AHMAD NAJIB MUTIEI BIN ABDULLAH
KB161002900
UNITAR- Bachelor of Education in Mathematics (Hons) (Degree)..
..
Studied at UiTM Pulau Pinang in Machanical Engineering (Diploma)
Went to Sekolah Menengah Teknik Bachok (SPM)
We have identified the top 10 rules one should follow in order to achieve great classroom management. These classroom management strategies can work for any teacher, but are intended for middle school and high school teachers.
Classroom management is how the teacher delivers the curriculum, as well as the environment in which students will learn. Most credential programs leave the classroom management style up to the teacher, focusing instead on the most important aspect of teaching, curriculum. There are a lot of strategies that a middle school or high school teacher can use in order to create an optimal learning environment. Teachers with the best classroom management usually have their class working and learning seamlessly.
The most important classroom management strategy is keeping every student engaged in the curriculum. How do you keep students engaged? The answer is student-centered curriculum. Students want to have fun, understand the purpose of what they are learning, and most importantly, discover their world. A class focused on this type of curriculum, inquiry based learning, is difficult to maintain in this age of standardized testing. Teachers can use our online teaching app as homework to teach the students the content in a way that is both interactive and engaging. How many great teachers have you had in your life? Ask this question to other adults. Most people will say that they have had one to five great teachers in their life, when they have probably had over forty teachers during the course of their schooling. That is a big gap. A great teacher needs great curriculum. But writing great curriculum is both difficult and time consuming. Let us become your first resource for great science curriculum.
Classroom Management for an Effective Learning Environment
Classroom setup is an important component in a learning environment because it is an essential piece of classroom management to support both teaching and learning. The physical atmosphere of the classroom can help prevent behavior issues as well as promote and improve learning. The structuring of the learning environment is essential for teachers and students. In fact, studies show that the physical arrangement of the classroom can affect both student and teacher behavior, and that a well-structured classroom management plan of design has the ability to improve learning and behavior. In order to create an inviting and safe, supportive learning environment, using classroom management for the way you arrange your desks matters. A supportive learning environment can mean the difference between having a good day and a bad day.
Your classroom arrangement is the physical foundation of where your students will learn. This means that every square foot of it needs to be used for activities that support learning. The spatial structure of the classroom; where students will be seated, how the students will move about the classroom, and the whole classroom atmosphere needs to be considered, as well as how the classroom will be structured to address the academic, social, and emotional needs of the students. The physical arrangement of the classroom should also be reflective of the student body and must be consistent with the needs of all learners.
In addition to the way your classroom is physically arranged, the classroom environment as a whole needs to be considered. What you put on your walls, the classroom materials you will use, and where, and how you will set up your activities. All attributes of a structured learning environment need to be considered when setting up your classroom.
According to a recent study at the University of Salford, a well-designed classroom can boost student performance by 25 percent. That means that your classroom design can have a significant impact on your students’ performance. So, it is essential to thoughtfully and clearly consider all facets of your classroom design. A well-thought out physical arrangement of your classroom is also important for these reasons:
consider all facets of your classroom design. A well-thought out physical arrangement of your classroom is also important for these reasons:
Students will learn to anticipate which activities will occur in specific areas of the classroom. This helps students be mindful of how they need to behave for each specific area they are in.
Students learn to respect boundaries. For example, there are “Teacher only” areas as well as the boundaries of space a student has around his/her personal desk.
The organization of classroom materials allows students to retrieve them quickly, which helps to decrease unwanted behavior.
Proper room arrangement provides predictably, which is essential for students, because students thrive when they are in a comfortable learning environment.
Arranging Your Classroom
Before you set out to arrange your classroom, consider asking yourself the following questions:
What information do my students need to know? They need to know the date, assignment, classroom procedures, etc.
What will inspire my students every day? Quotes, posters, classroom awards, everyday heroes, etc.
What education artifacts do they need? Word walls, literacy resources, purposeful posters and bulletin boards, etc.
How do I need to structure the desks? Teacher-focused activities means desks will be in rows or small clusters facing the front of the classroom, while student-focused activities means desks will be put into groups or semicircles so students can easily collaborate with one another.
