Saturday, June 27, 2009
CHP 12- Meeting Student Needs
Am I taking into account the lower needs of my students (physiological, safety, belongingness and love, and esteem)? What am I doing to ensure that my students are in an environment that is conducive to learning and self-actualization? How can I better address this objective?
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We had a lot of discussion today about meeting students' basic needs in our classroom. Sadly, despite the fact that we're feeding them, clothing them, listening to them, that's not always enough.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that despite our teaching experiences in different SES-leveled schools, there were still needs that weren't being met. I think that if you establish a good structure so that the students feel like they have a safety net, have a voice, etc., that you can move on to the next level up the hierarchy.
Are any of our students successful in meeting self-actualization?
Maslow’s Hierarch of needs is a very important concept to me. I believe that in order for learning to occur, the needs below need to be met first. I had a student who would come late almost every day, missing free breakfast. At about 10 am, it never failed that she would come to me to complain of a stomach ache and would want to put her head down. About a week into this, I asked her if she would like for me to keep something in the room for her to eat on the days that she was late. She could not cope with anything doing with instruction until she had eaten. We are surrogate parents in a way, and most of us spend hours more time with “our” children than their parents. We have a responsibility to do our best essentially raising that child. Whether you agree with this or not, this is the world we live in and we cannot ignore a child’s basic needs. Even if they are things we cannot do or get for them, there is often a social service organization we can call upon to help the family. Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox. Back to Maslow. Without being able to move up the hierarchy, the needs below it must be met first. I agree with Liz when she said in class that she has all of these needs attended to in the morning so that they could focus on learning. Having a safety net in place for students who need one is part of our jobs, whether we like it or not.
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