Humanistic Psychology Study

By: Mary Anne Winslow
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:26:58
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The main focus of Humanistic psychology study is based on conscious consciousness, morals and theoretical thinking. These include the spiritual experiences and the beliefs that people live by. Emerging in the 1950's and 1960's, humanism is about rewarding yourself, and places great importance on the individual and their own individuality. Personality depends on what people believe and how they perceive the world and a major factor in this learning theory is that people are seen as freely exercising choice over how to behave. They are the architects of their own lives and 'personal agents' in their own psychological growth.

There are many objectives of the humanistic view of education, as described by Gage and Berliner. These include a promotion of positive self-direction and independence, the ability to take responsibility for what is learned, an emphasis on student centered teaching, and the development of social skills and respect for students feelings and aspirations, thus allowing them the right to self-determination. Feelings are as important as facts and the current and future welfare of students is foremost. In order to develop these objectives certain principles must be in place. Students will learn best what they want and need to know. Self directed learning increases knowledge. Rogers says that self directed learning in schools increases curiosity, encourages students to take responsibility for their own development and promotes personal and academic growth. However, knowing how to learn is more important than acquiring a lot of knowledge and self-evaluation is the only meaningful judgment of a student's work. The worth and rights of individuals needs to be respected and there has to be openness, honesty and selflessness in order for trust to be gained.

Humanistic psychology is sometimes referred to as the 'Third Force' in psychology. As mentioned earlier, it is often said that this was a backlash against the Behaviorist emphasis on scientific method, which was seen as losing sight of the human being. Scientific method is largely inappropriate for studying human experience, or at least, it does not go far enough. As the name suggests, Humanistic psychology focuses on the subjective experience of living rather than observable behavior.

There are a number of theories, which qualify as being Humanistic, two of the best known being those of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rogers became probably the most influential of humanistic psychologists. He said that human nature is basically good and that people have a natural drive towards Self-Actualization, meaning the achievement of their full potential. This is the fundamental incentive behind the development of personality.

To promote human welfare, Rogers maintains that people should relate to one another with an 'unconditional positive regard', which is the complete acceptance of another person as he or she is, much like the love of a parent for a child.

Abraham Maslow, another founder of humanistic psychology, proposed that people have a hierarchy of needs. The highest of these being self-actualization.

Although we are not fully aware of these needs, they are rather like mental vitamins and if we are denied them, we can never be fully mentally healthy. He observed that if we are lacking in any of these needs, then difficult behavior is often the result. If the needs are met, then mentally healthy behavior is the outcome. A child learns, according to Maslow because he or she is inwardly driven and gains reward from a sense of achievement that learning something difficult provides. He also said that learning is not an end in itself but the means to progress towards the height of self-development, which he terms 'self actualization'. After the basic needs of physical survival and safety, Maslow places the needs of belonging and love. The next highest group of needs is covered by the term 'esteem', and at the top of the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization (man's desire for self-fulfillment).

Beginning at an early age, children evaluate themselves and their own actions. They learn that what they do is sometimes good and sometimes bad. They develop a self-concept, an image of what they really are, and an ideal self, an image of what they would like to be. The primary focus of humanistic education is placed on the development of the whole child placing a major emphasis on the regulatory and the affective/emotional system. Huitt described this in his systems model of human behavior.

Humanism concentrates upon the development of the child's self-concept. It is important for a child to feel good about itself, and this involves them understanding their own strengths and weaknesses and having a belief in their ability to improve. The humanistic approach states that education is about creating a need within the child and instilling self-motivation.

Because a child's behavior is continuously being evaluated by parents and others, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, he soon learns to distinguish between those thoughts and actions that are considered good and those that are not. The poor experiences become excluded from the self-concept, even though they may be quite valid or natural and the good ones remain.

Obviously there must be certain restrictions on behavior and Rogers suggests that the best approach is for the parents to recognize children's feelings as valid, while explaining any reasons for restraint. With children, a high priority is placed on the development of their personal growth and a sense of respect for oneself and other. They need to be are taught to recognize their responsibility to the community. A child's growth in these areas prepares them for continued success in future academic, personal and social situations.

Humanistic schools believe that emotional factors, personal growth and development are of the highest values. They argue that these are ignored in a society, which is unduly materialistic, objective and mechanistic. Humanistic psychologists believe that society, schools and colleges exist to meet the needs of the individual learner and not the other way around. They believe that learners should be allowed to pursue their own interests and talents in order to develop themselves as fully as possible in

their own unique direction. Rogers said that 'no-one should ever try to learn something for which he sees no relevance' and that learning should be its own reward. The main principles suggested by humanistic psychologists have been highly influential, especially in adult education and training. A humanistic teacher aims for good things and the approaches are highly dependent on the capabilities of the teacher.

