Educational Implications of Humanistic Approach

Educational implications of humanistic Approach

1. Place of the child in teaching-learning:

According to this approach student plays a central role in whole teaching-learning process. This approach believes in child-centered-education. This approach, considers that we should first understand the needs, interests, abilities, age level, attitudes, aptitude of students then try to organize teaching learning process according to these.

It emphasizes on reach, touch and teaches the child according to his nature, and interests. All teaching material and its process must be related to individual characteristics of students.

2. Emphasis on individuality:

According to this approach every individual has his own individuality. Teacher should respect and develop this individuality through education.

Individual differences should be respected and internal virtues of individual be developed. Teacher should understand this individuality and organize his/her teaching-learning process according to this individuality.

3. Understanding the child:

According to this approach, we should understand the child first of all, and then teach him. We, as a teacher, should know our students, their interest, personality, capabilities and background environment and use teaching methods and content accordingly.

Because this approach believes in student centered education so before teaching, a teacher should understand students thoroughly.

4. Method of teaching:

In this approach teacher should use methods of teaching which are based on psychological principles. Teacher should not use teacher centered and traditional methods of teaching in it.

Teacher should emphasize on active learning which could consider the learner. Teacher should use the methods which could teach according to needs, interests, abilities and attitudes of learners.

Learner's readiness, mental set and motivation are considered as basis for deciding the method of teaching to be used. So teacher should use learner centered innovative methods of teaching.

5. Discipline:

Teacher should not force student to be disciplined. He/she should encourage self discipline and self-control among students. Students should be given the responsibility of to be disciplined.

6. Place and role of the teacher:

According to this approach student plays a central role in teaching learning process. Teacher acts as a guide, friend or helper of the students.

"The tutor or lecturer tends to be more supportive than critical, more understanding than judgmental, more genuine than playing a role."  Their job is to foster an engaging environment for the students and ask inquiry-based questions that promote meaningful learning.

Students should freedom to develop and make progress according to their own pace, needs and interests. Teacher should be considered as the milestone in the journey of total development of the child.

Teacher should not force his own methods and views on students but he should be only a guide in this development process.

7. It is a democratic approach:

According to this approach students should be taught in democratic environment. He/she should provide a rich environment with a view to have their around development.

8. Choice and Control

The humanistic approach places a great deal of emphasis on students' choice and control over the course of their education. Students are encouraged to make choices that range from day-to-day activities to periodically setting future life goals. This allows for students to focus on a specific subject of interest for any amount of time they choose, within reason. Humanistic teachers believe it is important for students to be motivated and engaged in the material they are learning, and this happens when the topic is something the students need and wants to know.

9. The Whole Person

Humanistic educators believe that both feelings and knowledge are important to the learning process. Unlike traditional educators, humanistic teachers do not separate the cognitive and affective domains. This aspect also relates to the curriculum in the sense that lessons and activities provide focus on various aspects of the student and not just rote memorization through note taking and lecturing.

10. Self Evaluation

Humanistic educators believe that grades are irrelevant and that only self-evaluation is meaningful. Grading encourages students to work for a grade and not for intrinsic satisfaction. Humanistic educators disagree with routine testing because they teach students rote memorization as opposed to meaningful learning. They also believe testing doesn't provide sufficient educational feedback to the teacher.

11. In Environment

The environment in a school which focuses their practice on humanistic education tends to have a very different setting than a traditional school. It consists of both indoor and outdoor environments with a majority of time being spent outdoors. The indoor setting may contain a few tables and chairs, bean bags for quiet reading and relaxation, book shelves, hide-aways, kitchens, lots of color and art posted on the walls. The outdoor environment is very engaging for students. You might find tree houses, outdoor kitchens, sand boxes, play sets, natural materials, sporting activities etc. The wide range of activities are offered for students allowing for free choices of interest.

12. Co-operative Learning

Students are often in competition with each other or have to work individually towards achieving their personal goals. Co-operative Learning not only combines cognitive and affective aspects of learning, as well as emphasizing participation and active engagement, But also stresses academic achievement and clearly defined curricular goals.

13. Curriculum

The humanistic approach is a broad term that encompasses three main approaches (Kirschenbaum 1975):

1. Humanistic content curricula - Teaching topics that are directly relevant to the students' lives (e.g. drugs awareness)
2. Humanistic process curricula - Focuses on the whole student and can include teaching assertiveness training, for example.
3. Humanistic school and group structures - restructuring the whole timetable and school environment in order to facilitate humanistic teaching or just individual classes.  The approach includes:

• On a school level - open classrooms, class meetings and finding alternative ways of assessment.
• On a class level:

• Students exercise choice and control over activities
• Curriculum focuses on what the children are concerned about.
• Focus on life skills - thinking skills combined with social skills (e.g. sharing and communicating).  Co-operative learning
• Self-evaluation and self-monitoring
• Teacher becomes a facilitator.

      Carl Roger's View (Facilitative Teaching)

            One of the models included in the overall review of open education was facilitative teaching developed by Carl Rogers. Aspy and Roebuck (1975) studied teachers in terms of their ability to offer facilitative conditions (including empathy, congruence, and positive regard) as defined by Rogers (1969) and Rogers and Freiberg (1994). Teachers who were more highly facilitative tended to provide more:

1. response to student feeling;
2. use of student ideas in ongoing instructional interactions;
3. discussion with students (dialogue);
4. praise of students;
5. congruent teacher talk (less ritualistic);
6. tailoring of contents to the individual student's frame of reference (explanations created to fit the immediate needs of the learners); and
7. Smiling with students.

            In the end we can say that this is a new innovative approach to teaching which advocates child at the centre of teaching learning process.A teacher should understand the individuality of the learner and then organize his/her teaching learning process according to needs, interests and abilities of the learner. He/ she should be as a guide only and students should be given chance to develop according to their own pace.

Reference:

http://www.preservearticles.com/2011082912260/essay-humanistic-approach-to-learning-means-a-process-that-is-inevitable-and-unique-for-every-individual.html

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/affect/humed.html