. A learner must be allowed to learn at his/her own pace.
21. The learner is not a blank slate but brings past experiences and cultural factors
to the learning environment.
22. The classroom is not a place where teachers pour knowledge into empty minds
of students.
23. The learner must be taught how to communicate his ideas and feelings.
24. To understand the message from his/her students, the teacher must listen not
only to what his/her students are saying but also to what they are saying.
25. An individual is what he/she chooses to become not dictated by his/her
environment.

Interpreting your Score: If you have 2 answers of 2/4 in numbers:

1 ,3 ,5, 7 - - - - - - - - you are more of a progressivist
2, 4, 6, 8 - - - - - - - - you are more of a perennialist
9, 15, 20, 25 - - - - - - you are more of an essentialist
10, 12 - - - - - - - - - - - you are more of a behaviourist
11, 13, 7, 18 - - - - - - you are more of an essentialist
14, 16, 21, 22 - - - - - you are ore of a constructivist
19, 23, 24 - - - - - - - - you are more of a linguistic philosopher

Content Focus:

What is Philosophy of Education?

Philosophy of education is a set of related beliefs that influence what and how students are
taught. Teachers’ philosophy of education guides their behaviour or performance in the classroom and
reflects their personality and values.

Formulating your own philosophy may not be easy since you are just beginning, but here are
some questions you may consider in framing your philosophical statement.

 What is the purpose of education?

 What content and skills should schools develop?
 How should schools teach the content of the curriculum?
 What are the roles of the students and teachers in the teaching-learning process?
  How should learning be assessed?

Modern Philosophies of Education

1. Essentialism: Essentialism is a teacher-centered philosophy that adheres to the belief that the
basic skills of literacy (reading and writing) and numeracy (arithmeStic) as well as subject matter
knowledge should be developed in schools. Subjects such as history, mathematics, languages and
literature are essential subjects for secondary education. They believe that these basic essential subject-
matter be mastered to be able to function effectively in society. These skills will prepare them to be
competent and skilled individuals for the competitive global village..

Essentialists argue that schools and teacher must be committed to their primary academic
function-to teach students with knowledge ansd skills that will prepare them to function effectively and
efficiently in a democratic society.

Essentialists favour a subject-matter curriculum which should be cumulative and sequentially

arranged, starting with low order thinking skills to more complex higher order level.. They adhere more
on teacher-directed instruction because they believe teachers are trained professionals who should
guide and direct the learning of the students.

Essentialists do not favour innovative or process-learning approaches like constructivism, which

allows students to construct knowledge based on past knowledge experiences

Essentialist teachers believe

 That teachers have authority to discipline students

 That teachers should have mastery of the knowledge and skills they teach
 In the use of deductive method of teaching
 That students should learn the “essentials”
 That only when the students have mastered the required competencies can they be
promoted to the higher level
 That test scores are the basis for evaluating students’ progress.

The Why, What, and How of Teaching from the Essentialist Perspective

 Why Teach. The contention is that teachers teach learners to acquire knowledge, skills and
values that they need to become model citizens and not to radically reshape society.
 What to Teach. Essentialist programs are ACADEMICALLY rigorous with greater emphasis on
the fundamental r’s (reading, ‘riting. ‘rithmetic, right conduct). The eseentialist
curriculum includes the traditional disciplines. Essentialism frowns upon vocational
courses or other courses with ‘watered down’ academic content. The teacehrs and
administrators decide what is most important for students to learn and place little
emphasis on student interests particularly when they divert time and attention from
academic curriculum.
  How to Teach. Essentialist teachers emphasize mastery of subject matter. They are
expected to be intellectual and moral models of their students. To gain mastery of subject
matter schools have to observe core requirements, longer school day, a longer academic
year. With mastery of academic content as primary focus, teachers rely heavily on the use
of prescribed textbooks, the drill method and other methods that will enable them to
cover as much academic content as possible like the lecture method. There is heavy stress
on memorization and discipline.

