Humanism, Cognitivism and Behaviourism
In this assignment I shall be exploring three theories of teaching and learning. They are Humanism, Cognitivism and Behaviourism. I shall be explaining the main factors of the three theories and then explaining how they can support effective teaching and learning in general and for myself personally in my teaching role. The first theory I shall explore is Humanism.
‘Humanism stresses [a learner’s] interests, individuality and creativity – in short the [learner’s] freedom to develop naturally and from teacher domination’ (Lunenburg p.467).
When teaching a lesson a teacher is more of a facilitator when planning and delivering a lesson. An effective humanistic approach is not one of teacher control (behaviourism) nor does it necessarily draw on past experiences (cognitivism) but draws a learner’s skills out and allow them to reach a point which Maslow calls ‘self-actualisation’.
Self actualisation is the ‘discovery of a biological yearning to develop one’s natural talents to the fullest’ (mythosandlogos.com). A teacher has to become a facilitator to allow the learner time to grow, even when it seems they are struggling to achieve a set goal. This can be effective when teaching learners life skills as the teacher (or facilitator, in this instance) will give the learner a task which allows them space to be creative and draw upon those ‘biological yearnings’ to become better at that task and to draw other hidden skills that the learner may not know that they had in order to solve a problem or reach a goal. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs state that there are 5 levels which climax in self actualisation. They are physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and then one can reach self-actualisation. Gleitman and Reisburg (2004) argue that two more phases need to be passed through before one can achieve self actualisation.
Those two needs are the ‘cognitive’ phase where a learner has a deep desire for knowledge and understanding of the environment in
‘Humanism stresses [a learner’s] interests, individuality and creativity – in short the [learner’s] freedom to develop naturally and from teacher domination’ (Lunenburg p.467).
When teaching a lesson a teacher is more of a facilitator when planning and delivering a lesson. An effective humanistic approach is not one of teacher control (behaviourism) nor does it necessarily draw on past experiences (cognitivism) but draws a learner’s skills out and allow them to reach a point which Maslow calls ‘self-actualisation’.
Self actualisation is the ‘discovery of a biological yearning to develop one’s natural talents to the fullest’ (mythosandlogos.com). A teacher has to become a facilitator to allow the learner time to grow, even when it seems they are struggling to achieve a set goal. This can be effective when teaching learners life skills as the teacher (or facilitator, in this instance) will give the learner a task which allows them space to be creative and draw upon those ‘biological yearnings’ to become better at that task and to draw other hidden skills that the learner may not know that they had in order to solve a problem or reach a goal. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs state that there are 5 levels which climax in self actualisation. They are physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and then one can reach self-actualisation. Gleitman and Reisburg (2004) argue that two more phases need to be passed through before one can achieve self actualisation.
Those two needs are the ‘cognitive’ phase where a learner has a deep desire for knowledge and understanding of the environment in
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