Expanding on Maslow... where's my motivation gone?
I was out for a walk today and enjoying the Autumn views.
All part of me trying to do some mindfulness practice. But when the views are this beautiful, its not difficult.
I've been thinking recently about a lot of things. But, if you read my previous blog post you'll know some of my reasons. Today I've been thinking specifically about motivation, where it comes from, and why it matters because my motivation recently has taken a real nose dive.
Today I got up at around 10am and thought, "Nope! I cannot face this day." I decided to stay in bed and hide under the covers until well into the afternoon. And now that its night time, I've achieved nothing. I thought today a lot about what motivates me.
Every educator knows Maslow's (1946, as cited by McLeod, 2020) Heirarchy of Needs...
...and if I put an analytical head on, I might think that part of my reason for feeling low at the moment is because my life has changed so much that I've moved down the pyramid. Some of my needs on each of these levels are not being met any longer and, while Maslow himself acknowledged that needs on each level dont need to be completely fulfilled in order to move up the pyramid, what happens when events overtake you and the person or thing that was meeting your needs on the lower levels is suddenly gone?
Chuter (2019) might suggest that the stress of that loss causes you to focus all your energy on that need. So anxiety is a completely expected natural reaction because you can't see the bigger picture further up the pyramid.
Or at least thats how I've always understood Maslow until today.
I'm starting to realise its not like an elevator that you just keep moving up and down depending on where life takes you, but more like bricks in a lego pyramid construction. Sometimes some of those bricks break and need to be removed/replaced but without the right support the whole structure might fall down. I'll try to explain what I mean.
There are interrelationships and disconnections between the levels of the pyramid. For example, if you don't have money (in the yellow level) then the ability to provide food, heat, shelter etc. for you and your family are compromised (at the red level). But from my own experience I found that, despite all the changes I've been through in my life recently, my sense of self-esteem, self-respect and social status never once felt deflated because I had so much support from family and friends (at the green level). I always felt like I belonged and that I was loved and supported So where has Maslow gone wrong? What is Maslow's model missing?
Perhaps, putting it more simply, although there has been damage to some of the bricks in the red and yellow layers of my pyramid, the bricks in the green and light blue layers were totally fine. The anxiety I felt about the red and yellow bricks were taking up all my energy. I was so stressed about them that I couldn't see how much support I had in the green and blue layers.
I suppose that some might argue that money and resource, good health and a good body etc. can help you find friends and develop loving personal relationships, shallow as that seems to me. But if we follow that logic through, it seems to reduce the human condition to little less than a resource gathering mission which, in my view at least, is an awful thought.
But there's more to it than that. There's an issue of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation too.
My motivators had always been extrinsic, pleasure derived from the relationships I had with the people in my life, providing red and yellow bricks for the people I loved. When those relationships changed, or ended my motivation changed too. I could keep working all I wanted, but there was no pleasure to be derived because I had no-one to give those red and yellow bricks to. See what I mean? I'm sure this speaks to parents, spouces, educators and so many people around the world.
Yes my life has changed, yes I encountered financial problems and I was worried about all those bricks in the red and yellow layers of my own pyramid. But because of the love and strength I got from the people in my green layer, I can see now that they've been busy trying to provide those red and yellow bricks for me in my time of need. All along they've been helping me stabilise my pyramid, my very own team of structural engineers. Perhaps thats what our students need us to be? Ever thought of yourself as a structural engineer before?
So I think that's all I wanted to share.
Maslow's model isn't an elevator or staircase to move up and down. But is better thought of as a block construction. And when bricks go missing or they break, if you're lucky, you might be able to ask other people to borrow bricks from their lego stash.
But all of that is on a personal level. What about on an educational level? How can I relate that to my students?
By providing laptops and devices, we're putting in those yellow resource bricks that enable students to participate in learning. But without a sense of community and belonging learners motivation can be severely weakened. Maybe we need to be vigilant and watch out for signs of struggle because when life gets tough and they've no-one to borrow bricks from, their whole learning journey could fall apart. Its important that we do that and help students to realise the importance of social learning, learning together, working together, building together.
