Basic
Human Needs V-1
No
bread is too hard when you are really hungry.
One of the
theories most basic to nonformal education is Maslow's hierarchy
of basic human needs.
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
After studying
this module you should be able to:
1. List Maslow's
five categories of basic human needs.
2. Discuss what each category means for planning educational programs.
MASLOW'S
HIERARCHY
Psychologist
Abraham Maslow grouped the various motivating drives each of us
has into five categories:
PHYSICAL
NEEDS:
- Income,
health, shelter, sex, food, and sleep.
SECURITY
NEEDS:
- Safety,
continuing employment, healthy environment, freedom from fear,
anxiety and the threat of punishment.
SOCIAL NEEDS:
- Love,
sense of belonging, atmosphere of acceptance, prestige, recreation
and entertainment.
SELF-WORTH:
- Ego satisfaction,
a feeling of value and importance to others. The desire to achieve
and to be recognized for it.
SELF-REALIZATION:
- Personal
growth, higher education, spiritual development, the drive to
realize and utilize one's potential capabilities, the desire
to contribute to the betterment of mankind.
Maslow's
hierarchy is often shown as a pyramid:
As shown
by the illustration, there is a hierarchy of needs. Only when
the lower needs are satisfied will the higher level needs be felt.
Once lower needs are satisfied, they stop being strong motivating
forces. The priorities each of us places on these needs varies
with time as lower needs are met, and as we grow and mature as
individuals. Likewise, the behavior used to fulfill these needs
varies from one individual to another. For example, one person
meets his or her economic needs through farming, while another
meets them through retail business. One person gets recognition
by being cooperative, while another gets recognition by being
disruptive.
The important
thing for groups to realize is that the real motivators in most
of us are the "higher level" needs: social needs, self-worth,
and self-realization. But we often forget this. In motivating
others, we tend to exaggerate the importance of economic rewards,
food and entertainment, intimidation, and arm twisting. On the
other hand, we tend to under-emphasize the importance of people's
social and self-worth needs--to be accepted by others, to accomplish
something meaningful and be recognized for it, to share ideas
and be respected for them, and to contribute to community betterment.
QUESTIONS
FOR DISCUSSION
1. What significance
does this theory have for classroom teachers?
2. What significance
does it have for nonformal educators (see modules E-1 and E-3
if you need help distinguishing between formal and nonformal education)?
3. Can you
think of educational programs (or activities) that have violated
this theory?
4. Why is
this theory considered to be one of the most basic theories for
educators? |
