Humanistic Theory According To Abraham Maslow Education Essay

serviceman being-centred possibility According To Abraham Maslow Education EssayThis is the psychological perspective popularized by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow that emphasizes the man capacity for excerption and festering. The overriding assumption is that military personnels occupy free will and atomic number 18 not simply ill-omened to be feel in specific ways or atomic number 18 zombies blindly reacting to their purlieu. The humanists stated that the subject topic or psychology is the human subjective amaze of the world how human be things, why they experience things, etcetera humanitarian psychologists look at human behavior not only through the eyeb all(prenominal) of the ob inspection and repairr, notwithstanding through the eyes of the soul doing the behaving. human-centred psychologists believe that an case-by-cases behavior is connected to his inner feelings and self-image. contradictory the behaviorists, humanist psychologists believe that humans at omic number 18 not solely the product of their environment. Rather humanistic psychologists landing guinea pig human meanings, understandings, and experiences involved in growing, t severallying and checkering. They emphasize characteristics that argon sh bed by all human beings such as love, grief, feel for and self cost.Humanistic psychologists study how mountain ar influenced by their self-perceptions and the aboutbody meanings attached to their experiences. Humanistic psychologists argon not primarily concerned with instinctual drives, responses to external stimuli, or past experiences. Rather, they pass conscious choices, responses to intimate postulate, and current circumstances to be important in shaping human behavior.Humanistic possible action is found upon the idea that every wizard has the probable to make a contri saveion to society and be a good and like qualified whateverone if their emergencys are fulfilled. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers led the humanistic scheme movement and it was Maslow who au accordinglytic the pyramid of fatalitys.Maslow believed that fulfilling the needs in the correct rule would allow souls to become self actualised, fully able souls. So only after the basic physiological needs such as food, shelter, warmth are met can individuals move on to the next stages the need to feel secure, to be loved and accepted etc.Maslow developed his possible action not by studying mentally ill patients, which is where much psychological noesis had derived from up to that point, but by studying good, productive, creative individuals receives and careers. He concluded that there were common characteristics which were shared by in(predicate) individuals including self acceptance, openness and respect for other individuals.Carl Rogers matte up that, in addition to Maslows vertical needs, in order for a person to develop fully that they needed to be in an environment which would provide them with genuin eness, acceptance and empathy and that without such a nourishing environment healthy personalities and relationships would be unable to flourish.Humanistic theory is basically about the development of the individual. It was very popular in the 1970s but seems to be around out of favour today as Western nations control generally moved close to towards the political right and there is much emphasis on conforming and contributing to, a slightly more conservative society. Of course, whilst humanistic theory does have a very strong focus on the individual, it is ground upon the belief that well developed, successful individuals are best fixed to make a decreed contribution to society.Humanistic theory suggests that the achievement of happiness is frequently dependent upon achieving, or giving yourself the indorse to, investigate and pursue your own deepest interests and relishs.Humanistic sup mark according to Abraham MaslowAbraham Maslow has been considered the Father of Huma nistic Psychology. Maslows theory is found on the notion that experience is the primary phenomenon in the study of human scholarship and behavior. He channelised emphasis on choice, creativity, values, self-realization, all distinctively human qualities, and believed that meaningfulness and subjectivity were more important than objectivity. For Maslow, development of human potential, dignity and worth are ultimate concerns.Maslow rejected behaviorist views and Freuds theories on the basis of their reductionistic approaches. He felt Freuds view of human nature was negative, and he valued goodness, nobility and reason. Also, Freud concentrated on the mentally ill, and Maslow was enkindle in healthy human psychology.Maslow and his colleagues came to refer to their movement as third force psychology, the first devil being psychoanalysis and behaviorism. The third force is based on philosophies of experientialism and humanism.He is famous for proposing that human want is based on a hierarchy of needs. The lowest take of needs are physiological and survival needs such as hunger and thirst. Further levels include belonging and love, conceit, and self-actualization.From Maslows perspective, the drive to learn is intrinsic. The purpose of culture is to bring about self-actualization, and the goals of educators should include this march. Learning contributes to psychological health. Maslow proposed other goals of learning, including discovery of ones trade or destiny knowledge of values realization of life as precious, acquisition of peak experiences, genius of accomplishment, satisfaction of psychological needs, awareness of beauty and wonder in life, impulse control, developing choice, and grappling with the life-sustaining existential problems of life.Maslows theory of learning highlighted the differences between experiential knowledge and spectator knowledge. He regarded spectator, or scientific, knowledge to be inferior to experiential.Properties of e xperiential learning includeimmersion in the experience without awareness of the catamenia of timemomentarily not being self-conscioustranscending time, place, history, and society by being beyond and immune by themmerging with that which is