Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Applied to Math Education

Introduction: Maslow's Hierarchy and Educational Development

Abraham Maslow is most well known for what has become widely recognized as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow theorized that people must achieve certain needs before being able to fully experience needs of a higher order. In other words, those who are barred from higher thought by an inability to obtain shelter, adequate food, or basic security are likely to become stunted in their capacity for abstract thinking and the pursuit of more abstract personal goals. At the pinnacle of this hierarchy, Maslow placed self-actualization — the ability to understand lofty concepts such as justice, equality, and truth (Roeckelein, 1998, p. 318).

In the context of education, the development of Maslow's hierarchy, along with many other contributing concepts, has done much to explain why some people access higher-order thoughts and achieve developmental growth while others do not. The real lag seen among those who, for various reasons, cannot achieve basic needs helps illuminate persistent gaps in learning and personal development.

Self-Actualization and Independent Thought in Learning

One of Maslow's core theoretical beliefs is that for an individual to become healthy and mature, he or she must engage in independent thought and recognize that thought as their own. This concept can be observed in young children during instruction when they delight in having figured out the answer to a difficult problem or created a new way of doing something. Taking this aspect of Maslow's theory to practical application requires placing a new light on subjects such as mathematics.

Mathematics must then be taught in such a way that individuals believe they have the capacity — once they have mastered certain basic skills — to create novel ways of finding solutions. In 8th through 12th grade instruction, this requires considerable creativity on the part of the teacher, as many students enter these years with preconceived notions about the difficulty of math and the belief that there is only one correct answer and one correct way to reach it. Redirecting instruction to express the idea that individual motivation can be an achievable goal of development and learning, even in mathematics, should be the aim of all instruction.

Maslow's Critique of Mechanistic Education

In many ways, Maslow was a stark critic of mechanistic thought and fact-based rote education. Simply presenting a set of facts to a person and expecting them to understand the surrounding concepts would have seemed to Maslow counterproductive. As a critic of science, Maslow (1956) asserted that the classical mechanistic approach — exemplified by the behavioristic viewpoint in psychology — was inappropriate for characterizing the whole individual, and he advocated instead for a humanistic approach (Roeckelein, 1998, p. 318).

Individuals must be offered the opportunity to experience learning in a unique way, fulfilling the aspect of self-actualization that includes the perception of the self as unique and therefore valuable. As Maslow (1970) described it, self-actualizing individuals are mentally more healthy (Dai, Moon, & Feldhusen, 1998, p. 59). Maslow would likely have agreed with Bruner that the mechanistic approach does not meet the needs of the whole child, and that children must be given the opportunity for higher thought — that is, the chance to explore varied ways of reaching answers to complex questions, such as applicable mathematics problems (Palmer, Bresler, & Cooper, 2001, p. 92).

For Maslow and others, the emphasis must be on self-awareness — the sense of "I" — "not primarily to discover something new, but to experience in such a way that the experience originates in me" (Fromm, p. 50). Maslow appears to equate his concept of the "peak experience" with "self-actualizing creativeness" (Gold, 1965, p. 105).

Conclusion: Redirecting Math Instruction Toward Self-Actualization

Maslow's concepts of development are rather clear in a commonsense sort of way, and yet applying them to mathematics education can seem difficult, as concepts of perceived uniqueness are often battle-scarred by years of being taught one right way to achieve results. For an individual to feel self-actualized, they must be given the opportunity to learn in a manner that befits their individual life and personality. Redirecting instruction toward models that give individuals the confidence to tackle problems in different ways is essential to meaningful learning.

Peer interaction and instructor-guided discussion may be among the most important keys to this theoretical shift, as is illustrated by the Japanese example. The goal is not to abandon structure, but to ensure that structure serves as a foundation for creative and independent thought — the very qualities Maslow identified as hallmarks of the self-actualized, fully developed individual.

References

Dai, D. Y., Moon, S. M., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1998). Achievement motivation and gifted students: A social cognitive perspective. Educational Psychologist, 33(2/3), 45–63.

Ernest, P. (1991). The philosophy of mathematics education. Falmer Press.

Gold, M. J. (1965). Education of the intellectually gifted. Charles E. Merrill Books.

Hashway, R. M. (1988). Foundations of developmental education. Praeger Publishers.

Palmer, J. A., Bresler, L., & Cooper, D. E. (Eds.). (2001). Fifty modern thinkers on education: From Piaget to the present day. Routledge.

Reys, B. J., & Reys, R. E. (1995, April). Japanese mathematics education: What makes it work? Teaching Children Mathematics, 1, 474.

Roeckelein, J. E. (1998). Dictionary of theories, laws, and concepts in psychology. Greenwood Press.