Overview

          Abraham Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York to Samuel and Rose Maslow, Jewish immigrants from Russia.  He received his BA, MA, and PhD in psychology from University of Wisconsin.  At the time of his studies, the two branches of psychology were psychoanalysis and behaviorism, both of which focused more on the negative aspects of humans and were at odds with Maslow’s more optimistic view of humans and their motivations.  Unlike prior psychologists, Maslow chose to study the mentally well as opposed to the mentally ill (Emrich, n.d.).

          In the late 1950s, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Virginia Satir founded the Association for Humanistic Psychology ("Early innovators," n.d.).  Maslow, often referred to as the father of modern management psychology, is best known for motivational theory through his hierarchy of needs.

 

Current Applications

          While Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is used widely in business and management to understand what motivates employees ("Father of modern management," n.d.), it has also been embraced in education.  In the education and learning arena, application of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has resulted in using a holistic approach with learners and not just focusing on the cognitive aspect of education (McLeod, 2014).  His theory embraces the philosophy that the learner requires all other needs to be met in order for the learner to focus on cognitive needs (Hanson, n.d.), (McLeod, 2014).

 

Learning Transfer within Maslow’s EDUCATIONAL THEORY

          Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs is that once the lowest level need is met, the learner will naturally aspire to meet the next need ("Father of modern management," n.d.).  This pattern of meeting the lowest unmet need and then aspiring to meet the next has implications for learning transfer in that for optimum learning transfer and self-actualization to take place, the facilitator needs to provide the learning environment to help meet those lower level needs (Hanson, n.d.).

 

Facilitation for Learning Transfer

          Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, optimum learning in the classroom is achieved by ensuring that each need is met in order.  If the basic needs are not met, learning is hindered as the learners are focusing on their unmet needs instead of on the material being delivered (McLeod, 2014).  Note that the learners’ statuses of needs are dynamic, so it behooves the facilitator to be continuously aware of each person’s needs in order provide for them and maximize learning transfer (Hanson, n.d.).

 

Physiological/Biological

Food, clothing, and shelter are the basic needs of all humans.  If the learner is hungry, cold, not rested, or has other physical or biological needs, then the learner’s focus will not be on learning. 

For adult learners, this translates into the following:

-Access to snacks before or during class

-Comfortable room temperature

-Sufficient bathroom breaks

-For all day training, lunch provided or ample time for lunch on their own

-Be aware of impact of shift schedules (i.e. need for rest) on the training dates and times

 

Safety/Security

Once the physiological needs are met, the learners need to feel that they are in a safe learning environment.  For adult learners, this may include the following:

-Setting ground rules for small group and class discussions

-Respecting the opinions and differences of others

-Covering emergency procedures before class

-Maintaining classroom confidentiality

 

Social Affiliation/Belonging

The need to feel accepted and part of the group is the third need in the hierarchy.  In an adult learning session, this may involve:

-Beginning training or class with icebreakers and/or introduction activities

-Group work

-Table discussions

 

Esteem

The fourth need in the hierarchy is esteem.  People need to feel that they are valued and their input respected.  This need can be met by both the facilitator and the other learners in the class by:

-Giving encouragement

-Giving sincere praise or thanks

-Active listening

-Using respectful words

-Focusing on behavior and not the person when giving constructive feedback

 

Self-actualization

Self-actualization is the pinnacle of the hierarchy, and is simply stated as “being all you can be”.  In an adult learning environment, self-actualization may be realized by learners by:

-Sharing their relevant successful experiences with others

-Helping classmates with their work

-Showcasing their work in the class or externally

-Successfully applying their training in their work environment

 

References

Early innovators of humanistic psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ahpweb.org/about/history/early-innovators.html

 

Emrich, M. (n.d.). Abraham Maslow. Retrieved from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/maslow.htm

 

Hanson, J. (n.d.). How to apply Maslow's hierarchy of needs to education. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_7771899_apply-maslows-hierarchy-needs-education.html

 

Maslow's hierarchy of needs: Father of modern management & leadership by employee motivation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.abraham-maslow.com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs.asp

 

McLeod, S. (2014). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html