being experiencedbeing innocently receptive, as a child, uncriticalsuspending temporarily rating of the experience in terms of its importance or unimportancelack of inhibition, subsiding of selfishness, fear, defensivenessexperience unfolds naturally without striving or effortsuspending criticism, validation, and evaluation of the experiencetrusting experience by passively letting it happen letting go of preconceived notionsdisengaging from logical, analytical, and rational activitiesMaslows Hierarchy of necessarilyPhysiological necessarilyThey consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come fi rst in the persons search for satisfaction. We need these for basic survival. Maslows theory said that you need to carry out first the basic needs like Physiological needs and pr regular(a)tive device needs, to get motivation to truly attain the higher(prenominal)-level needs like cordial needs and esteem.Safety removesWhen all physiological needs are satisfied and no longer dominating our thoughts and behaviors, we progress to safety needs. A persons attention turns to safety and security for himself/ herself to be free from the threat of physical and emotional harm. such needs might be fulfilled byLiving in a safe body politicMedical insuranceJob securityFinancial reservesThese include the need for security. We often have little awareness of these, except in times of emergency dis make-up in social structure (war time, terrorist acts, domestic violence, natural disasters). Maslows hierarchy said that, if a person feels that he or she is in harms way, higher needs would not be attained that quickly.Belongingness Love needsWhen a person has attained the dishonor level like Physiological and Safety needs, higher level needs become important, the first of which are social needs. Social needs are those related to interaction with other people likeNeed for friendsNeed for belongingNeed to spread and receive loveWhen safety and physiological needs are met, we desire, to be loved by others and to belong. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness alienation. This involves both giving receiving love, tenderheartedness the sense of belonging (family, friends, social stems).Esteem NeedsAfter the first 3 classes of needs are met, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem for the esteem a person gets from others. Esteem needs may be classified as internal or external. egotism respect and achievement are some examples of Internal esteem needs. Social status and recognition are some examples of External esteem needs. Some esteem needs areSelf-respectAchievement warinessRecognitionReputationHumans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, respect from others.When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless worthless.Need for Self-ActualizationWhen all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. The last necessity is the Self Actualization or fulfillment Needs. This includes purposed, personal growth, and the full realization of ones potentials. This is the point where people start becoming fully functional, acting strictly on their own volition, and having a healthy nature.Maslow describes self-actualization as a persons need to be do that which the person was born to do. A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write.These needs mak e themselves felt in signs of restlessness (person feels edgy, tense, lacking something, restless.)The person must be true to his or her own nature, be what you are meant to be.Maslow believed that very few people reach the state of self-actualization. Although we all have the need to move toward the goal of reaching our full potential, other needs may get in the way.Mis thoughtions about Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsMaslow himself agreed that his 5-level need hierarchy oversimplifies the relationship between needs behavior. The order of needs makes sense for most of us, though there may be some notable exceptions (e.g., some people need to satisfy their needs for self-esteem respect before they can enter a love relationship).We may so desire fulfilling a need that we sacrifice others below it. For example, a person with a passion for acting might sacrifice his or her hunger, which is one of physiological needs, to pursue a career in acting even though the payment is barely enough an d struggling to live while trying to make a name for themselves in the business.Maslow was interested in studying people who are psychologically healthy. These were people who had become self- commitd. He interviewed these people to see how they were able to satisfy all of the needs on the hierarchy. He conducted what he called a holistic analysis in which he sought-after(a) general impressions from his efforts to understand these people in depth.What are Self-Actualized People Like?They tend to accept themselves for what they are. They freely admit their weaknesses, but do make attempts to improve.They dont worry excessively over the mistakes they have made, but quite focus on improving.They respect feel good about themselves. However, this self love is healthy not narcissistic.They are less curb by cultural norms than the average person. They feel free to express their desires, even if contrary to the popular view. These people have frequent peak experiences, in which time pl ace are transcended, anxieties are lost, a unity of self with the universe is obtained (birth of a child, marriage, deciding to go to school).Humanistic Theory according to Carl RogersCarl Rogers was a central figure in the humanistic movement of temper psychology. He lived from 1902 public treasury 1987. In the span of his life, he was an instrumental figure in the understanding of the individual as a central point of the study of human potential. He believed that within each individual lies an innate desire and motivation to learn in order to progress to a higher level of achievement and self-development. both(prenominal) Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers micturate became popularly known in the mid-1980s as the human potential movement. This categorization of their work became the fundament where psychologists used their conceptual framework