Analysis of the Maslow Pyramid Concept - Essay Example

?Does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Feature in a Primary School Teacher’s Considerations with Regards to their Pupils? Introduction The way in which humans develop has been the subject of psychological research for many decades. Many theories and approaches examine this with differing, often contrasting views as to what the drivers and important factors are. Knowing how children develop is important for assisting growth and learning, especially in the situation where the child is having difficulties. The way that children grow and learn can have a significant effect on their adult lives. Childhoods that are highly stressful or where many needs are not met can often result in the individual having problems in later life, such as the inability to interact well with others and the lack of interest and ability to learn. This essay will examine the theory of humanism in child development with relation to learning and education. Humanism was first developed in the 1960s by prominent authors Maslow and Rogers. Many aspects of this approach are still relevant today. In particular, this essay will consider Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as well as whether this is followed in practice and what criticism and contrasting theories exist. This theory has been applied in many different applications since its development and continues to be well used into the present day. Theories of Development There are a number of different theories that examine the way in which children learn and develop in educational environments . Prominent among these are behaviourism, constructivism, cognitivism, theories of social interaction and humanistic theories. Behavioural theory is determinalistic, and believes that the learner is a passive entity that responds solely to changes in environmental stimuli. Under constructivism, learning is viewed as an active process while cognitive theories do not consider learning to be a change in behaviour, but rather a process through which new information is acquired . Humanism is an approach to learning and education that has been present since the 1960s. It was developed as a contrast to approaches such as behaviourism and cognitivism, both of which are heavily determinalistic. Humanists believe that the way in which an individual behaves is related to who they are internally, their feelings and concept of self. The approach assumes that humans are essentially good, and that growth and fulfilment are a predominant human motive. Humanism has resulted in many scientific advances in the understanding of human behaviour, and in particular, advances in professional practice . Humanism was initially developed for education by two prominent authors in the 1960’s and subsequently became an established movement within American psychology. These authors were Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow and their views are thought to be relevant in education today. It has been argued that the current problems experienced in education are largely related to a failure to address the concerns that the authors raised . Rogers argues that in the present time traditional schooling methods are failing as people need a higher level of expertise in today’s world than was needed in the past, and there is a greater need to understand how and why something occurs than ever before. He focuses on the idea of person-centred learning, where the process of learning is the most important factor and the outcome is secondary. At the time of writing, more than 95 percent of activities within schools were selected by teachers, and Rogers considers that students having input in the activities that are undertaken is an essential component of effective learning. . The idea of person-centred learning that Rogers forwarded has become an effective approach in psychotherapy and counselling and is used frequently in modern times. However, his approach has not been widely adopted in schools. Maslow forwarded the idea that human motivation is the result of people seeking to grow and looking for fulfilment or self-actualisation. He produced a pyramid which described a five-step hierarchy of needs ranging from basic to higher needs. Once one level was fulfilled, the individual would move up to the next level of needs. The lowest level of needs that Maslow recognises are physiological needs. These are often considered the staples to human life: food, shelter, water and warmth, without these it is not possible for an individual to survive for very long. The second level of needs is security, which consists of a stable environment, freedom from fear and security. The next level is that of belonging, and involves having affection and people that care for the individual. This includes factors such as affection, relationships, friendships, family and workgroups. The fourth level is self-esteem, this involves independence, mastery of skills, being recognised, achieving and having responsibility. The final level is self-actualisation, which involves the individual realising their own potential, achieving self-fulfilment and high personal growth . These five needs can be broken down into three categories. The first two levels are basic needs, the next two are psychological needs and the last level is self-fulfilment needs. The five-step hierarchy is one of Maslow’s most enduring legacies; however, he revised the theory later in life to include a total of six needs. Under this model, the final level is self-transcendence, where an individual works to further a cause that is exterior to his or herself. This can include devotion and passion towards an ideal such as art or a cause, such as science or a faith . Under both versions of Maslow’s theory, as a person develops they move from the most basic needs to more complex ones. Maslow’s Theory in Practice A wide range of different applications have used the hierarchy of needs that Maslow developed, and many studies continue to focus on this as a reliable means of obtaining results. These include evaluations of customer needs and behaviour, evaluations of business management and considerations of why some students behave poorly in academic environments and others do well. In the academic environment, Maslow’s theory can help to explain why many children find it difficult to