Literary Review

Addressing Our Needs: Maslow Comes to Life for Educators and Students

by Lori Desautels

Published n Edutopia on February 6, 2014

Meghan Rotkosky

National University

TED 690: Masters Capstone

 Abstract

Authors: Dr. Lori Desautels

Title: Addressing Our Needs: Maslow Comes to Life for Educators and Students

Publisher: Edutopia

Year: 2014

Reviewed By: Meghan Rotkosky, National University, TED 690

This online article provides information on Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and the

ways in which teachers and students can meet those needs in the classroom. The author

gives many examples of what it means to meet those needs and suggestions on ways to

reflect upon the needs themselves. This article can be used in any classroom and for any

grade level with a small amount of augmentation and the want to create an environment

where student needs are met with the same passion and enthusiasm as content standards.
 Literary Review

The article begins with an introduction into Maslows Hierarchy, created by

Abraham Maslow, that detail the needs that must be met in order for students and

individuals to be satisfied, and therefore, in the case of students, able to learn. The

hierarchy is depicted as a pyramid with five levels: physiological, safety, love/belonging,

esteem, and self-actualization. The author suggests that all classrooms should have this

pyramid showcased on the wall so students and educators can place pins and post-its on

the varying tiers based on their own feels, behaviors, and needs, (Desautels, 2014).

The article moves on to catalogue the importance of each tier and give examples

of ways that teachers can address that particular need in the classroom. Suggestions

include providing water breaks, food, and music for ambiance in the first tier of

physiological needs. This tier is the basic elements that all people need in order to

survive. Basic food, water, breathing, etc. As the tiers progress, the needs become much

more complex and the challenges of meeting these needs become more difficult in the

classroom.

For example, in tier 3 (love/belonging) the author prompts us to ask ourselves

how do I handle negative situations? When these situations occur, what do I typically

say to myself? (Desautels, 2014). This is much more complex that ensuring that there is

food and water in the classroom so that students stay focused and on task. As the tiers

progress to the final level of self-actualization, the energy needed to meet these needs

increases and the opportunities to meet these needs in the classroom becomes more and

more challenging. Desautels asks in tier five what is m purpose in life? (2014). Thats a

heavy question to ask an adult, let alone a teenager or junior high student in the context of
a science class and science content. But each of these levels provides some way to get

students to understand more about themselves and more about what they need as

individuals to grow and learn.

Reading about Maslows hierarchy and having it defined in the context of how I

would integrate meeting these needs in my own classroom, I started to imagine ways to

meet the last two levels of the hierarchy: esteem and self-actualization. Self-esteem is a

difficult concept for all social humans but there are ways in which these needs can be met

in the classroom. I would take Desautels suggestion of having students help to create

content for quizzes and assignments and utilize that in my classroom. I think its a

brilliant idea to have students provide information on what they believe is the most

important content in a unit. For tier five, self-actualization, I would incorporate some type

of activity or assignment that meets the needs of not just the students or their learning

objectives, but also the world around us. The first thing that comes to mind is a beach

clean-up field trip or assignment. This would satisfy the students needs to do something

that serves others and not just themselves.

In all, this article was interesting. While it was definitely brief, it was full of

information on each of Maslows Hierarchy tiers and provided great examples of how to

meet students needs in the classroom. I will definitely consider following Desautels

advice and hang an image of the pyramid of needs up on my classroom wall. Perhaps

providing student with guidelines for their needs and ways to fulfill them I will be able to

not only teach them meaningful content but make their time in my classroom feel

meaningful as well.
Reference:

Edutopia. Addressing Our Needs: Maslow Comes to Life for Educators and Students.

February 6, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/addressing-our-needs-

maslow-hierarchy-lori-desautels