to study the impress on ones personality as well as in the field of education, among others. One of his famous quotes epitomized his conc eptual framework, The only person who is educated is the one who has acquire how to learn and change. This quotation reflected his theoretical conception that people must be able to create a learning curve that will enable them to change towards a new chapter in their self-development. According to Rogers (1951), people can be tuned to learn to unlock themselves from an environment that constricts their potential because of preconceived notions of how they should be.Rogers believed that people who are restricted by their perception of the environment in which they exist in have a debilitating case on how they may view their potential. However, if an individual is able to overcome the faulty perception(s) of the environment, and learn to acknowledge the potential to grow, then the individual may initiate steps as well as processes towards this end. Rogers strongly advocated that a growing individual is on where he or she is aware of a progress of ongoing internal change, and an acc eptance of oneself.Rogers further emphasized that individuals will inevitably experience positive development if they are subject to supportive environmental condition. By his understanding of supportive environmental condition, Rogers believed that social factors contribute to positive development. Rogers (1982), quoted by Pfaffenberger. A, 2007, p 508, emphatically stated that in his opinion, all humans will display compassion and cooperation if they are provided with the appropriate environmental supports. Therefore, Rogers was of the view that learning in a supportive environmental condition was crucial to the development of oneself.In a much later subject, Rogers (1982) also placed emphasis on growth-enhancing relationships that ease inner awareness and congruence which allowed motivation of effort towards a certain(prenominal) objective. Rogers postulated that relationships that provide for an awareness of oneself in differing situations can lead to personal growth. For e xample, if a child learns that he or she is nurtured in a warmth family and with acceptance (relationship factor), he or she is more adapted to see situational variables (such as studies, or skill based acquisition) as motivation towards achieving objectives. However, it is notable that this presumption of Rogers may be faulty because it is argued that situational variables can also work to the detriment of the individual. In contrast, Abraham Maslow (1968) explicitly acknowledged that difficult circumstances can also be growth-enhancing. more research had been conducted to investigate how growth-enhancing relationships and situational variables may trigger different affect. One of the more definitive studies was conducted by L. power (2001), (quoted by Pfaffenberger. A, 2007, p 510). In this study, King investigated the influence of challenging and limiting life events on personality development as measured by Loevingers (1976) SCT Sentence Completion Test. The study concluded that cognitive abilities and personality structures interact with life circumstances, and that the nature of this interaction is relevant to whether growth occurs (p, 511). This study also supports Rollo Mays (1958) theory of existential therapy, where clients are taught to constructively work with their limitations and to create freedom so that they can choose values, meanings, and their levels of commitment.Theoretical orientations of Rogers humanistic conceptThe humanistic orientation of Rogers theory can be essentially encapsulated using 2 (2) theories. The two (2) theories are the person-centred personality theory and the self-rule theory.Person-centred theoryFor almost fifty (50) years since his earlier publication of A Theory of Therapy, Personality and Interpersonal Relationships, developed under the Client-centred Framework, Rogers (1959), the person-centred movement and client-centred approach towards counselling and psycho-therapy are also generalized to other fields of knowledge. The crux of the person-centred personality theory is the assumption that human beings have an inbred intention towards growth, development, and optimal process.According to Rogers (1959), quoted by Patterson and Joseph, 2007, p 120, the person-centred approach offers a dynamic, process- focused account of personality development and functioning, What this substance is that, every human is born with an innate motivational drive, known as the actualizing tendency.Actualizing tendency is defined by Rogers (1959) as, the inherent tendency of the organism to develop all of its capacities in ways which serve to maintain or enhance the organismdevelopment towards autonomy and away from heteronomy, or control by external forces. (p 196) (Quoted by Patterson and Joseph, 2007, p 120)Every individual possesses some capacity that allows him or her to realize the inherent potential within. One of the key implications of Rogers actualizing tendency lies in how individuals undertake to bring out the potential. According to Rogers, the impact of the environmental conditions is a determining factor. Under favourable social-environmental conditions, Rogers proposed that the individuals self-concept effects in accordance with his or her organismic valuing process (OVP). The OVP refers to the evaluation of experiences in a manner consistent with ones intrinsic needs Rogers summed it by declaring that, the human babe is seen as having an inherent motivational system and a regulatory system (the valuing process) which by its feedback keeps the organism on the beam of satisfying his motivational needs. (Rogers, 1959, p 222).Even from young, every individual is keen to fulfil some of his or her intrinsic needs those that are not dependent on externalities or due to some(prenominal) prior learning. An example is how children recognize the importance of exploration whilst learning and/or playing. In the process, children discover more about themselves, about the envir onment, about others and about life in general. As children learn to correlate these experiences into their organization of self-concept, they begin