The battle of pyramids in Education: Maslow vs Bloom.

The battle of pyramids in Education and poverty 

Maslow vs. Bloom

Teaching in a "multi-diverse" urban school is different from teaching in a "traditional" class. Let me clarify this concept of "multi-diverse": ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse heretofore refers to as "multi-diverse". 

In large cities, like Houston, where I live, we can meet people from many different places all over the world. They bring their cultural background with themselves to our city and to the classroom as well. What it could be a very enriching and motivating scenario might turn into a very different experience, I mean adding and including other points of views and perspective to our diverse society is something that we like since it adds more value to us.

In schools, the educational policies and curriculum try to help those students to be immerse in the learning of what they think it could be the best for them: our future citizens. But what happens when there is only one curriculum, one pedagogy for all? Is that the answer for dealing with the diversity in our schools? 

Many schools are facing many problems, but one of the most important ones are the statal tests. Those tests, like STAAR in Texas, will show the educational performace of our schools including teachers, administrators and above all students´ performances in those tests. However, if they´re not listened or cared by the school administrations, they can´t experience only a cultural shock but a removal of their learning basis and be "labelled" as a different student category. This "school experience" can be even worst when they belong to low socioeconomic status families who don´t know how to interact with their school communities. Indeed, the students we teach are often unmotivated, lack of self-confidence and they have to face big challenges at home to succeed in motivation. 

In this article I´ll try to deal with some of the points that affect our urban school students and their challenges.

Maslow - Hierarchy of needs

Maslow introduced the hierarchical concept of human needs in 1943. His work in a pyramidal form indicates that Human Beings move from one need to the next when the previous one is already covered. Those needs belongs to different levels of needs:

1. Physiological needs (eating, sleeping, drinking);
2. Security needs (physical, economic, psychological, emotional stability, housing, etc.);
3. Social needs (belonging, expression, communication);
4. The need for independence, self-respect and others (consideration, esteem). Human Beings need to realize themselves, to value themselves to their eyes and the eyes of others through occupation, work,
5. to make plans, to have objectives, to be able to express one's ideas;
6. The needs of self-actualization, of self-fulfillment (creation, know-how).

As we can reed in the article "Maslow´s Hierarchy of Needs": "Applications of Maslow's hierarchy theory to the work of the classroom teacher are obvious. Before a student's cognitive needs can be met, they must first fulfill their basic physiological needs. For example, a tired and hungry student will find it difficult to focus on learning. Students need to feel emotionally and physically safe and accepted within the classroom to progress and reach their full potential".

However, not all the educators understand the importance of covering the needs of our students. For example, I could read this comment by a teacher-educator responding to the picture above: "I agree but should it be the education system's job to "take care of" these issues." Most of the teachers, not all of them, they don´t consider their needs as part of their learning process... I wish to ask them: Can your students retain some information after the school time? Can they study at home or do they have to face other challenges? Of course, I don´t blame them but I would recommend them to visit them or have a more fluent communication with their students´ families.

Maslow and students´ motivation

Concerning urban school students´ motivation, it's important to analyze the factors on which it depends. This analysis includes the design of a personalized educational plan developed by their school staff and teachers to set the goals to be achieved by every student and the strategies to get them. This idea of individualized learning is opposed to the "one curriculum, one pedagogy" provided by our current system that is not taking their weakness and strenghts as part of it, limiting their learning experiences and development. Besides, inviting parents to school community will help them improve their self-image and self-steem. We know that these are important for their child's academic success and they can achieve better results. Nevertheless, this collaboration is not always easy, because parents are often facing their "challenges" as well.

In order to increase our students´ motivation, it is sometimes enough to arouse the interest of students and show them the reason why what they do is important for their personal lives (this is only one tip). The teacher can easily increase their attention by giving them opportunities to make connections with their immediate surrounding and by doing so, they will value what they´re doing/learning. Moreover, positive encouragement comments from their teachers will promote resilience and continue learning. Indeed, by doing so, we create a sense of belonging and help them create a purpose of their learning process. If the student is involved in his/her learning, this "invitation" will make him/her understand better what he/she does and why he/she is there, therefore he/she will have the sense of his/her responsibility for learning.

https://inspiringlearners.co.in/2017/04/19/blooms-hierarchy-vis-a-vis-maslows-hierarchy/

According to this, if we compare both hierarchies, the fourth level corresponds to Maslow´s self-steem and Bloom´s evaluate. At this point this person has to need the motivation to achieve his/her goals. This level has to do with knowledge and its evaluation, and understanding as well.  

Moving forward to a different concept of education: personalized learning.

As I said before, the type of education provided to deal with our multi-diverse classrooms is one curriculum for all, what means that everyone learns in the same way. My questions arise: did the authors of the curriculums take into account this diversity? Did they take for granted that every student learn in the same way? What are the values attached to their educational programs and recommendations? 