2. Perennialism. Perennialism asserts that the primary purpose of education is to bring students
in contact with the truth by cultivating the intellect and sense of rationality or reasoning power.
Perennialists believe that there are universal principles that students need to learn like the universality
of truth, the importance of reason and the power of aesthetics. They also propose the study of religion
to encourage ethical behaviour. Perennialists urge that students read the Great Books – works by
history’s finest thinkers and writers and develop their concepts about human knowledge. They oppose
the inclusion of non-academic subjects in the curriculum because they defeat the primary purpose o the
school which is to develop students intellectually. They endorse a subject-matter curriculum loaded with
cognitive subjects that develop rationality and morality.

Perennialist teachers believe that:

 Teachers are intellectual mentors and models for their students

 Fundamental skills such as reading, writing, computation and research be developed
starting from the elementary grades to prepare them for life-long learning.
 Subjects with human concerns such as history, literature and art should be included in the
secondary school curriculum
 Their role is to sharpen the students’ intellectual powers and enhance their moral qualities.
 Believe that the e-version of great books and other classics maybe viewed by larger
audience but this could not substitute for reading the classics.

The Why, What, and How of Teaching from the Perennialist Perspective

 Why teach. We are all rational animals. Schools therefore should develop the students’
rational and moral powers. According to Aristotle, if we neglect the students’ reasoning
skills, we deprive them of their ability to use their higher faculties to control their passion
and appetites.
 What to teach. The Perennialist curriculum is a universal one on the vew that all human
beings possess the same essential nature. It is heavy on humanities, on general education.
It is not a specialist curriculum but rather a general one. There is less emphasis on
vocational and technical education. Mortimer Adler claims that the “Great Books of
ancient, medieval, and modern times are a repository of knowledge and wisdom, a
tradition of culture which must initiate each generation.” What the perennialist teachers
teach are lifted from the Great Books.
 How to teach. The perennialist teacher is centered around teachers. The teeachers do not
allow the students’ interests or experiences to substantially dictate what they teach. They
employ teaching methods and techniques which they believed to be most conducive to
disciplining students’ minds. Students engaged in Socratic dialogues, or mutual inquiry
sessions to develop an understanding of history’s most timely concepts.
 3. Progressivism. Progressivists belong to a reform movement that opposed traditional education.
They were against: 1) authoritarian teachers, 2) book-based instruction, 3) rote memorization, and 4)
authoritarian classroom management. Progressivists believe that although knowledge come from varied
sources, the best way to learn is by actively exploring or engaging in direct experiences; thus the school
should serve as laboratory for experimentation. They advocate using the project method and problem
solving which promote democratic learning communities in the classroom.

Progressivist teachers believe that:

 Teachers should possess a repertoire of learning activities to be used in the teaching-

learning process-problem solving, field rips, creative artistic expression and projects.
 The child should be free to develop naturally
 Interest motivated by direct experience stimulates learning
 There should be close cooperation between the home and the school
 Students’ needs, interests, and readiness should be considered in constructing the
curriculum.

The Why, the What, and the How of Teaching from the Progressivist Perspective

 Why Teach. Progressivist teachers teach to develop learners into becoming enlightened and
intelligent citizens of a democratic society so that they may live life fully NOW not to
prepare them for adult life.
 What to Teach. Progressivists are identified with need-based and relevant curriculum, a
curriculum that responds to students’ needs and relates to students’ personal lives and
experiences. Instead of teaching facts or bits of information that are true today but
become obsolete tomorrow, they would rather focus on skills and processes gathering
and evaluating information and in problem solving. The subjects that are given emphasis
in progresivists schools are the natural and social sciences.
 How to Teach. Progressivists employ experiential methods because of their belief that one
learns by doing. According to John Dewey, the most popular advocate of progressivism,
book learning is no substitute for actual experience. The problem-solving method
dominates the progressivist curriculum. Other “hands-on-minds-on-hearts-on teaching
methodology that are used are field trips, thought-provoking games and puzzles.

4. Existentialism. It is a philosophy that emphasizes the subjectivity of human experience. It

asserts that the purpose of education is to help students find meaning and directions in their lives.

Existentialist author, Jean Paul-Sartre often quoted the phrase, “Existence precedes essence,”
meaning we owe our existence to nature, but we define ourselves through our actions. We create our
own essence by making our personal choice and that we must take responsibility for our choices.