Do any of my students have specific medical needs? A food allergy, wheelchair, etc.
What furniture is available? Desks, tables, bookcases, shelves, etc.
The answers to these questions will help guide you to structure an effective learning environment for your students. Depending upon what furniture is readily available, you will also need to structure your classroom so that every student has a home base (or an individual learning area like their own desk), a whole group instruction area, a dedicated teacher area, as well as a transition area where students can wait for the next activity or lesson to begin, or at least have your space arranged so students can move about easily and comfortably without bumping into one another.
Essential Areas
As mentioned above, there are a few required areas that you must have in your classroom: A Home base, group instruction area, teacher workstation, and transition space. Here we will take a closer look at how you can arrange each of these specific areas.
Home Base
Each student needs a space to call her own. Have it be an individual desk or her own space at the table, they need something to call their home base. This space is a place where students can do their independent work or go to when you are transitioning in between lessons.
Two factors need to be considered when deciding where students home base where be; if the student has any behavior issues, and the size of your classroom. Once you factor in these issues, then you are ready to clearly assign each student a home base.
Group Instruction
The next essential area that you need to set up is where your group learning will take place. Will students sit at their desks in rows or a circle, or will they sit on the carpet? You may need to consider finding two spaces for group instruction. One space where students are able to work within a small group independently, and one space where students can get messy and work with different art materials which would likely be by the sink. Within each area, you will need to figure out where you will put your learning materials so that they can be easily accessed by the students. The back table near the sink would be ideal for small group work, and the front carpet would be ideal for large group work where all students can find a seat.
Dedicated Teacher Area
Teachers need a place to call their own too. This space should be near an outlet where you can have access to a computer, as well as it should be out of the way but also easily accessible for students to get to you. Ideally, your space should be near the widow with your desk or small table situated sideways, in the corner of the classroom. This way you will get the light from the window to help you see, you are out of the way but also easily accessible to students, and are able to scan the whole classroom right from your seat.
Transition Area
The transition area can be a specific location like the carpet that students go to while waiting for the next activity, or to go home or to a special like gym or art. Or it can be the student’s home base or a specific location in the classroom. What this space looks like and where it is located will depend upon your students’ needs as well as their ages. No matter where the space is, it is important that your students know where to go during transition periods.
In short, specific classroom features are relevant to what students are learning. Research shows that students benefit from a well-designed, well-structured classroom. Most importantly, if you find that your students are struggling with the design of your classroom then you must consider rearranging it.
Topic 8 : WRITING LESSON PLAN GOALS, OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES
This semester is coming to an end as it is already december. it seems like semester is almost the same as before. Wake up for class, have lunch breaks, struggle to finish assignments, worked with papa and a whole lot more. Unfortunately I am not going to talk about how go through this semester. In this entry, I am going to talk about my views about Topic 9 which is writing lesson plan goals, objective and strategies.
Goal
Goal determine purpose, aim, and rationale for what you and your students will engage in during class time. The goals are typically written as required from the educational or State or National curriculum standards.
Objectives
Focuses on what your students will do to acquire further knowledge and skills
Prerequisites
Can be useful when considering the readiness state of your students.
Prerequisites allow us and other teachers replicating our lesson plan, to make sure that students can meet the lesson objectives.
Materials
Have two functions and it helps other teachers quickly determine.
How much preparation time, resources, and management will be involved in carrying out this plan and
What materials, books, equipment, and resources they will need to have ready.
What materials will be needed?.
What textbooks or story books are needed?.
Lesson Description
Provides an opportunity for the author of the lesson to share some thoughts, experience, and advice with other teachers.
Lesson Procedure
Provides a detailed, step-by-step description of how to replicate the lesson and achieve lesson plan objectives.
Usually intended for the teacher and provides suggestions on how to proceed with implementation of the lesson plan.
Divided into several components:
Introduction
Main activity
Closure/Conclusion
Follow up lesson/activities
Parts of a lesson plan :
1.Objectives: Should be relevant to the curriculum i.e. promote learning outcomes across the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains,
promote a range of levels of understanding (low and high) within each domain,
be written specifically i.e. each students must know and be able to do, and
be achieved by your students.
