Hierarchy of Needs - Essay Example

Hierarchy of Needs Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs “describes the stages of human development through which each of us passes on the way to becoming fully functioning, responsible adults ultimately moving toward the pinnacle of achievement attained by humans” (Minton, 2008). If one wishes to have a successful school outreach program, one must take into consideration that students, like any other human being follows Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. No child can benefit from schooling experience if his basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter are not met.

Survival is of utmost importance. Why would parents want to send their children to school if they cannot even provide them the nourishment that will give them the energy to travel to school, study their lessons and do their homework? It would be impossible for a child to pay close attention to what the teacher is saying if he is hungry because he did not have anything to eat for breakfast. It would be unimaginable for a child to concentrate on his lessons if he lacks sleep because he slept on the streets the night before.

A child must first have nourishing food, a comfortable home and the feeling of being safe before he can be ready to be educated at school (Minton, 2008). Otherwise, schools will just have to expect that either these students will voluntarily drop out from school or they will fail in their academic performance. Indeed, the physiological needs must be fulfilled first before the higher level needs of self-esteem and self-actualization can be realized. Schools which understand the imperative of taking care of the basic needs as step one of any school to parent outreach program implement free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs to help deprived students (Martin & Joomis, 2007).

These schools provide guidance and counseling to the poor students to determine their needs and how they can be met. They make sure that these students are not discriminated upon and that they should feel a sense of belonging in the school. The teachers show sensitivity to these students behavior and try to help them develop positive feelings about themselves (Martin & Joomis, 2007). It is therefore important that to have an effective outreach program that aims to educate children of poor families, the low level needs of these individuals must first be addressed before they can be expected to be motivated to attend school.

ReferencesMartin, D., & Joomis, K. (2007). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. In D. Martin, & K. Joomis, Building Teachers: A Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education (pp. 72-75). CA: Wadsworth.Minton, B. L. (2008, September 15). Maslows Hierarchy of Needs explains why some children fail . Retrieved May 28, 2012, from Natural News.com: http://www.naturalnews.com/024190_child_children_WHO.html