Existentialist teachers believe:

 That the purpose of education is to awaken our consciousness about our freedom to
choose and to create our own self-awareness that contributes to our own identity.
 That students should be trained to philosophize, to question, and to participate in dialogues
about the meaning of life.
  That self-expression, creativity, self-awareness, and self-responsibility should be developed
in the students.
 That open classrooms maximize freedom of choice.
 In self-directed instruction.
 That students should decide what they want to learn and when to learn.

The Why, the What, and the How of Teaching from the Essentialist Perspective

 Why Teach . To help students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals
who accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings and actions.
 What to teach. In an existentialist curriculum, students are given a wide variety of options
from which to choose. Students are afforded a wide variety of subject matter from which
to choose but the humanities are given great emphasis to provide students with vicarious
experiences that will help them unleash their own creativity and self-expression. Rather
than teaching historical events Existentialists would focus on the actions of historical
individuals that will provide possible models for students’ own behaviour. Vocationa
education is regarded more as a means of teaching students about themselves and their
potential than of earning a livelihood. In teaching art, students are encourage to develop
the own creativity and expand their imagination rather than copying and imitating
established models.
 How to Teach. Existentialist methods focus on individual learning. Learning is self-paced,
self-directed, and includes a great del of individual contact with the teacher. To help
students know themselves and understand their place in society, teachers use values
clarification strategy. In the use of the strategy, the teacher remains non-judgmental and
take care not to impose their values on their students.

5. Behaviourism. The Why, the What, and the How

 Why Teach. Behaviourism believes that students are products of their environment. They
are after students who exhibit desirable behaviour in school, thus the goal of education is
to modify and shape students’ behaviour.
 What to teach. Behaviourists look at people as individuals who act only in response to
externally generated stimuli, thus behaviourist teachers teach studnts to repnd fvorably
to various stimuli in the environment.
 How to teach. Behaviourist teachers should arrange environmental conditions so that
students can make responses to stimuli. Physical variables such as light, temperature,
arrangement of furniture, size and quantity of visual aids have to be controlled to get the
desired responses from the students. Teacher must see to it that stimuli for learning must
be clear and interesting to capture the interest of the learners and provide appropriate
incentives to reinforce positive responses and weaken or eliminate negative ones.

6. Linguistic Philosophy.

 Why teach. To develop the communication skills of the learner

 What to teach. Learners should be taught to communicate clearly-verbally, orally and/or in
writing, nonverbal, and paraverbal. Verbal communication refers to the content of our
message, the choice and arrangement of words. Nonverbal refers to the message we send
 through our body language while paraverbal refers o HOW we say what we say-the tone,
pacing, and volume of our voice. Students should be taught to use language correctly –
grammar, syntax, vocabulary…so that they can express their thoughts and feelings clearly
and accurately. There is also a need to teach students as many languages as you can so
that they can communicate with the world.
 How to teach. The most effective way to teach language and communication is the
experiential way. The classroom should be a place for the interplay of minds and hearts.

7. Constructivism.

 Why teach. The goal of teaching should be to develop intrinsically motivated and
independent learners adequately equipped with learning skills for them to be able to
construct knowledge and make meaning of them.
 What to teach. Students should be taught how to learn not what to learn.—skills like,
critiquing, accessing, evaluating information, relating pieces of information, reflecting on
the same, making meaning out of them, making use of prior knowledge, questioning,
inferring, drawing insights, posing questions, researching

 How to teach. Teachers must provide students with data or experiences that allow hem to
hypothesize, predict, manipulate objects, pose questions do research, imagine and invent.
The constructivist classroom is interactive. The role of the teacher is to facilitate this
process.

8. Social Reconstructionism

 Why teach. To improve and reconstruct society. Education for change.

