Basic Postulates

■ Humans are inherently good.

■ Humans are active as well as reactive.
■ Human are more than the sum of their parts.
■ Human existence takes place in a uniquely human
context (separate from animals).
■ Human are always aware of being aware (conscious,
awareness of self and others).
■ Human behavior is determined by an individual’s
perceptions of self (self-concept).
■ For behavior to change, self perceptions must change.
■ Humans have free will and responsibility.
■ Humans are intentional and aim for goals.
What is Humanism?
■ Dignity ■ Motivating
■ Rational ■ Affirmative
■ Truth Seeking ■ Celebratory
■ Goodness ■ Holistic
■ More than sum
of parts
■ Human
Potential
■ Self-
Actualization ■ Growth
■ Hopeful ■ Openness
■ Enlightenment
 HUMANISM

Develop the innate potential of every

person. Let each become all s/he is
capable of becoming.

Help each individual to self-actualize.

Within every person is an
active will towards health,
growth, and the actualization
of human potential.
Carol Tribe
ABRAHAM MASLOW

5
 Maslow’s Philosophy
■ To understand humans, you must understand their
highest aspirations.
■ Human study must be humanistic & holistic
■ Human values are intrinsically good & desirable.
■ Personality problems are loud protests against the
‘crushing of psychological bones’.
■ Self-actualizing people can live more freely in the
realm of being.
■ A democratic environment is essential to reach
potential
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
B
E Aesthetic
I
N • Self Actualizing Needs
G intellectual

• Esteem Needs
D
E • Love and Belonging Needs
P
R
I • Safety Needs
V
A • consistency and predictability
T • physical safety
I
O
N • Physiological Needs
 NEEDS DEPRIVATION
The LESS a need is deprived when it first
emerges, the BETTER a person is able to
tolerate a subsequent deprivation of that need.

THEREFORE
• If you want people to be able to tolerate food
deprivation, be certain that they never are hungry

• If you want people to be able to tolerate

danger, be certain they always feel safe.
 Following this logic, we can
conclude:
■ If you want people to be able to tolerate
frustration, don’t frustrate them.
■ If you want people to be able to tolerate
failure, be certain they succeed often.
■ If you want people to be able to tolerate
humiliation, be certain you are constantly
supportive of and caring toward them.
 EMOTIONAL HEALTH
■ Maslow's theory deals with emotions, not
cognition. But he does strongly maintain that
proper emotional development is crucial to
curiosity and to creative thinking.

■ Emotional well being is the key to thinking

and to proper learning.

■ One knows nothing from behavior. We have

to understand the underlying need that
motivated the behavior. A given stage can
give rise to many different behaviors.
Likewise, a given behavior can be indicative
of many different stages.
 What Shoul d Edu cat ors Be
Tryi ng to Achi eve?

Em otio nal health is th e g oal of

humanis tic e ducatio n. Ed ucation
should b e n urtu rin g. The r ole of t he
teacher i s to be a fa cili tator— to help
the c hil d p ursue h er/h is own
inte re sts. Ea ch c hil d i s u niq ue, a nd
educational g oals fo r e ach child
must b e u niq ue.

•
The Goals of Humanistic Education
• Giving students Choice, not Controlling them
• Providing an Open not a Closed classroom
• Students are viewed as being Active, not Passive
• Self evaluation not teacher provided grades
• Facilitating vs. Teaching Facts
•. Principles vs. Facts
• Discovery vs. Acquisition
• Cooperation vs. Competition
• Creativity vs. Conventionality
• Personal Integrity vs. Beating the System
 HIERARCHY and SEQUENCE
What Is a Hierarchy?
You must successfully complete (resolve,
equilibrate) one stage before you go to
the next.
How Is Hierarchy Related To Sequence?
All hierarchical theories are sequential,
but not all sequential theories are
hierarchical.
 POTENCY of NEEDS

The needs are INNATE, but they are not of

equal potency (strength). They are arranged in
a hierarchy of potency.

AN INDIVIDUAL IS MOTIVATED BY HER/HIS

MOST POTENT
UNSATISFIED NEED
THE NEEDS ARE UNIVERSAL

BUT
CULTURE OFTEN DETERMINES
HOW THE NEEDS ARE SATISFIED