achieve academically or psychologically within the traditional classroom environment. Currently, there is a high level of apathy occurring within classrooms, with many students having little to no interest in learning and being passive at best or disruptive as a consequence. It has been hypothesised that the students ability to meet the demands of education may be directly related to whether their needs are being met . Students who have many unmet needs can suffer as a consequence, and effective teaching should look at meeting these needs. One approach to this idea that is currently being suggested is using Maslow’s needs to define an approach to e-learning that facilitates the formation of relationships between users as well has having educational content. Research has suggested that the use of Web 2.0 or 1.0 websites may not be sufficient for meeting the interpersonal needs and that in the future, the use of Web virtual reality (VR) may be more beneficial. Web VR has a number of advantages, including fostering motivation and achievement in learning, people encountering Web VR use many similar mental processes that they do in the real world and it can be adapted to almost any type of educational course. Maslow’s theory is incorporated based on the idea that each person who uses the network has different needs, and web platforms vary in their ability to offer solutions to these needs . The use of e-learning and a Web VR system is an approach that looks at going beyond what is available in traditional education environments to provide a more effective way of meeting the needs of the students. Primary education is a form of education that is given in an institution, such as a school, for children aged between 6 and 11 years of age. The primary level is important, as all subsequent education is build of this, thus a child that does not succeed at primary school is likely to continue to fail throughout their school career. There are a number of distinct goals of primary education including the development of character, the laying of a basis for thinking both scientifically and reflectively, provide basic tools for later in life and to help the child to develop the ability to cope with change . Because of this, it is important to develop effective means of education at the primary school level, and understanding theories of child development is an important means of achieving effective education. Despite how widely applicable Maslow’s theory is there are few examples of it being used to influence decision making at the primary school level. At higher levels, there are more examples of it being used such as in nursing schools and in tertiary education. . As the studies above have indicated, in practice implementing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs within primary schools would involve teaches being aware of the different types of needs of students and taking steps to implement them. The first two steps, the basic needs, are relatively easily provided in a school environment. Students that do not have these generally already receive assistance, such as through social work interventions. The third and fourth steps that Maslow proposes are not generally addressed in the school environment. For example, the third step focuses on the need of the individual to feel like they belong and to feel loved. This includes friendships, relationships with parents and other such factors. Children who do not feel this often misbehave, do not respond well to authority and may not be interested in learning or being involved in school activities. Esteem needs (the fourth step) are also important as children can often develop low opinions of themselves during schooling for a number of reasons, and these opinions frequently extend into adulthood and can be difficult to get rid of. Humanistic theories in general, including Maslow’s work, are not without their limitations. One issue that arises is that the predictions and observations are mostly subjective, and it is difficult to produce objective measures. Because of this, applying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in schools can be difficult, and is more based on individual observation and determination than widely applicable principles. Another factor that plays an important role is that humanistic theories ignore any deterministic effects including the subconscious and the chemical. This means that they do not take into account the effect that hormones can have on a child’s behaviour or ability to learn, and likewise do not consider inherent predispositions. Maslow’s theory also does not consider how the priority of needs may change between different groups, such as different genders, races or in people with mental disorders. Indeed, his theory is strongly biased towards the Western world and culture, and his predictions are not as relevant for people who do not fall into this sphere. Conclusion Developed in the 1960’s, humanistic theories continue to have a significant impact on current research in a wide range of fields, including education. Of particular importance is the work of Maslow, who was one of the predominant authors during the development of the field. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs focuses on five (or six) groups of needs, moving from the basic human needs to psychological needs and finally needs of self-fulfilment. These needs have tremendous potential to be used in the education environment in the determination of why some students perform well and others do not. Maslow, and other authors, believe that if schools focused more on meeting these needs, then student success and interest would significantly increase. While there have been some studies examining Maslow’s theory in relation to secondary and tertiary education, there have been few to no studies that have looked at this in terms of primary school education. Furthermore, schools do not focus on the meeting of these needs, but instead use more traditional methods, which are ineffective for a large number of students. Consequently, although Maslow’s theory is used successfully in many areas and industries and has substantial potential within the educational field, it tends to be ignored and underused. Significant advances in the effectiveness of education could be seen if this theory was applied more often. References Read More