There are a variety of ways in which teachers can implement the humanistic view towards education. Some of these include allowing students to have a choice in the selection of tasks and activities whenever possible and helping them to set realistic goals for themselves. It is important to have students participating in group work, in order to develop social and affective skills. Teachers need to act more as facilitators in the classroom and available when appropriate and they need to be role models constantly working on themselves to become better people. This is often known as 'Open education'.

The humanistic curriculum is based on establishing productive social and working relationships with others. It is a part of everything the child does within the school setting. The expectations and consequences are age appropriate. Just as the academic curriculum responds to the developing cognitive skills of the children so too does the social curriculum. It encourages growth in responsibility, independence and decision making. Children are allowed and actually encouraged to make choices and accept the consequences for their actions, and mistakes are treated as opportunities for learning. The children learn to care about themselves and others and to value the quality of their work. By placing emphasis on the positive, a classroom environment is created whereby children are encouraged and become self-reliant. They care about doing their best and value the quality of their work. The emphasis is on co-operation and not competition and this has a positive effect on classroom behavior whilst also improving academic learning. Skills such as listening, decision making and problem solving all need to be discussed, modeled and practiced in order for children to be successful in their groups.

A large commitment of time is required to implement the social curriculum. Learning

social skills and nurturing moral growth is a developmental process. The development of interpersonal skills is also taught in order for children to recognize the feelings of others and deal with hurt and misunderstanding through the use of language. Opportunities are provided for children to develop and to be taught listening, communication and leadership skills and opportunities are provided for teamwork. Children are assisted to become conscious of their own feelings and they are helped to develop a vocabulary with which to express these feelings. This then has the effect of making them become self-confident, focused and independent.

The Montessori school uses humanistic learning theories to teach pupils, promoting knowledge, beauty and fulfillment.

Dr Maria Montessori was the founder of these schools and many of her ideas have now been adapted into 'mainstream' education. The Montessori school was founded in 1965 and its education encourages intellectual, social, physical, creative and moral development, preparing students for academic excellence, and responsible, caring lives. A child attending these schools will be exposed to methods of teaching, which promote the development of the whole child, facilitating the growth of the inner discipline and cultivating the child's own natural joy in learning. Montessori takes advantage of each child's unique sensitivities and offers exercises in language development, sensorimotor development, reading, mathematics, physical and natural sciences, geography and cultural studies, music, art, drama and body movements. These are all activities used in practical life. The materials and activities are designed to help the child to progress at their own rate. Young children do not have to join in on group activities if they do not wish, as they have a right to keep working at their own exercises. They may also observe instead of joining in if they wish but must not interfere or become disruptive. They are not forced to share with another child if they wish to work by themselves. As mentioned earlier, many of the ideas of Maria Montessori have been adapted and are used in 'mainstream' schools but not without their problems. Children are still compelled to attend and there are still rules to abide by. There is little choice in the curriculum content, and the sharing of teacher's time and resources with other students' could cause problems for children with differing

abilities and experience. Also pupils have to put up with an instructional tempo that is often either too fast or too slow.

Humanistic learning styles are all based on intrinsic learning principles. Intrinsic learning is learning that fructifies in self-actualization or growing to full humanness. Intrinsic learning is learning to be a person. In opposition, must of classroom teaching is of the extrinsic variety. Pleasing the teacher or aiming for certain grades. Once rewards terminate then learning ceases. In intrinsic learning, learning continues despite the presence or absence of external rewards because growth towards psychological health and the satisfaction gained from self actualization is an intrinsic reward.

In concluding, I can only say that the purpose of humanistic education is to provide a foundation for personal growth and development so that learning will continue throughout life in a self directed manner

I have discussed the theoretical approach of humanism and have evaluated its principles, assumptions and methods used for teaching child learners. I have brought in the contributions of two individual theorists, Maslow and Rogers and have discussed their work.

Rogers developed client centered therapy putting the client and facilitator on a more equal footing and Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs giving us ideas about personal growth.

Humanism for the individual means that we must accept responsibility for our own lives and that we should enjoy life to the full in ways that respect the well being of others.

Humanistic psychology has given us a new, global model of human behavior that is refreshingly different from the dominant deterministic approaches of behaviorism and psychoanalysis.

We can see the self-initiated learning is the most lasting and pervasive. We can also see that significant learning takes place when the subject matter is relevant to the personal interests of the student.

Humanistic techniques have wide applications after schooling and a good, solid foundation in an educational setting will provide a basis for the future when in the workplace, personal relationships and in further education. Humanism has helped us to a better understanding of such diverse things as how people experience joy or face

death, and with children, has developed self confident, focused and independent learners who continue to learn in a self directed manner, following their own intrinsic interests growing to their full potential.

Article source: Expert Articles