In order to help teachers and students better with their learning difficulties and/or behavior, it is necessary to use strategies adapted to their needs. The ideal is to discuss these methods faculty and school staff, so to create a consistency when dealing with their students. This avoids differences in educational behavior in other subjects or classrooms and find the most effective for each student.

In fact, each student presents, upon arrival in the urban school class, weaknesses, but also strengths. The important thing for the school staff and educators is to deal with these two issues among all those that the student presents, but also to create quality in their learning development and process. It is therefore essential to determine what students are able to do and what they are unable to perform, and then plan and organize their learning development. Such a plan requires a good knowledge of the student, so it is not possible to establish the personalized education plan upon arrival, but only after the first one-two weeks. In order to make this plan efficient, the pedagogical team also relies on the information provided by his/her parent(s)/legal tutor, on the observation made by the educator graduated in the original class, and all other resources at his/her disposal.

Personalized educational plans can help heterogeneous students as well. Strengths and needs vary considerably, but each plan is only suitable for the student for whom it was designed. The personalized education plan often looks at the student´s behavior and tries to define objectives and methods to improve it. Even if the grade level is usually also a problem, the behavior of the student remains the primary concern. Indeed, most of academic results generally go hand in hand with a good attitude in the classroom. It is possible to say that the personalized education plan is therefore, at first, a guide to positively change the behavior of the learner and secondly, its academic performance.

One of the advantages of the PEP is that it allows to trace the evolution a student and the methods implemented. It can therefore serve as a basis for interviews with parents and students or with any external institutions involved. 

Parents and their role in urban schools

How is the family environment? How strong is students´ family linked to their academic success? and thier adaptation to their social environment? All these question are related to the theories developed by Maslow and Bloom.

In urban schools families play a very important role in students´ lives. If we review the average profile of urban school students: low socioeconomic status, low level of parental education and several aspects of the family structure (conflict, alcoholism, violence, etc.) we can see how important they are and how deeply they affect to their school lives. Parents play a decisive role in the risk of dropping out, one of the main problems that urban schools face.

Indeed, parental values, parental supervision and their expectations for academic success are key elements. Their way of life is also a dimension of the functioning family that must be considered when we talk about our students´ performance and dropping out of school. The results of many studies show that low parental supervision, lack of commitment to school activities and lack of encouragement to become independent have a direct influence on the risk that the child leaves school.

In the context of urban school classes, parents are invited to get involved in the following way or respect the following appointments:

• Participate in the school meetings and conferences.
• Sign an educational contract that confirms their agreement with the school: norms, respect guidelines,...
• Engage with school community regularly through the different tools that the school and parent organizations provide like websites, blog and a weekly telephone interview (with the teacher/educator and/or other school staff).
• Be available for a telephone call in case that something happens at school.
• Participate in the informative interview about students´ progress (with the teacher/educator and/or other school staff).
• Be present and part at the decisions that have to be made concerning their children´s learning development.

Nowadays, most middle socioeconomical status families are demanding and are in favor of a new sharing of educational responsibilities towards children. Most of those parents do not hesitate to admit that they can not do it anymore, that their child is too difficult to manage, or that their living and/or working conditions do not allow them to follow up, the supervision and educational presence that their child would need. Unfortunately, when families come to ask for help, it is often already late, as the child's behavior has become significantly ingrained or even aggravated in the meantime. And even worse for those families who do not know how to communicate to school staff or teachers because of different conditions or situations such as non-English speakers, unavailable for conferences and meetings, lack of interest,...

Talking about parents who are helpless in dealing with the demotivation of their children, when the

parents agree to enroll their children in an urban school class, in many cases they are exhausted by "disputes and arguments", because of the lack of agreement on the education of their children and/or the arguments with their children in other cases. Most of the time, any form of communication is broken. Parents do not know how to react to the bad academic performances of their children and do not realize that parental pressure is sometimes too strong, resulting in a violent reaction from teenagers among many others in both contexts: home and school.

In schools, the school staff  can offer parents support. This support is often of purely academic nature, whereas the families would like to be able to benefit from the intervention and the presence of educational stakeholders, able to enrich, support, or diversify their own intervention.

This video sums up the "conflict" between Maslow vs Bloom regarding education:

Articles and references:

• McLeod, S. A. (2018, May 21). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

• Craig, K (2016) Maslow Stuff Before Bloom Stuff: "'Cause I Ain't Got A Pencil!". Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/maslow-stuff-before-bloom-cause-i-aint-got-pencil-kathryn-craig/

• Johnson, C. (2014) Leading Learning for Children From Poverty. Retrieved from http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/351/Leading-Learning-for-Children-From-Poverty.aspx

• Miller, J. (2016) Gotta "Maslow" Before You "Bloom". Retrieved from  https://theeducatorsroom.com/gotta-maslow-bloom-2/

• Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Needs and subjective well-being around the world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 354-356. doi:10.1037/a00

• Mendler, A. (2000). Motivating students who don't care: Successful techniques for educators. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service.