This document discusses humanist approaches to education and learning. Some key points: - Humanism emphasizes studying the whole person and their uniqueness. It focuses on inner feelings and self-concept. - Rogers believed in supportive learning environments where teachers work with students to achieve agreed goals so students love learning. - Knowles proposed 6 principles of adult learning: need/reason for learning, self-concept, experience, readiness, problem-solving, and motivation. - Humanism values learner autonomy, experience, problem-solving and intrinsic motivation over rote learning and external rewards. It aims to understand individuals and facilitate active, self-directed learning.

1. Humanist approaches to
education
www.peter-scales.org.uk

2. Behaviourism – recap
1. Pavlov studied digestion and salivation in:
a) humans
b) giraffes
c) dogs
2.What is the difference between an unconditioned response
and a conditioned response?

3. Behaviourism - recap
3.What is the difference between classical conditioning
and operant conditioning?
4. Behaviourism a s_ _ _ _ _ _ fic approach to
psychology and learning.

4. What shall we do for the rest
of this session?

5. What do you know about
humanism?
(Not just in relation to learning and
education.)

6. https://humanism.org.uk
Interesting link – Elliott Eisner

7. How can I
be happy?

8. Some key ideas …
•meaning
•authority
•happiness
•being unique
•“no simple recipes”

9. Humanism in psychology
• “Humanistic, humanism and humanist are terms in psychology
relating to an approach which studies the whole person, and the
uniqueness of each individual.”
• “Humanism is a psychological approach 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.”
• “Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual's behavior is
connected to their inner feelings and self concept.”
McLeod, S.A. (2007). Humanism. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/humanistic.html

10. Maslow
McLeod, S.A. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

11. Carl Rogers 1902 - 1987
Passionate about education that
engaged with the whole person and
with their experiences.
He saw the following five elements as
being part of significant or
experiential learning:

12. 1. It has a quality of personal involvement – feelings and cognition
2. It is self-initiated – even when initiated from the outside, the sense of
discovery, of reaching out, of comprehending, comes from within
3. It is pervasive – makes a difference to the behaviour, attitudes and
personality of the learner
4. It is evaluated by the learner – whether they are learning what they
need to learn
5. Its essence is meaning – when learning takes place the meaning is
built into the whole experience
Click on Carl

13. “Rogers saw the facilitation of learning as the main aim of
education. He believed that teachers should create
supportive learning environments where they could work
with pupils to achieve mutually agreed goals. In these
supportive classrooms, he argued, children would grow to
love learning. He was against traditional transmission
teaching where teachers are the font of all knowledge and
pupils receivers.” Describe a
“supportive learning
environment”

14. A. S. Neill - Humanism in practice!
“The function of a child is to live his own life – not
the life that his anxious parents think he should
live, nor a life according to the purpose of the
educator who thinks he knows best.”
Click
picture

15. Summerhill School
• Optional attendance based on the
belief that children learn more
effectively when they learn by choice
rather than by compulsion
• Students progress at their own pace
• Equal voice of staff and students
Watch this video

16. Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592)
“Teachers are forever
bawling into our ears as
though pouring knowledge
down through a funnel: our
task is merely to repeat what
we have been told.”
(‘On educating children’)
Clicketh
me

17. John Holt “How Children Fail” (1964)
“Schools, he said, promote and
atmosphere of fear - fear of failure,
humiliation or disapproval – and
that severely affects a child’s
capacity for intellectual growth.”
Click for website

18. Modern Day Humanism - Andragogy
• The term andragogy was originally formulated by a German
teacher, Alexander Kapp, in 1833 (Nottingham Andragogy
Group 1983: v).
• He used it to describe elements of Plato's education theory
• Malcolm Knowles used this phrase in the 80’s and it is now
synonymous with HowAdults learn
Smith, M. K. (1996; 1999) 'Andragogy', the encyclopaedia of informal education,
http://www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/b-andra.htm.

19. Malcolm Knowles – Proposed 6 Principles of Adult
Learning
1. Adults need to know why, what and how they are learning.
2. Their self-concept is important. They often wish to be
autonomous and self-directing.
3. Their prior experience is influential. It can be used as a
resource for current learning. It can also shape attitudes to
current learning.

20. Malcolm Knowles – Proposed 6 Principles of Adult
Learning
4. Readiness to learn is important. Adults usually learn best
when something is of immediate value.
5. Adults often focus on solving problems in contexts or
situations that are important to them.
6. Motivation to learn tends to be based on the intrinsic value
of learning and the personal pay-off.
Knowles, M S (1973, 1990)The adult learner: a neglected species, Houston, Gulf Publishing

21. Key principles of adult learning
Interactive activity
• http://resources4adultlearning.excellencegateway.org.uk/cpd/
generic/keyprinciplesactivity.htm

22. Promoting learning – humanistic principles
• Need to know
• Readiness to learn
• Autonomy and self-
direction
• Problem solving
• Prior experience
• Motivation
Identify examples of
these in your own
teaching and
learning
See also:
Postman, N. and Weingartner, C.Teaching as a
Subversive Activity Dell Publishing, NewYork, NY

23. Promoting learning – humanistic principles
• Explore with individuals and groups what they need to
know or want to do.
• Facilitate active learning to develop autonomy; self-
direction and skills as expert learners.
• Try to harness prior experiences in teaching and learning
activities. Students might have to do some unlearning.

24. Promoting learning – humanistic principles
• Readiness to learn – tailoring courses, lessons, activities
and assessments to learner needs.
• Use real problems adults want to solve.
• Maintain and promote motivation, especially intrinsic
motivation.

25. Discussion
• How humanist can we/ should we be?
• Identify some practical and philosophical
reasons not to use humanist principles

26. See also Chapter 5
pp. 94 -97

27. Criticism of humanist approaches
• Christodoulou, D. (2014) Seven Myths About Education
London: Routledge
• Ecclestone, K. and Hayes, D. (2008)The Dangerous Rise ofTherapeutic
Education Routledge: London
• Young, M. (2008) Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism
to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education London: Routledge
Click for review