I've been reminded of a presentation by Prof. Gilly Salmon (ND, as cited by Yammouni, 2014) where learning is compared with climbing a mountain. If we have a good sherpa who ropes us all together at the beginning of the journey, there's less chance that we lose people during the climb.
By creating a learning community where students and teachers look out for each other on their learning journey, those basic red and yellow bricks are better supported.
You can follow me on twitter @McintoshMclean.
References
Chuter C. (2019) The importance of social connections in schools [Online]. Available at: https://theeducationhub.org.nz/social-connection/ (Accessed 5th November).
McLeod, S. (2020) Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs [Online]. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html (Accessed 7th November 2020).
Yammouni, D. (2014) Climbing the Learning Mountain [Online]. Available at: https://youtu.be/GbwJMKWFfbI (Accessed 7th November 2020).
Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Maslow's Hierachy of Needs was only recently brought to my attention- I suspect it was doing the rounds on social media or something!
I am not a teacher any longer, but I was a long time ago and it wasn't brought up then in our training or mentioned on staff training days. And it really should have been.
Also interestingly (and tangentally) we *were* taught about "learning styles" which have since been debunked (yet I often hear reference to them by educators!).
Thanks for sharing Vicky. In my training, Maslow and Learning Styles were both in the curriculum but my stance on both is still evolving.
DeleteI think there is perhaps some truth in learning styles and whether or not that has an impact in engagement with online learning? I can see how it might work for visual, audio or read/write learning styles. But for learners who prefer a more kinaesthetic approach, I can see how it might now work for them.
I suggest looking onto learning styles again :) I know in teaching college it was taught as gospel but there are so many sources that debunk the theory... mostly that there's no actual proof of learning styles.
Deletehttps://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/learning-styles-debunked-there-is-no-evidence-supporting-auditory-and-visual-learning-psychologists-say.html
That's a really interesting article Vicky! You're right too - these theory's can never just be accepted as gospel. While I get where it's coming from, I just think that a lot of online learning content is based on a combination of visual and audio content. I'm thinking about the use of Youtube video's, Podcasts etc. I'm thinking of learners with reading difficulties who might have difficulties where a podcast/audio recording might help their literacy levels? Or learners with chronic pain who couldn't spend hours sitting at a computer whereas watching a video or listening to a recording while moving around the house might be more accessible.
DeleteWhile I'm sure the idea of categorising learners neatly into learning styles just doesn't work, I've got to say, I'm finding myself drawn increasingly to the idea of multi-modal literacy!
I think key here, is that yes, there is and should be multi-modal learning... and crucially, having a disability is not the same as having a learning style. It's more of a learning need. Having different learning activities could be related to, say The Conversational Framework... or following WCAG guidelines and not linked to learning styles.
DeleteI wish I kept notes of things I read and find interesting, but I read somewhere everyone is a "kinesthetic learner"... well of course... you go out and do something, you will remember it, won't you? But trying VAK your classes, when you think that some students can *only* learn if the learning is kinesthetic can be problematic when the content does not lend itself to kinasethics.
I now remember this thing about "brain gym" which is linked to learning styles, specifically, kinestethics... are you familiar with brain gym? The idea is that certain exercises can wake up parts of the brain for optimal learning, for, say, number, or, say handwriting... total psuedo-science!
Right, I just consulted my notes and I found this Ted Talk about Learning Styles if you are interested :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs&t=49s
And this is a seminal paper that debunked it Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: a systematic and critical review. LSRC reference, Learning & Skills Research Centre, London.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-learning-styles/
And there's this learning style challenge... prove it exists and get $$$ https://www.worklearning.com/2020/02/24/jane-bozarth-pledges-1000-to-the-learning-styles-challenge/
I'll stop now! I am rambling.
I think we're both in agreement, but from possibly coming at this from two different viewpoints.
DeleteI qound this quote on the Internet about learning styles:
"There's a long-held view that students have different learning styles and that teachers have to adapt their teaching to those styles."
There's only one word there I don't agree with - "styles". If it read:
"There's a long-held view that students have different learning [needs] and that teachers have to adapt their teaching to those [needs]"
...I have no problem with that.
I think the learning styles model however did help provide a foundation that directed educators to look more closely at the needs of students.