2. Resources: It denotes which resources you and the learners will use in order to accomplish the specific instructional objectives.
: Preparing 40 Minutes Lesson Plan
, I learn about Chapter 8, the ‘Preparing 40 Minutes Lesson Plan’. I also learn about Chapter 9, the ‘Classroom Management and Learning Environment’. Duke (1987) defines for today’s classrooms as a comprehensive management plan that should include both proactive (preventive) and reactive (disciplinary) management strategies i.e. “classroom management is the provisions and procedures necessary to create and maintain an environment in which teaching and learning can occur.” A good (an effective) teacher is one who is a good classroom manager. A well organized and managed classroom is the first step to an effective teaching learning environment. A good classroom manager must also be a good organizer of academic content and instruction.t
According to my observation about class lesson, in the end of chapter 8, I can learn to preparing 40 minutes lesson plan. I also can learn about classroom management, classroom management applies to all, developing classroom rules, guidelines for good classroom management practice, good classroom management, reasons a good classroom management important and the ways to organize an academic content and instruction by a teacher.
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. the curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. Good teachers know how to bring out the best in students.
In week 8, I learn about Chapter 7, the ‘Conceptual Foundations for Planning a Lesson’. Instructional Action Planning are identifying learner preparation activities, getting the classroom ready, listing teaching-learning activities, creating personal prompts, listing support technologies, listing feedback instruments and detailing follow-up activities.
I also learn about Chapter 8 ‘Writing Lesson Plan Goals, Objectives and Strategies'. The parts of lesson plans are first, objective. Objective should be relevant to the curriculum i.e. promote learning outcomes across the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, (promote a range of levels of understanding (low and high) within each domain, be written specifically i.e. each students must know and be able to do and be achieved by your students). Second, resources. It denotes which resources you and the learners will use in order to accomplish the specific instructional objectives. Third, set induction. How will learners interest be obtained? Set induction are terms used to indicate the need to start the lesson by capturing learners attention or interest. Fourth, methods/stages of development. How will teaching and learning proceed? This is a description of stages how teaching and learning takes place. Fifth, assessment. How learning be determined? How do plan to monitor your students’ learning and how you plan to evaluate learning at the lesson’s conclusion?. Sixth, closure. How will the lesson be concluded? All lessons need a good finish. Normally, it takes in a form of review that get students to summarize what they have learned and connect it to prior and future lessons.
: TEACHING-LEARNING STYLES: THE CONSTRUCTIVISM AND THEORY-BASED DIRECT INSTRUCTION
So hi , today i'm going to write about teaching - learning styles : the constructivism and theory based direct instruction. let me explain more !
“Modeling behavior you wish your students to reflect,”
How to model your behaviour?
Teaching involves much more than the imparting of knowledge to the children in a teacher's classroom. Beyond book know-how, youths need to be introduced to the various aspects of socialization and other interactions with their peers and teachers.
Constructivism is a learning theory of educational philosophy that many educators began to consider in the 1990s
One of the primary tenets of this philosophy is that leaners construct their own meaning from new information, as they interact with reality or others with different perspectives.
To use their prior knowledge and experiences to formulate new, related, and/or adaptiveconcepts in learning. Under this framework the role of the teacher becomes that of a facilitator, providing guidance so that learners can construct their own knowledge. Jonassen (1997) suggests ‘well-structured’ learning environment are useful for novice learners and that “ill-structured” environments are only useful for more advanced learners.
Founders of constructivism are :
John Dewey (student centered learning/character education/moral education/democracy)
Jean Piaget (Cognitive- stages of thinking poses and maturation e.g. preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, formal operational stage, metacognitive stage – thinking about thinking)
Maria Montessori (early childhood philosopher -children’s mind is like a sponge, it absorbs information and tries to make sense what is around them
Lev Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development: a phase a child can master a task if given appropriate help and support
Characteristics :
Active listening, authentic and situated learning, bridging, scaffolding, communities of learners, reflection.