to instil a sense of their OVP learning to evaluate the experiences based on their intrinsic needs.The concept of OVP is important to the central theme of Rogers theoretical framework. Important to Rogers understanding is his (1957) terminology of a fully functioning person an ideal of autonomous psychological functioning that occurs when self-actualization is organismically congruent. This concept is similar to Maslow (1970) and presupposes that individuals must firstly satisfy their most fundamental needs. In his later works, Rogers (1963 and 1964) proposed that the attitudes and behaviours of more fully functioning individuals are consistent with certain internally generated value managements. The value directions include moving toward increasingly socialized goals, where sensitivity to others and acceptance of others is positivel y valued and where deep relationships are positively valued, and moving in the direction of greater openness to experience, where the person comes to value an openness to all of his or her inner and outer experience ( Rogers, 1964, p 166).Rogers acknowledged that conditions or the social-environmental factors are not invariably ideal for the emergence of a fully functioning person. Situations like this give rise to a state of incongruence. There is a state of tension and internal confusion. When an unfavourable social environment is present, the actualizing tendency is thwarted, Rogers (1959). The actualizing tendency is compromised by the conditions of worth. Conditions of worth are conceptualized as the values that are introject by the individual from his or her social interactions and that stem from the developing infants need for positive regard from world-shaking others in his or her social environment. In this respect, if an infant receives positive regard that is conditiona l, then he or she learns to evaluate experiences according to whether or not they satisfy the externally imposed conditions. As the child develops, the conditions of worth are introjected, meaning that they act as an internalized social order and replacing organismic valuing as the pattern governing the individuals attitudes and behaviour.Self-Determination TheoryThis is a contemporary organismic theory formulated by Deci, E.L and Ryan, R. M, (1985, 1991, 2000) that focused on motivation and personality functioning that emphasizes the central rule of the individuals inner resources for personality development and behavioural self-regulation. This theory is similar to the person-centred theory in that self-determination theory views the individual as an active growth-oriented organism, attempting to actualize his or her potentialities within the environment in which he or she functions. A summary of the self-determination theory carries the checking elementsHuman beings are inheren tly proactive have potential to act on and superior both the inner forces and the external,Human beings, as self-organizing systems, have an inherent tendency toward growth, development, and integrated functioning,For people to actualize their inherent nature and potentials, people require nutrients from the social environment.Adapted from Deci and Vansteenkiste, 2004, pp 23-24, (quoted by Patterson and Joseph, 2007, p 124)In self-determination theory, one of the major sources of motivation and/or OVP is the recognition whether the behaviour is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Intrinsic motivation/regulation is equivalent to acting in accordance with OVP. At the alike(p) time, there are third (3) subcategories of extrinsic motivation that may account for extrinsic regulations.Perceived venue of causality/ Locus of evaluation describe the individuals perception as to whether the motivation is located internally or externally = person-centred construct of locus of evalua tion (Rogers, 1959),Basic needs/ Necessary and Sufficient conditions need for competence, relatedness, and autonomy essential for facilitating psychological growth and integration, social development, and personal well-being. Competence refers to our need to control outcomes, and to be efficacious in our environment, autonomy refers to the individuals attempts to be a self-determining agent of his or her own attitudes and behaviour, while relatedness describes the urge to be in relationship with others, caring for others, and being cared for by others. Self-determination theory hypothesized that, for the individual to experience an ongoing sense of integrity and well-being, each of these three basic needs must be met throughout the life-span. This hypothesis supports the contention that certain, social-environmental conditions nurture self-regulation based on organismic valuing and lead to a process of growth and change in the direction of healthy functioning and psychological well -being.Contingent Self-Esteem/Conditional Self-Regard refers to the influence of people viewed as real others (Deci Ryan, 1995 Ryan Brown, 2003). This is similar to the person-centred view of conditional self-regard.There exists a great amount of similarities between the person-centred and the self-determination theory. both(prenominal) theories postulate that the path to psychological well-being involves following an innate guidance mechanism. This understanding is important to the field of learning because each individual has a different subset of characteristics that may promote and/or hinder learning. In this respect, knowing what triggers effective learning, providing conducive environment, taking into account an individuals OVP, social factors, as well as structuring the programme are necessary to enhance the optimal level of learning. Humanistic theory proposed understanding humans as a state of being, a dynamic and ever-changing situation where each individual is seen as always striving to fulfil the potential within.APPLICATION IN EDUCATIONIn the field of education, humanistic theory grants educators important conceptual understanding about the role of learners. From Maslow and Rogers, educators have a better acuteness into the elements of learners modality and dimensions of absorption of knowledge and utilization of skills and abilities. In his paper, Humanistic Self-Instruction, the