Using the Humanistic Approach to Learning

There are different theories that explore the different ways in which we learn. However, there is not a set way that anyone learns. Moreover, there is a mix of different theories in which everyone learns. In this essay, using the humanistic approach to learning, I will explain how being motivated through grades, feedback, and pay has helped me and how it can be used in educational practice today.

Humanism is “a paradigm that developed in the 1960s and it focuses on human freedom, dignity, and potential” (David, 2015). It was developed by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Learning is student-centered and personalized. It will help students to learn what is best for them and what they need to know. According to DeCarvalho (1991), the purpose of learning is to provide support for individual maturity and improvement so that learning will continue throughout life in a free will manner. Humanists believe that it is important to study the person as a whole, especially as they grow and develop over a lifespan. A central assumption of humanism is that humans act out deliberately and in line with their morals. Huit (2009) stated that the main focus of humanistic education is on the regulatory and emotional system. These aspects are most times overlooked in the education system today. There are 5 main objects of the humanistic view of education: to promote and develop positive self-direction and independence, to develop the ability to take responsibility for what is learned, to promote and develop creativity, and to promote and develop curiosity.

Gage and Berliner (1991) states that motivation is an essential part of encouraging people to do better and making sure that things are getting done. Herzberg's two-factor theory determined that there were positive and negative feelings about work that impacted the satisfaction and level of employee motivation (Bernadette van Rijn et al., 2013). The two factors are the motivator factors and hygiene factors. Motivational factors are the factors that lead to the satisfaction of the employees and the hygiene factors are factors that cause dissatisfaction among workers.

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, there are different needs that must be fulfilled for a worker to be satisfied. In the order of most basic to more significant, they are physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. The first 4 needs are known as deficiency needs, meaning that if they are unmet, then a person is demotivated, while the last one is known as growth or being needs, meaning that they will grow stronger once they have started to be worked towards. In classrooms, if students’ physiological needs are not met, they will not be able to engage or do anything. This will also negatively affect their esteem and make them feel a less sense of belonging in their classes. However, some people may argue that the order of the hierarchy is not correct because you could be with your friends and be hungry and still be happy. There are also some biases that can be identified about Maslow's hierarchy. It was based on highly educated, white males, it was only tested on a small sample of people, and their characteristics were the only thing examined. There are also people who lived in poverty, but were able to become very successful later on in life. For example, a lot of painters, artists did not grow up in rich environments, but were still able to become important and noticed. Another criticism is that does there need to be such a thing as a hierarchy in order for us to reach self-actualization, and that people are different, so while what one person could feel is being self-actualized, another may perceive it as something else. An essential part of this theory is a person's confidence and determination to achieve goals and targets. Maslow also stated that a person is always changing and never static, meaning that their goals, lives, and personalities will not be the same forever, and as they grow or mature, their perspectives will change.

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Relating this to my educational practice, there are some subjects that were given in high school that I had no interest in, but they were compulsory subjects so I had to do them. In order to pass the class and move on to the next grade, I needed to pass the subject. When it came time for tests or exams, I would only study to pass the exam, not to retain the information for the benefit of my future. According to the humanistic approach of learning, significant learning only takes place when the individual can see that the subject matter is directly relevant to them. This shows that many learners most likely cannot remember most of the things they learn and it is mostly just to pass the subject.

There are some criticisms that could be brought out of the humanistic approach of learning. Compared to the other approaches, there are a limited contributions that humanism has to areas such as therapy, personality and motivation. This is due to the fact that humanism embraces a non-scientific approach to studying humans. They saw it as dehumanizing and incapable of capturing the importance of conscious experience. Humanists have a belief in free will compared to the deterministic of other approaches. This means that while determinism states that all events are caused by past events, while free will believes that some of the actions made by humans are chosen freely. Another criticism is that the areas that are studied by humanists are difficult to study scientifically, which creates lack of evidence for the key theories of its approach. Humanism is too positive in regards to human behavior. This means that individuals are intrinsically good and will choose positive paths for their lives, not putting into consideration that not everyone has the ability to choose what they what to do. This is a big issue with humanism because it makes generalizations about humans. Some people would begin to question why people do bad if they have the choice to do right.

In links to therapy, the humanistic approach will require patients to think for themselves, which may frustrate patients because they won’t get explanations for their problems. In relations to education, because everyone has a different learning style it will be difficult to accommodate everyone’s learning style into teaching, which will create problems. Teachers will also have to encourage students to express themselves freely, which is unusual and can take time for teachers to adapt too. When it comes to students only learning what they think is important, this can cause a problem for the teachers, students and schools. If a subject is being taught in school, who can be the judge of what is important to learn and what is not. In terms of essays and written work, some students prefer to be given feedback and judgement rather than being told to figure out for themselves what they have done wrong. This can demotivate some students into not working, and for those that cannot figure out what they have done wrong, they could keep making the same mistakes over again. Humanism also assumes that everyone can be self-critical and assess how their lives are going, however this is not the case for a lot of people. This approach is very time consuming because rather than getting straight to the point about why people act the way they do, it requires a lot of thinking and evaluation, which some people could see as a waste of time.

However, there are some advantages to the humanistic approach of learning. While it studies areas that are not scientifically approachable, humanists can gain better insight into how a person behaves. This can help create a more holistic view of human behavior. Although it cannot be fully applied to therapy, it can still have some useful contributions to it. Moreover, humanism can satisfy the idea of what being human is to a lot of people because it places value on self-fulfillment and personal ideals. It promotes the idea of personal responsibility. In classrooms, when there is a more personal approach to teaching, some students might be motivated to learn and could help them participate in class discussions and group works.

In conclusion, the humanistic approach to learning is something that could be considered to be applied more in the education system today. The context of learning is changing, and this is partially due to the fast development of digital technology. In order to meet its needs, there needs to be an approach that focuses on the four pillars of learning, which are to know, to do, to be and to live together. The humanistic approach focuses on the development of the student as a whole and emphasis on the emotional aspects. There are a few ways that this approach can be applied to classrooms today. Some ways are for the teachers to help the students set realistic and challenging goals, encouraging more participation in group work to help develop social skills and also for teachers to allow students pick how they want the class to be taught sometimes to encourage them to interact and for everyone to be comfortable in how they learn.