 What to teach. Problems and challenges facing society
 How to teach. Problem solving and decision making, community immersion

End of Lesson Activity

1. As you reflect on creating your own philosophy, are there elements of these philosophies (with
reference to the eight (8) philosophies) that you would like to include in your philosophy of education?
What are these? Format your answers using the table below. You can expand the table.(Individual)

Philosophy Elements

2. By means of a Venn diagram, compare the following philosophies: 1) Perennialism vs.

Essentialism ; 2) Progressivism vs. Essentialism and Perennialism combined (Group)

3. Explain how will you react to the following given situations. What advice will you give? Assume
that you are an advocate of (Group)
  essentialism: Students are not interested in the lesson.
 perennialism: Students want to become skilled in certain fields of specialization.
 progressivism: Parents question students’ community immersion for it poses certain risks.
 behaviourism: Teacher tells studens in slum areas this: “If there’s a will. There’s a way.
Poverty is not a hindrance to success.”
 linguistic philosophy: A teacher insists on his reasoning and does not give a chance o the
erring student to explain his/her side.
 existentialism: A colleague asks you to decide for her for fear that she may make the wrong
decision.
 Constructivism: Teacher claims, he will be able to teach more if he goes straight to his
lecture.

4. Research work. Research on the following philosophies: (Not required for submission)

 Western philosophies – Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism

 Eastern philosophies – Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christian philosophy
 Other philosophies – Rousseau’s philosophy, Paolo Freire’s philosophy

(Note: Total number of activity for submission = 2 individual; 2

group)

References:

1. Bilbao et al (2015). Curriculum Development. Lorimar Publishing, Philippines

2. Bilbao et al (2015). The Teaching Profession. Lorimar Publishing, Philippines
3. Churchill et al (2016(3rd). Teaching: Making a difference, 3 rd ed. Wiley & Sons, Australia
4. Lim, L et al (2014). The Teaching Profession. Adriana Publishing Co. Philippines
Lesson 2: Learner-Centered Psychological Principles (LCP)

Introduction:

Who is the principal stakeholder in the education process? Educational leadership is so

caught up in the business of measuring the performance of schools and teachers, the fact that the
learner should be at the center of the process is often overlooked. Creating a learner-centered
classroom is the most important thing an educator can do to optimize students’ learning.

Learning Outcomes: In this module, challenge yourself to attain the following

learning outcomes:

 Explain the 14 principles

 Advocate the use of the 14 principles in the teaching-learning process.

Advance Organizer:

Cognitive and
Metacognitive Motivational and
Factor Affective Factors

(6 principles) (3 principles)
 14

Learner-Centered

Principles
Individual
Developmental
Differences
and Social
Factors
Factors
(3 principles)
(2 principles)

Stimulating Learning:

Do this activity before you read the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles: (

1. Examine the title, “Learner-Centered Psychological Principles.” Quickly jot down at least 10
words that come to your mind.
2. Go back to each word and write phrases about why you think the word can be associated with
LCP.

Analysis:

Form groups of three members each. Share your responses. Summarize your group’s
responses.

We think that Learner-Centered Psychological Principles focus on: (10 pts.)

________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

Inculcating Concepts:

The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles were put together by the American Psychological
Association. These 14 principles pertain to the learner and the learning process and have the following
aspects:

 They focus on psychological factors that are primarily internal to or under the control of the
learner rather than conditional habits or physiological factors. However, the principles also
 attempt to acknowledge external environment or contextual factors that interact with these
internal factors.
 The principles are intended to deal holistically with the learners in the context of real-wold
learning situations. Thus, they are understood as an organized set of principles. No principle
should be viewed in isolation.
 The 14 principles are divided into those referring to (1) cognitive and metacognitive, (2)
motivational and affective, (3) developmental and social, and (4) individual differences factors
influencing learners and the learning process.

Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors

1. Nature of the learning process

The learning of a complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of
constructing meaning from information and experience. There are different types of learning
processes: For example, habit formation in motor learning and learning that requires the
generation of knowledge or cognitive skills and learning strategies.
 Learning in schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes to construct meaning from
information, experiences, and their own thoughts and beliefs.
 Successful learners are active, goal directed, self-regulating, and assume personal
responsibility for contributing to their own learning.
2. Goals of the learning process
The successful learner, over time and with the support and instructional guidance, can
create meaningful, coherent representation of knowledge.
 The strategic nature of learning requires students to be goal-oriented.
 To construct useful representation of knowledge and to acquire the thinking and learning
strategies necessary for continued learning success across the life span, students must
generate and pursue personally relevant goals.
 Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning goals that are consistent with
both personal and educational aspirations and interests.
3. Construction of knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in
meaningful ways.
 Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to build links between new
information and experiences and their existing knowledge base. The nature of these links
can take a variety of forms such as adding to, modifying, or reorganizing easing knowledge
or skills. How these links are made or developed may vary in different subject areas, and
among students with varying talents, interests, and abilities. However, unless new
knowledge becomes integrated with the learner’s prior knowledge and understanding, this
new knowledge remains isolated, cannot be used most effectively in new tasks, and does
not transfer readily to new situations.
 Educators can assist learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge by a number of
strategies such as concept mapping and thematic organization or categorizing.
4. Strategic thinking
 The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies
to achieve complex learning goals.
 Successful learners use strategic thinking in their approach to learning, reasoning, problem
solving and concept learning. .
 They use a variety of strategies to help them reach learning and performance goals.
 They also continue to expand their repertoire of strategies by reflecting on the methods
they use which work well for them, by receiving guided instruction and feedback, and by
observing or interacting with appropriate models.
5. Thinking about thinking
Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring and monitoring mental operations
facilitate creative and critical thinking
 Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning and
performance goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and
monitor their progress toward these goals.
 Successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are not making sufficient
or timely progress toward a goal. They can generate alternative methods to reach their goals
or reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goals.
 Instructional methods that focus on helping learners develop higher order (metacognitive)
strategies can enhance student learning and personal responsibility for learning.
6. Context of learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology and
instructional practices.
 Learning does not occur in a vacuum. Teachers play a major interactive role with both the
learner and the learning environment.
 Culture and group influences on students can impact many educational variables, such as
motivation, orientation toward learning and way of thinking.
 Technological and instructional practices must be appropriate for learners’ level of prior
knowledge, cognitive abilities and their learning and thinking strategies.
 The classroom environment, particularly the degree to which it is nurturing or not, can also
have significant impacts on student learning.
Motivational and Affective Factors
7. Motivational and emotional influences in learning
What and how much is learned is influenced by the learner’s motivation. Motivation to learn,
in turn, is influenced by the individual’s emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits of
thinking.
 The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals and expectations for success or failure can
enhance or interfere with the learner’s quality of thinking and information processing.
 Students’ beliefs about themselves as learners and the nature of learning have a significant
influence on motivation.
 Positive emotions, such as curiosity, generally enhance motivation and facilitate learning and
performance. Mild anxiety can also enhance learning and performance by focusing the learner’s
 attention on a particular task. However, intense negative emotions (anxiety, rage, insecurity)
and related thoughts (worrying, about competence, ruminating about failure, fearing
punishment, ridicule, or stigmatizing labels) generally detract from motivation, interfere with
learning, and contribute to low performance.
8. Intrinsic motivation to learn
The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to motivation
to learn. Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevant to
personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control.
 Curiosity, flexible and insightful thinking, and creativity are major indicators of the learner’s
intrinsic motivation to learn, which is, in a larger part, a function of meeting basic needs to be
competent and to exercise personal control.
 Intrinsic motivation is facilitated on task that learners perceive an interesting and personally
relevant and meaningful, comparable to the real-world situations appropriate in complexity and
difficulty to the learners’ abilities, and on which they believe they can succeed.
 Educators can encourage and support learners’ natural curiosity and motivation to learn by
attending to individual differences in learners’ perception of optimal novelty and difficulty,
relevance, and personal choice and control.
9. Effects of motivation on effort
Acquisition of knowledge and skills requires extended learner’s effort and guided practice.
Without learners’ motivation to learn. The willingness to exert this effort is unlikely without coercion.
 Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn. Learning demands the learner’s energy
and strategic effort along with persistence over time.