author, R. Craig Hogan (1978) suggested that instructors/educators should demonstrate their appreciation and value of the individual learners by viewing them as objects that have unique and specific needs. The negative implications of treating the learners as empty jars or neat slates is that many instructors/educators feel that learners are passive receivers only filling the learners as the instructors/educators wish. This negative implications are somber to warrant attention as instructors/educators may force learners to be receptive and have no arrangement whatsoever to consider his or her individuality and autonomy in learning.According to Chris Argyris, in his book, Intervention Theory and Method A Behavioural Science View, 1970, pp 15-16, we see them (learners) and they see themselves as autonomous, responsible individuals committed to the direction the intervention is taking, making free choices based on sufficient valid information about the means and ends.It is a common error that most instructors/educators as well as educational institutions assume that learners need to be instructed as to their learning. This assumption works on the premise that effective learning must follow certain syllabus, instructional method(s) and assessment grading. The education system in most countries is mostly rigid reinforced along the tried and tested formula of the existing structure of instructed teaching.In cases such as these, the schoolroom may contain students of varying levels of interest, self-management skill, independence versus depend ent minded, industrious versus sluggard and bright as well as lesser bright ones. The methodology of teaching would be uniform across all altogether are fed the aforesaid(prenominal) the same fare at the same rate in the same way. The classroom atmosphere suppresses individuality, autonomy, and freedom by stifling students initiative to manage their own learning at every level of responsibility. Self-directed learning is minimized (Hogan, 1978, pp 262-263)Combination of company contingencies and conjunct learning in adopting humanistic principlesThe conceptual understanding of group contingencies is that it is primarily derived from behavioural learning theory (Bandura, 1969). The theory hind end group contingencies is that a group is rewarded if it collectively meets some standard and the members of the group apply social sanctions to one another to encourage group members to do what is necessary to ensure that the group will be successful (Slavin 1987). Group contingencies a re also workable if the reward/sanction is used in tangent to the efforts of individual member of the group. This creates a situation where each individual makes him or herself liable and responsible for the success of the group. In this, the humanist tendencies are activated in each of the individual. joint learning refers to a set of instructional methods in which students are encouraged or required to work together on academic tasks. Cooperative learning methods may be as simple as having students sit together to discuss or help one another with classroom tasks. Rewards may be offered as in group contingencies but are not essential (Slavin, 1987, p 31).An aspect of cooperative learning that is vital is the element of equal interaction. The quality of the peer interaction determines the extent of the learning and the success of the completion of tasks. The effectiveness of cooperative learning is best seen in two (2) studies (Hulten DeVries, 1976 Slavin, 1980) which found that providing recognition to student teams based on the sum of their individual learning increased student achievement even if students were not permitted to interact in class. In the same vein, a German study, (Huber, Bogatzki, Winter, 1982) found that providing students an opportunity to study together did not increase their achievement, but adding group rewards based on individual learning did lead to enhanced achievement. (Slavin, 1987, p 33)Therefore, the researches listed above clearly supports the position that cooperative reward structures, or group contingencies, based on individual learning of group members are necessary for the success of these methods in improving student achievement. Peer interaction is also found to be important to the success of cooperative strategies. Webb, (1985), Peterson Janicki, (1979)Students are motivated to engage in elaborated, cognitively involving explanations and discussions if the learning of their group mates is made important by the provi sion of group rewards based on individual learning performances (Slavin, 1983).One of the important findings of Slavins study has found positive effects of cooperative learning non race relations, attitudes, self-esteem and other non-academic outcomes (1983). Humanistic understanding of education is not specifically confined to the individual per se but rather emphasizes on how learners/students are able to gain the right concept of themselves and pursue towards growth. In this, cooperative learning has a major role if the outcomes point to similar outcomes.Humanistic theory and learning in Adult EducationHumanistic application is most seen in adult learning. For most adults, the adage of more is caught than taught is true. According to a paper presentation by Jackson, Sanetta. George, Cooks, Alyce Hackney, Darwyn Stevens, Claude and Zumwait, Dave, (2002), this adage refers to the informal and incidental learning that takes place on a daily basis and in most situations. In these sit uations, the learning revolves around human relationships. It is common knowledge that the psychological learning environment of adults and non-adults are significantly different. By virtue of adults king to make decisions regarding their personal growth and development especially in learning, humanistic theory provides for a deeper insight into understanding the psychological learning environment of adults. The psychological learning environment is defined as creating a climate in which both learners and teachers are able to engage in genuine exchange. (Jackson, et.al) For teachers, this means that learners need to feel a sense of welcome and at ease, attending to the fears and doubts that adult