Monday, March 28, 2011

Ch11: Motivation

I really enjoyed reading this chapter.  It brought me back so many memories of when I was teaching.

Pg. 460 Hierarchy of Needs

It was interesting to see Maslow's hierarchy of needs. As per the reading the lack of satisfaction of the first four needs (physiological, safety, love/belonging, & esteem) can lead to mental problems.  I wonder if it would be ok to satisfy the first two or three needs, since we do need love to be healthy, (physiological, safety, love/belonging) and then fulfill the self-actualization need and then fulfill the need for self esteem.  I think it would work out okay, because self-actualization is defined as people being more self-aware, more concerned with their personal growth and less concerned with the opinions of others, so if they were working to fullfilling their potential this would increase their self esteem.

This is hard for me to explain, but I often see students with low self esteem and low self worth, and it's hard to tell what made them feel/think this way or to even get them to explain why they feel the way they do because they worry so much about what others think or might think. I think that it would make a difference in students if they would focus more on their own needs to become successful or fulfill their own potential before they worry about others around them, but how do you that, with the society that we live in that puts so much focus on what others do.

Additional reading
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

6 comments:

  1. As much as we want to help these students I think alot of the low self esteem and self worth issues starts at a very young age. Whether parents, friends or society contributes to this the students will always struggle with these issues. I think that is why teachers can and have such an important influence on their students. Again I teach at the college level but still encourage my students and push them. I tell them that I don't want them to be like me. I want them to be better than me. Its hard to hear their responses at times when they respond with you know no one has ever encouraged me or shown interest in me before. Then they cling to you, look to you and you can't get rid of them. (that last part was suppose to be a joke).

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  2. You give a great explanation of your view of Maslow’s hierarchy. I am not sure which need would seem more important to than the others but I think it would be determined on an individual basis and would depend on the person. According to Maslow, all needs are important although some are more important than others. I think the importance of these needs also change determined on the individuals’ developmental level.
    It would make a large difference for worry more about themselves instead of others. Unfortunately, that will never happen. The ages of our students and their development levels lend themselves to students growing as individuals and as young individuals they often do care about and worry about what others think of them. I have taught middle school students and high school students and I have always noticed that as part of their socialization they will inevitably be unsure of themselves and others opinions of them at some point. Great post!

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  3. Mas low proposed in his research article that we as humans need to satisfy needs to function in our society.Once we fulfill that first need we tend to satisfy the urge to keep searching for new needs.It is unbelievable how we can manipulate our physiological needs. Just by merely thinking about getting sick causes us to get sick.As instructors we need to familiarize ourselves with the many different kinds of psychological needs among students and adjust to their needs.

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  4. Nila you make some verying interesting points. I dont think i would have thought of it like you did. But your breakdown of what needs would possibly be needed more was quite interesting. I also think that society today is so much more competetive that in some cases in can create a low self esteem in some children. Its' difficult to change society, I think we just need to work harder with those children who have a lower self esteem. It is in instances such as these that motivation plays an important role in the classroom. It's also important to remember that each child's motivation can vary from child to child. These tools are important for teachers and should be implemented in the classroom.

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  5. Nila, great blog. You are correct when you say that some students are afraid of what others might say , or simply for others' approval. I have a very, very shy girl in my classroom. Every time they have to present a project, she gets so nervous. I've talked to her before about and she told me she's afraid the rest of the students will make fun of her work. I always have little lecture on how we should respect others' work. She's gotten a little better at presentations.

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  6. Building self esteem in your students is a critical aspect that many teachers deal with. Each student at each age deals with different societal stresses, that the students need to learn to deal with. The advice I always gave students was to believe in themselves, and stand on their own two feet. The more I was able to build them up, the easier it was for the students to stand up for and believe in themselves.

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