DISTAR: (special for slow/special education students) Direct instruction system for teaching and learning. Find out what children need to know to succeed in school, teach it to them following principles of learning theory, its concept is –every child is not left behind, its concept is teacher proof- any teacher can use it and obtain same result, carefully structured, highly verbal, patterned drill and practice.
What is constructivism?
Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know.
In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them.
Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn HOW TO LEARN.
You might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their experiences, students find their ideas gaining in complexity and power, and they develop increasingly strong abilities to integrate new information. One of the teacher's main roles becomes to encourage this learning and reflection process.
For example: Groups of students in a science class are discussing a problem in physics. Though the teacher knows the "answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comes up with the relevant concept, the teacher seizes upon it, and indicates to the group that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not help) them to better understand the concept.
Contrary to criticisms by some (conservative/traditional) educators, constructivism does not dismiss the active role of the teacher or the value of expert knowledge. Constructivism modifies that role, so that teachers help students to construct knowledge rather than to reproduce a series of facts. The constructivist teacher provides tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-based learning activities with which students formulate and test their ideas, draw conclusions and inferences, and pool and convey their knowledge in a collaborative learning environment. Constructivism transforms the student from a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process. Always guided by the teacher, students construct their knowledge actively rather than just mechanically ingesting knowledge from the teacher or the textbook.
Constructivism is also often misconstrued as a learning theory that compels students to "reinvent the wheel." In fact, constructivism taps into and triggers the student's innate curiosity about the world and how things work. Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather, attempt to understand how it turns, how it functions. They become engaged by applying their existing knowledge and real-world experience, learning to hypothesize, testing their theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings.
The best way for you to really understand what constructivism is and what it means in your classroom is by seeing examples of it at work, speaking with others about it, and trying it yourself. As you progress through each segment of this workshop, keep in mind questions or ideas to share with your colleagues.
Constructivism
How does this theory differ from traditional ideas about teaching and learning?
As with many of the methods addressed in this series of workshops, in the constructivist classroom, the focus tends to shift from the teacher to the students. The classroom is no longer a place where the teacher ("expert") pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled. In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their own process of learning. The teacher functions more as a facilitator who coaches, mediates, prompts, and helps students develop and assess their understanding, and thereby their learning. One of the teacher's biggest jobs becomes ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS.
And, in the constructivist classroom, both teacher and students think of knowledge not as inert factoids to be memorized, but as a dynamic, ever-changing view of the world we live in and the ability to successfully stretch and explore that view.
The chart below compares the traditional classroom to the constructivist one. You can see significant differences in basic assumptions about knowledge, students, and learning. (It's important, however, to bear in mind that constructivists acknowledge that students are constructing knowledge in traditional classrooms, too. It's really a matter of the emphasis being on the student, not on the instructor.)
Curriculum begins with the parts of the whole. Emphasizes basic skills.
Curriculum emphasizes big concepts, beginning with the whole and expanding to include the parts.
Strict adherence to fixed curriculum is highly valued.
Pursuit of student questions and interests is valued.
Materials are primarily textbooks and workbooks.
Materials include primary sources of material and manipulative materials.
Learning is based on repetition.
Learning is interactive, building on what the student already knows.
Teachers disseminate information to students; students are recipients of knowledge.
Teachers have a dialogue with students, helping students construct their own knowledge.
Teacher's role is directive, rooted in authority.
Teacher's role is interactive, rooted in negotiation.
Assessment is through testing, correct answers.
Assessment includes student works, observations, and points of view, as well as tests. Process is as important as product.
Knowledge is seen as inert.
Knowledge is seen as dynamic, ever changing with our experiences.
Students work primarily alone.
Students work primarily in groups.
What does constructivism have to do with my classroom?
As is the case with many of the current/popular paradigms, you're probably already using the constructivist approach to some degree. Constructivist teachers pose questions and problems, then guide students to help them find their own answers. They use many techniques in the teaching process. For example, they may:
prompt students to formulate their own questions (inquiry)
allow multiple interpretations and expressions of learning (multiple intelligences)
encourage group work and the use of peers as resources (collaborative learning)
More information on the above processes is covered in other workshops in this series. For now, it's important to realize that the constructivist approach borrows from many other practices in the pursuit of its primary goal: helping students learn HOW TO LEARN.
