Humanistic and Cognitive Approach

Today was an interesting class on the Three Approaches to Instruction. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion you cannot use one approach alone. For some younger age children the Humanistic and Cognitive approach have to be incorporated with the Behavioural. According to The Cognitive approach, one needs prior knowledge and experience. For example, to be able to teach a class of kindergartners or first graders a teacher can see that the students do not have much prior knowledge or experiences in life. They still have a far way to go in this area. Making connections and constructing their own ideas and hypothesis may be lacking as well. Teachers really have to use a great deal of knowledge to educate a five year old. However, sometimes you’ll run into that whiz kid like my son who seems to know too much at five years of age. With the Behavioural approach a teacher must be well educated with the subject matter they are teaching.

I do agree that by using the Behavioural approach, a young child really feeds off the teacher. That’s why there must be “great teachers”. There must be effective lesson plans and a lot of the times you can only motivate young children by explaining to them the consequences. That being said, a teacher needs to have love and passion for their students at a young age. A teacher must focus on relating familiar situations, using authentic materials, exploring, and gaining confidence in the students. The Cognitive and Humanistic approach must be combined with the Behavioural approach for students up to any age.

Personally, once you enter fourth and fifth grade the Humanistic approach is the best approach to implement. By using community building, making the students feel welcomed, and addressing the student’s feelings, it builds confidence in the kids. Without confidence, many obstacles to learning can form. I have definitely noticed this in my observations. I always refer to the journaling as we used in class as a