Educational psychology’s insight can help teacher/school administrators in the implementation of K-12 curriculum

By: Marilou J. Tañada Teacher III- Bataan National High School

The works of three contemporary psychologists, Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget and Robert Gagne, are contributory to the modern curriculum reform movement. Curriculum makes attempt to portray their contributions in this area.

Bruner recommended the emphasis upon reducing a subject to its fundamental ideas or structure. To grasp the structure of a subject, he argues that one must understand the facts which constitute the ideas of a field as an essential component of learning. He also advocated the development of an attitude toward learning that will instill in the learners.

Jean Piaget explanation of the stages of intellectual development through which children pass has been utilized by several curriculum projects as framework upon which to sketch curriculum revision plan. While according to Robert Gagne, the most important question is : “What do you want to teach the child?” Gagne advises that this capability to be stated and in behavioural terms at the outset. One can then analyze the task into its prerequisite capabilities, building a pyramid of capabilities toward the desired objective.

Relating these educational psychology premises, to the administration of K to12 we must remind ourselves that as a matter of practice, the curriculum in the Philippines is revised every 8 to 10 years, but the rapid rate of change in education and the fast obsolescence of knowledge necessitate a continual revisiting and updating of the curriculum to make it responsive to emerging change in the needs of the learner and the society. Thus, the refinement of the curriculum remains to be a work in progress.

Aside from the issue of relevance, the refinement and modification of the K-to-12 Basic Education Curriculum was guided by the need as articulated in the Education For All Plan 2015, to streamline its content in order to improve student mastery and contribute to the attainment of functional literacy. This became a primary consideration of standards and the essential understandings from which the content of the curriculum was derived.

The premises of Piaget, Gagne and Bruner contributes a lot, with the learners in mind. This school year is the second year of roll-out of the K-to-12. The initial roll out of Grade 7 was based from the Dep.Ed. order #31s. 2012 in the school year 2012-2013 with the primary objectives that the learner will answer the question” What should students know and be able to do?”

To cope up with the curriculum modifications, the teacher in the public and some private schools together with the school heads are the one who support this modified curriculum to prepare them for the management of the K-to-12 BEC of 2012-2013 implementation.