Maslow
It can be helpful to review Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as it pertains to the classroom. Students will want their physical needs met first (chair, desk, bathroom, food, etc. Once those are met they will be concerned with safety needs and so forth.
It helps for students to see where they fall in this as well. Outside factors can effect their ability to learn
Wade,
It is a building process and you are right about the basic needs needing to be met first. Once that is done you can go to the next step in the learning sequence.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Afshan,
Good point and one we instructors need to remember as we develop our instructional strategies.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree. We talk about this a lot, since my night students often have kids at home and full-time jobs during the day. They have to figure out how to be in class while still having a lot of other things going on. It's definitely a struggle for some of them to deal with life issues as well as school- but its a skill they need since they'll be dealing with a professional job soon and life issues too!
I think Maslow's theory of self actualization is very important particularly because I teach creative classes in visual communication. For artists their work is their identity and to them this can be a dominant force in motivating them.
Hence it makes perfect sense to discuss with students what their true identity is, where do they want to be, what do they want to become with this course, etc.
ARADHANA,
You make a very good point about understanding students and helping them to understand themselves. The more understanding they have of themselves the more accurate they can be in their career planning.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