 Educators need to be concerned with facilitating motivation by strategies that enhance learner
effort and commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of comprehension and
understanding.
 Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by practice that enhance
positive emotion and intrinsic motivation to learn and methods that increase learners’
perception that a task is interesting and personally relevant.
Developmental and Social Factors
10. Developmental Influence on learning.
As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and constraints for learning. Learning
is effective when differential development within and across physical, intellectual, emotional and
social domains are taken into account.
 Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to their developmental level and is
presented in an enjoyable and interesting way.
 Because individual development varies across areas of growth and development, achievement in
different instructional domains may also vary.
 Overemphasis in one type of developmental readiness, such as reading readiness, may preclude
learners that they are more capable in other areas of performance.
 The cognitive, emotional, and social development of individual learners and how they interpret
life experiences are affected by prior schooling, home, culture, and community factors.
  Early and continuing parental involvement in schooling and the quality of language interactions
and two-way communication between adults and children can influence thee developmental
areas.
 Awareness and understanding of developmental differences among children with or without
disabilities can facilitate creation of optimal learning contexts.
11. Social influences on learning.
Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations and communication with
others.
 Learning can be enhanced when the learner has the opportunity to interact and to collaborate
with others on instructional tasks.
 Learning settings that allow for social interactions and that respect diversity encourage flexible
thinking and social competence.
 In interactive and collaborative instructional contexts, individuals have an opportunity for
perspective taking and effective thinking that may lead to higher levels of cognitive, social, and
moral development as well as self-esteem.
 Quality personal relationships that provide stability, trust, and caring can increase learners’
sense of belonging, self-respect, and self-acceptance and provide a positive climate for learning.
 Family influences, positive interpersonal support and instruction in self-motivation strategies
can offset factors that interfere with optimal learning such as negative beliefs about
competence in a particular subject, high levels of test anxiety, negative sex role expectations,
and undue pressure to perform well.
 Positive learning climates can also help to establish the context for healthier levels of thinking,
feeling, and behaving. Such contexts help learners feel safe to share their ideas, actively
participate in the learning process, and create a learning community.
Individual Differences Factors
12. Individual differences in learning
Learners have different strategies, approaches and capabilities for learning that are a function of
prior experience and heredity.
 Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and talents.
 Through learning and social acculturation, they have acquired their own preferences for how
they like to learn and the pace at which they learn. However these preferences are not always
useful I helping learners reach their learning goals.
 Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences and expand or modify
them, if necessary.
 The interaction between learner differences and curricular and environmental conditions is
another key factor affecting learning outcomes.
 Educators need to be sensitive to individual differences, in general.
 They also need to attend to learner perceptions of the degree to which these differences are
accepted and adapted to by varying instructional methods and materials.
13. Learning and diversity
Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural and social
backgrounds are taken into account.
  The same basic principles of learning, motivation and effective instruction applies to all learners.
However, language, ethnicity, race, beliefs and socio-economic status all can influence learning.
 When learners perceive that their individual differences in abilities, backgrounds, cultures and
experiences are valued, respected, and accommodated in learning tasks and contexts, levels of
motivation and achievement are enhanced.
14. Standards and assessment
Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the learner as well as
learning progresses—including diagnostic process and outcome assessment—are integral parts of the
learning process.
 Assessment provides important information to both the learner and the teacher at all stages of
the learning process.
 Effective learning takes place when learners feel challenged to work toward appropriately high
goals; therefore appraisal of the learner’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well as current
knowledge and skills, is important for the selection of instructional materials of an optimal
degree of difficulty.
 Ongoing assessment of the learner’s understanding of the curricular material can provide
valuable feedback to both learners and teachers about progress toward learning goals.
 Standardized assessment of learner progress and outcomes assessment provides one type of
information about achievement levels that can inform various types of programmatic decisions.
 Self-assessment of learning progress can also improve students’ self-appraisal skills and enhance
motivation and self-directed learning.

Application
This will be done later when you revisit the 14 principles

Assessment Tasks

1. Describe what you can do to advocate the use of the 14 Learner-centered Psychological
Principles through any of the following: (10 pts).

a) Power Point presentation consisting of five slides or less

b) A 3-minute speech (written)

Short Writing Activity
From the module of Learner-Centered Psychological Principles, I realized that (10 pts.)
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

References
1. APA Work Group of the Board of Educational Affairs (1997, November). Learner-centered
psychological principles: A framework for school reform and redesign.
Washington,D.C.:American Psychological Association.

2. Aquino, A. M. (2010). Facilitating human learning. Quezon City, Phil. Rex Book Store

3. Lucas, M.R. & Brenda Corpuz.(2014). Facilitating learning: A metacognitive approach. Quezon
City, Phil. Lorimar Publishing

4. Schunk, D.H. (2002). Learning theories: An educational perspective, 6 th ed. Mass., USA.: Pearson