In a constructivist classroom, learning is . . .
Students are not blank slates upon which knowledge is etched. They come to learning situations with already formulated knowledge, ideas, and understandings. This previous knowledge is the raw material for the new knowledge they will create.
Example: An elementary school teacher presents a class problem to measure the length of the "Mayflower." Rather than starting the problem by introducing the ruler, the teacher allows students to reflect and to construct their own methods of measurement. One student offers the knowledge that a doctor said he is four feet tall. Another says she knows horses are measured in "hands." The students discuss these and other methods they have heard about, and decide on one to apply to the problem.
The student is the person who creates new understanding for him/herself. The teacher coaches, moderates, suggests, but allows the students room to experiment, ask questions, try things that don't work. Learning activities require the students' full participation (like hands-on experiments). An important part of the learning process is that students reflect on, and talk about, their activities. Students also help set their own goals and means of assessment.
Examples: A middle-school language arts teacher sets aside time each week for a writing lab. The emphasis is on content and getting ideas down rather than memorizing grammatical rules, though one of the teacher's concerns is the ability of his students to express themselves well through written language. The teacher provides opportunities for students to examine the finished and earlier drafts of various authors. He allows students to select and create projects within the general requirement of building a portfolio 1. Students serve as peer editors who value originality and uniqueness rather than the best way to fulfill an assignment.
1.
In a history class, asking students to read and think about different versions of and perspectives on "history" can lead to interesting discussions. Is history as taught in textbooks accurate? Are there different versions of the same history? Whose version of history is most accurate? How do we know? From there, students can make their own judgments.
Students control their own learning process, and they lead the way by reflecting on their experiences. This process makes them experts of their own learning. The teacher helps create situations where the students feel safe questioning and reflecting on their own processes, either privately or in group discussions. The teacher should also create activities that lead the student to reflect on his or her prior knowledge and experiences. Talking about what was learned and how it was learned is really important.
Example: Students keep journals in a writing class where they record how they felt about the class projects, the visual and verbal reactions of others to the project, and how they felt their own writing had changed. Periodically the teacher reads these journals and holds a conference with the student where the two assess (1) what new knowledge the student has created, (2) how the student learns best, and (3) the learning environment and the teacher's role in it.
The constructivist classroom relies heavily on collaboration among students. There are many reasons why collaboration contributes to learning. The main reason it is used so much in constructivism is that students learn about learning not only from themselves, but also from their peers. When students review and reflect on their learning processes together, they can pick up strategies and methods from one another.
Example: In the course of studying ancient civilizations, students undertake an archaeological dig. This may be something constructed in a large sandbox, or, as in the Dalton School's "Archaeotype" software simulation, on a computer. As the students find different objects, the teacher introduces classifying techniques. The students are encouraged to (1) set up a group museum by developing criteria and choosing which objects should belong, and (2) collaborate with other students who worked in different quadrants of the dig. Each group is then asked to develop theories about the civilizations that inhabited the area.
The main activity in a constructivist classroom is solving problems. Students use inquiry methods to ask questions, investigate a topic, and use a variety of resources to find solutions and answers. As students explore the topic, they draw conclusions, and, as exploration continues, they revisit those conclusions. Exploration of questions leads to more questions. (See the CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM workshop Inquiry-based Learning)
Example: Sixth graders figuring out how to purify water investigate solutions ranging from coffee-filter paper, to a stove-top distillation apparatus, to piles of charcoal, to an abstract mathematical solution based on the size of a water molecule. Depending upon students' responses, the teacher encourages abstract as well as concrete, poetic as well as practical, creations of new knowledge.
Students have ideas that they may later see were invalid, incorrect, or insufficient to explain new experiences. These ideas are temporary steps in the integration of knowledge. For instance, a child may believe that all trees lose their leaves in the fall, until she visits an evergreen forest. Constructivist teaching takes into account students' current conceptions and builds from there.
