Humanist approaches to education

Behaviourism – recap 1. Pavlov studied digestion and salivation in: a) humans b) giraffes c) dogs 2. What is the difference between an unconditioned response and a conditioned response?

Behaviourism - recap 3. What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning? 4. Behaviourism a s_ _ _ _ _ _ fic approach to psychology and learning.

What shall we do for the rest of this session?

What do you know about humanism? (Not just in relation to learning and education.)

Interesting link – Elliott EisnerElliott Eisner

How can I be happy?

Some key ideas … meaning authority happiness being unique “no simple recipes”

Humanism in psychology “Humanistic, humanism and humanist are terms in psychology relating to an approach which studies the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual.” “Humanism is a psychological approach that emphasizes the study of the whole person. Humanistic psychologists look at human behavior not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving.” “Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual's behavior is connected to their inner feelings and self concept.”self concept McLeod, S. A. (2007). Humanism. Retrieved from

Maslow McLeod, S. A. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from

Carl Rogers Passionate about education that engaged with the whole person and with their experiences. He saw the following five elements as being part of significant or experiential learning:

1.It has a quality of personal involvement – feelings and cognition 2.It is self-initiated – even when initiated from the outside, the sense of discovery, of reaching out, of comprehending, comes from within 3.It is pervasive – makes a difference to the behaviour, attitudes and personality of the learner 4.It is evaluated by the learner – whether they are learning what they need to learn 5.Its essence is meaning – when learning takes place the meaning is built into the whole experience Click on Carl

“Rogers saw the facilitation of learning as the main aim of education. He believed that teachers should create supportive learning environments where they could work with pupils to achieve mutually agreed goals. In these supportive classrooms, he argued, children would grow to love learning. He was against traditional transmission teaching where teachers are the font of all knowledge and pupils receivers.” Describe a “supportive learning environment”

A. S. Neill - Humanism in practice! “The function of a child is to live his own life – not the life that his anxious parents think he should live, nor a life according to the purpose of the educator who thinks he knows best.” Click picture

Summerhill School Optional attendance based on the belief that children learn more effectively when they learn by choice rather than by compulsion Students progress at their own pace Equal voice of staff and students Watch this video

Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592) “Teachers are forever bawling into our ears as though pouring knowledge down through a funnel: our task is merely to repeat what we have been told.” (‘On educating children’) Clicketh me

John Holt “How Children Fail” (1964) “Schools, he said, promote and atmosphere of fear - fear of failure, humiliation or disapproval – and that severely affects a child’s capacity for intellectual growth.” Click for website

Modern Day Humanism - Andragogy The term andragogy was originally formulated by a German teacher, Alexander Kapp, in 1833 (Nottingham Andragogy Group 1983: v). He used it to describe elements of Plato's education theory Malcolm Knowles used this phrase in the 80’s and it is now synonymous with How Adults learn Smith, M. K. (1996; 1999) 'Andragogy', the encyclopaedia of informal education,

Malcolm Knowles – Proposed 6 Principles of Adult Learning 1. Adults need to know why, what and how they are learning. 2. Their self-concept is important. They often wish to be autonomous and self-directing. 3. Their prior experience is influential. It can be used as a resource for current learning. It can also shape attitudes to current learning.

Malcolm Knowles – Proposed 6 Principles of Adult Learning 4. Readiness to learn is important. Adults usually learn best when something is of immediate value. 5. Adults often focus on solving problems in contexts or situations that are important to them. 6. Motivation to learn tends to be based on the intrinsic value of learning and the personal pay-off. Knowles, M S (1973, 1990) The adult learner: a neglected species, Houston, Gulf Publishing

Key principles of adult learning Interactive activity generic/keyprinciplesactivity.htm generic/keyprinciplesactivity.htm

Promoting learning – humanistic principles Need to know Readiness to learn Autonomy and self- direction Problem solving Prior experience Motivation Identify examples of these in your own teaching and learning See also: Postman, N. and Weingartner, C. Teaching as a Subversive Activity Dell Publishing, New York, NY

Promoting learning – humanistic principles Explore with individuals and groups what they need to know or want to do. Facilitate active learning to develop autonomy; self- direction and skills as expert learners. Try to harness prior experiences in teaching and learning activities. Students might have to do some unlearning.

Promoting learning – humanistic principles Readiness to learn – tailoring courses, lessons, activities and assessments to learner needs. Use real problems adults want to solve. Maintain and promote motivation, especially intrinsic motivation.

Discussion How humanist can we/ should we be? Identify some practical and philosophical reasons not to use humanist principles

See also Chapter 5 pp

Criticism of humanist approaches Christodoulou, D. (2014) Seven Myths About Education London: Routledge Ecclestone, K. and Hayes, D. (2008) The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education Routledge: London Young, M. (2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education London: Routledge Click for review