Humanism

HUMANISM

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Focus of Humanism

• Focus placed on the affective dimension of the learning process

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View of Learning

• Cognitive skills must be developed within the context of the learner’s feelings, needs and emotions

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View of Learning

• Education is the development of the whole person not merely the transmission of knowledge and skills

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Erik Erikson

• Identified 8 predetermined stages in human psychological development, each with its particular challenges.

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Erikson’s Stages

• Each stage deals with thoughts, emotions, feelings that must be handled appropriately to facilitate a person’s learning

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• Challenges well handled – moves smoothly to the next stage, in a strong position to deal with the challenges there

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Dealing with the Challenges

• Challenges well handled – moves smoothly to the next stage, in a strong position to deal with the challenges there

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Dealing with the Challeges

• Challenges inadequately handled – will constantly reappear throughout the person’s life, hindering his being able to deal appropriately with subsequent stages and their challenges

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Competence, Fidelity

• Challenge (Adolescence) – search for personal identity

• Successfully handled – develops a strong sense of self-identity / self acceptance, less susceptible to peer pressure, has high hopes for the future

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• Inadequately handled – role confusion, anti-social behaviour, aimlessness, no fixed goals towards which to aspire

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Implications for learning

• Encourage learners to think for themselves, come to conclusions, to express themselves in constructive ways

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Bases of Maslow's theory

• Human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs

• Certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be addressed.

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Abraham Maslow

• Follow the link for an illustration of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and some related factors

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Deficiency needs

• Psychological, biological needs. If these are not satisfied or fulfillment is disrupted the higher order needs cannot be met

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Being Needs

• Personal fulfillment in terms of cognitive and aesthetic development and the realization of one’s full potential

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Revised Structure

– Self actualization– Aesthetic needs– Cognitive needs

– Need for self-esteem– Need for interpersonal closeness– Need for safety / security /

belonging– Basic biological needs

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Implications for the Classroom

• Learners may experience difficulties in learning because basic needs are not catered for either at home or at school

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Implications

• Importance of establishing a secure environment where learners feel that they belong, receive / give respect, encouraged to be creative

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Implications

• Should be able to experience a sense of freedom with a counterbalancing sense of responsibility

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Implications

• Activities should be challenging, encourage curiosity, structured to facilitate the development of critical thinking skills, to help learners realize their potential

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Application

• Maintain a low affective filter

• Cater for psychological elements – feelings, emotions. Treat errors tactfully

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Application

• Design purposeful tasks

• Encourage creativity and initiative

• Enable learners to develop as individuals in their own right

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Social Interactionism

• Combination of Cognitive and Humanist perspectives of learning processes

• Cognitive, social and emotional development inextricably linked in the learning process

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• Focus placed on the importance of the learning context (climate, environment) and the nature of social and communicative interaction in the classroom

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Domains of the Learning Environment / Context

• Physical – physical aspects of the classroom

• Social – competitive, cooperative, individualistic

• Instructional – selection of content, materials, methods, teaching and assessment strategies

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• Psychological – concerns the creation and maintenance of a positive and warm classroom environment which supports learning and the development of confidence and self-esteem. Learners are willing – to use the language, to learn from

mistakes

– try out new ways to express meanings

– make mistakes without feqr

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Lev Vygotsky

• Children are born into a social world and learning occurs through interaction with people

• Supports a communicative approach to language teaching – learning the language through using the language for meaningful communication

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• Effective learning results from the interaction between two persons with different levels of knowledge – teacher or more competent peer / learner

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SUMMARY

• Learning is a complex process with cognitive, affective and social dimensions. It is linked with feelings, attitudes and self-concepts

• Learning cannot take place in a vacuum. Physical and psychological conditions must support learning

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• Learning is influenced by the context in which it occurs (physical, psychological, social, learning task)

• Learning differs from individual to individual

• Learning is a lifelong process

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Forms of Learning

• A quantitative increase in knowledge

• Rote learning, memorization

• Acquisition of facts and procedures to be retained and / or applied

• Abstraction of meaning

• Interpretive process

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Factors affecting Learning

LEARNING

CognitiveDimension

Affective Dimension

Piaget, Bloom, AusubelLearning styles

Psychological Factors - emotions, attitudes, motivation

Phys and soc aspects of the learning env,C/room culture