What happens when a student gets a new piece of information? The constructivist model says that the student compares the information to the knowledge and understanding he/she already has, and one of three things can occur:
The new information matches up with his previous knowledge pretty well (it's consonant with the previous knowledge), so the student adds it to his understanding. It may take some work, but it's just a matter of finding the right fit, as with a puzzle piece.
The information doesn't match previous knowledge (it's dissonant). The student has to change her previous understanding to find a fit for the information. This can be harder work.
The information doesn't match previous knowledge, and it is ignored. Rejected bits of information may just not be absorbed by the student. Or they may float around, waiting for the day when the student's understanding has developed and permits a fit.
Example: An elementary teacher believes her students are ready to study gravity. She creates an environment of discovery with objects of varying kinds. Students explore the differences in weight among similarly sized blocks of Styrofoam, wood, and lead. Some students hold the notion that heavier objects fall faster than light ones. The teacher provides materials (stories, posters, and videos) about Galileo, Newton, etc. She leads a discussion on theories about falling. The students then replicate Galileo's experiment by dropping objects of different weights and measuring how fast they fall. They see that objects of different weights actually usually fall at the same speed, although surface area and aerodynamic properties can affect the rate of fall.
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that rose to prominence in the mid-20th century in answer to the limitations of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism.[1] With its roots running from Socrates through the Renaissance, this approach emphasizes individuals' inherent drive towards self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one's own capabilities and creativity.
It helps the client gain the belief that all people are inherently good.[2] It adopts a holistic approach to human existence and pays special attention to such phenomena as creativity, free will, and positive human potential. It encourages viewing ourselves as a "whole person" greater than the sum of our parts and encourages self exploration rather than the study of behavior in other people. Humanistic psychology acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the human psyche. It is linked to the emerging field of transpersonal psychology.[3][4] Primarily, this type of therapy encourages a self-awareness and mindfulness that helps the client change their state of mind and behaviour from one set of reactions to a healthier one with more productive self-awareness and thoughtful actions. Essentially, this approach allows the merging of mindfulness and behavioural therapy, with positive social support.
In an article from the Association for Humanistic Psychology, the benefits of humanistic therapy are described as having a "crucial opportunity to lead our troubled culture back to its own healthy path. More than any other therapy, Humanistic-Existential therapy models democracy. It imposes ideologies of others upon the client less than other therapeutic practices. Freedom to choose is maximized. We validate our clients' human potential.".[2]
In the 20th century, humanistic psychology was referred to as the "third force" in psychology, distinct from earlier, even less humanistic approaches of psychoanalysis and behaviorism. In our post industrial society, humanistic psychology has become more significant; for example, neither psychoanalysis nor behaviorism could have birthed emotional intelligence.
Its principal professional organizations in the US are the Association for Humanistic Psychology and the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association). In Britain, there is the UK Association for Humanistic Psychology Practitioners.
Humanistic, humanism and humanist are terms in psychology relating to an approach which studies the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual. Essentially, these terms refer the same approach in psychology.
Humanism is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person. Humanistic psychologists look at human behavior not only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of the person doing the behaving
Sometimes the humanistic approach is called phenomenological. This means that personality is studied from the point of view of the individual’s subjective experience. For Rogers the focus of psychology is not behaviour (Skinner), the unconscious (Freud), thinking (Wundt) or the human brain but how individuals perceive and interpret events. Rogers is therefore important because he redirected psychology towards the study of the self.
The humanistic approach in psychology developed as a rebellion against what some psychologists saw as the limitations of the behaviorist and psychodynamic psychology. The humanistic approach is thus often called the “third force” in psychology after psychoanalysis and behaviorism (Maslow, 1968).
Humanism rejected the assumptions of the behaviorist perspective which is characterized as deterministic, focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behavior and heavily dependent on animal research.Humanistic psychology also rejected the psychodynamic approach because it is also deterministic, with unconscious irrational and instinctive forces determining human thought and behavior. Both behaviorism and psychoanalysis are regarded as dehumanizing by humanistic psychologists. Humanistic psychology expanded its influence throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. Its impact can be understood in terms of three major areas:
1) It offered a new set of values for approaching an understanding of human nature and the human condition.
2) It offered an expanded horizon of methods of inquiry in the study of human behavior.
3) It offered a broader range of more effective methods in the professional practice of psychotherapy.
Humanistic Psychology Assumptions
Humanistic psychology begins with the existential assumptions that phenomenology is central and that people have free will. Personal agency is the humanistic term for the exercise of free will. Personal agency refers to the choices we make in life, the paths we go down and their consequences.
A further assumption is then added - people are basically good, and have an innate need to make themselves and the world better. The humanistic approach emphasizes the personal worth of the individual, the centrality of human values, and the creative, active nature of human beings. The approach is optimistic and focuses on noble human capacity to overcome hardship, pain and despair.
Both Rogers and Maslow regarded personal growth and fulfillment in life as a basic human motive. This means that each person, in different ways, seeks to grow psychologically and continuously enhance themselves. This has been captured by the term self-actualization, which is about psychological growth, fulfillment and satisfaction in life. However, Rogers and Maslow both describe different ways of how self-actualization can be achieved.
Central to the humanistic theories of Rogers (1959) and Maslow (1943) are the subjective, conscious experiences of the individual. Humanistic psychologists argue that objective reality is less important than a person's subjective perception and understanding of the world. Because of this, Rogers and Maslow placed little value on scientific psychology, especially the use of the psychology laboratory to investigate both human and animal behavior.
Humanism rejects scientific methodology like experiments and typically uses qualitative research methods. For example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews and unstructured observations. Qualitative research is useful for studies at the individual level, and to find out, in depth, the ways in which people think or feel (e.g. case studies). The way to really understand other people is to sit down and talk with them, share their experiences and be open to their feelings.
Humanism rejected comparative psychology (the study of animals) because it does not tell us anything about the unique properties of human beings. Humanism views human beings as fundamentally different from other animals, mainly because humans are conscious beings capable of thought, reason and language. For humanistic psychologists’ research on animals, such as rats, pigeons, or monkeys held little value. Research on such animals can tell us, so they argued, very little about human thought, behavior and experience.
Humanistic psychologists rejected a rigorous scientific approach to psychology because they saw it as dehumanizing and unable to capture the richness of conscious experience. In many ways the rejection of scientific psychology in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was a backlash to the dominance of the behaviorist approach in North American psychology.
The History of Humanistic Psychology
* Maslow (1943) developed a hierarchical theory of human motivation.
* Carl Rogers (1946) publishes Significant aspects of client-centered therapy (also called person centered therapy).
* In 1957 and 1958, at the invitation of Abraham Maslow and Clark Moustakas, two meetings were held in Detroit among psychologists who were interested in founding a professional association dedicated to a more meaningful, more humanistic vision.
* In 1962, with the sponsorship of Brandeis University, this movement was formally launched as the Association for Humanistic Psychology.
* The first issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology appeared in the Spring of 1961.
Their belief in free will is in opposition to the deterministic laws of science.
Critical Evaluation
The humanistic approach has been applied to relatively few areas of psychology compared to the other approaches. Therefore, its contributions are limited to areas such as therapy, abnormality, motivation and personality.
A possible reasons for this lack of impact on academic psychology perhaps lies with the fact that humanism deliberately adopts a non-scientific approach to studying humans. For example their belief in free-will is in direct opposition to the deterministic laws of science.
Also, the areas investigated by humanism, such as consciousness and emotion are very difficult to scientifically study. The outcome of such scientific limitations means that there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the key theories of the approach.
However, the flip side to this is that humanism can gain a better insight into an individual's behavior through the use of qualitative methods, such as unstructured interviews. The approach also helped to provide a more holistic view of human behavior, in contrast to the reductionist position of science.
References
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-96.
Rogers, C. R. (1946). Significant aspects of client-centered therapy. American Psychologist, 1, 415-422.
Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). New York: D. Van Nostrand.
Rogers, C. R. (1946). Significant aspects of client-centered therapy. American Psychologist 1, 415-422.
Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships as developed in the client-centered framework. In (ed.) S. Koch, Psychology: A study of a science. Vol. 3: Formulations of the person and the social context. New York: McGraw Hill.
Classroom setup is an important component in a learning environment because it is an essential piece of 
