Education AS SELF Actualization PDF

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EDUCATION AS SELF-ACTUALIZATION Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D. Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected]

It has been my experience that education is most effective when the prime directive is to do what Marie Montessori proposed in 1946, and that is to help each child discover and then release his or her full potential. The Indian philosopher, Krishnamurti proposed that education’s goal should be to free individuals from the illusion of one’s cultural conditioning so that they can think and value for themselves (Miller, 2001). Thomas Moore (1992), in The Seat of the Soul, recommends that schools strive to develop depth of feeling and imagination, instead of only focusing on knowledge and skills. I agree with each of these, and I would add that our schools should be vehicles for self-actualization. Self-actualization here is the state where one is able to accept and express of one’s inner core or self and begin to actualize those capacities and potentialities found there (Maslow, 1968) (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Maslow’s hierarch of needs. 5-STEP HIERARCHY OF NEEDS B-motivation, Being Motivation or Growth Needs 1. Self-actualization - some or all of the following: a. Transcendence: helping others self-actualize *b. Self-actualize: personal growth, self-fulfillment *c. Aesthetic needs : need for beauty, balance, form, creativity; need to create and express *d. Cognitive needs : need to know, understand * Young children naturally function here D-Motivation, Deficiency Motivation, Deficiency Needs (based on a seeming lack of something) 2. Esteem needs - achievement, status, responsibility, reputation. 3. Belongingness and love needs - need to feel family affection, relationships, work group, part of the group 4. Safety needs - need for protection, security, order, law, stability, physical safety, quality of life, continuing income, money, protection of home. 5. Biological and physiological needs - food, air, water, warmth, sleep, sex

There are four tasks specifically related to self-actualization: 1. Discover and understand oneself. This occurs through writing and various other self-reflective experiences. Understanding and accepting oneself makes it more likely that these qualities will be applied others. Also, understanding oneself makes it less likely that the conscious will be ruled by unconscious forces (Bettleheim, 1984). Part of self-actualizing then involves integrating the conscious and unconscious parts of one’s personality (Russel-Chapin,

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Rybak, & Copilevitz, 1996). Only by bringing unconscious images, wants, and feelings to consciousness is one free to act upon them. 2. Express one’s inner core. Once one has discovered important images and ideas from the inner, the next step it to express them. This allows those images and ideas to interact with other humans, and in so doing, creates a more dynamic and more richly defined interaction between the ego and the self. This can be done through poetry, writing, music, dance, the visual arts, and drama (Sylwester, 2000), and also in small group discussions where students are engaged in honest dialogue. 3. Find one’s passion and act on it. This is a matter of discovering what one is interested in and indulging in it. This is what adults do. I usually write and study only about those things I am interested in. If we respect children, we should afford them the same opportunity. For example, a student may find a passion for science, mathematics, religion, marketing, writing, or some other topic. That student should then be allowed to pursue that passion. This is what mythologist Joseph Campbell (1968) calls finding your bliss. In this regard, Krishnamurti (1964) stated that schools should, “... help you to find out what you really love to do so that from the beginning to the end of your life you are working at something which you feel is worthwhile and which for you has deep significance” (P. 7). Part of a teacher’s role then is to expose students to a wide variety of topics and activities and create the structure whereby they can indulge their passions. 4. Discover one’s strengths or particular talents and learn how to use them to solve problems. As Robert Sternberg (1996) describes in his book, Successful Intelligence, highly successful people are not necessarily those who have a great many strengths and few weaknesses; rather, successful people are those who learn how to use their strengths to compensate for a weakness in order to solve problems or create products. And, as Howard Gardner has illustrated (1983), intelligence is not a specific entity or a clearly defined way of thinking; rather, it is the ability to solve problems or create products where are valued within a cultural setting. There are as many ways to solve problems as there are problems and as such, intelligence manifests in many forms and in many ways. Helping children to become effective problem solvers means finding and helping to develop their preferred way of thinking and knowing. SELF-ACTUALIZATION ACTIVITIES Self-actualization activities need not (should not) replace a curriculum already in place. Like a small glove inside a larger one, these activities can augment and enhance those things a teacher is already doing. Self-actualization activities may involve creative dramatics, poetry, creative writing, art, music, dance, moral reasoning, problem solving, community service, books and literature, or simply silence. It is beyond the scope of this article to specific activities in each of these, however, self-actualization should have some or all of the following eight characteristics: 1. They are open ended. Students are not expected to come to a predetermined conclusion or create a standardized product. Like life, there is no set answer. Students are allowed and even encouraged to come to their own conclusions. In creating or respond, they can take the idea as far as they want or, in turn, respond as minimally as they feel necessary. For example, you would not find a teacher saying to a student, “Your writing assignment is very short. Why don’t you go back and add some more description?”

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2. They are meaningful. Assignments and activities are not created to keep students busy, to have them demonstrate their knowing, or to get a nice, dispersion of scores. Rather, self-actualization activities are designed to increase understanding or to move students forward. Students are able to connect with the activity on a personal level. Homework is seen here, not as a measuring device, but as practice of things that have already been learned in class (Brophy, 1986). After reading a chapter in a social studies text, the regular curriculum might have students do some sort of worksheet to reinforce ideas or to gage their comprehension. The teacher would say, “Find an idea that you find interesting. Describe it using words, pictures, or some other form, then tell us how it might touch your life.” 3. They connect with students’ lives. These activities try to make connection with students inner or outer life. For example, after reading a story, students might be asked to describe similar feelings, events, characters, or situations from their own lives. In a science lesson students might be directed to see how a concept touches their lives or to take an imaginary trip somewhere and describe what they see, feel, and hear. 4. They promote a greater understanding of self. One of the goals self-actualization activities is to examine those parts of ourselves that have been ignored. This is done in order to begin to recognize why we think and feel as we do. In this way, we can eventually free ourselves unconscious forces. 5. They promote a greater understanding of others. When students are able to look beyond surface differences they are able to see the great commonality in the human experience, one that transcends time, geography, race, ethnicity, society, status, and religions. This deeper look helps them to connect with others in a more meaningful way with others. They ask not why, but why. 6. They allow students share their ideas with others. Here students thinking, creating, and doing not just for the teacher, but for a variety of audiences. Dramas are created and performed in other classrooms. Writing projects are shared and eventually turned into class books. Students are asked to respond to the ideas of others. You see cooperative learning and students talking with other students. Students are encouraged to turn to a neighbor to get help or to share an idea. 7. They recognize multiple ways to demonstrate knowing. In traditional curriculums, knowledge is demonstrated by taking a test or writing a report. Self-actualization activities invite people are able to express their knowledge and understand in a variety of ways. For example, students may create dramas demonstrating important concepts, use art, photography, give a speech, use dance or creative movement, use music, dress up as a character and recreate important events, or create a video. Imagine in a science class, important concepts represented using sculpture or visual in art, set to music, and presented to other students in a video or slide presentation. (For those pragmatists, I do not recommend doing these kinds of things all the time.) 8. They recognize and attend to the spiritual element in each child. Spirituality here is something completely apart from organized religion. It can be viewed two ways: First, it can be seen in a purely secular sense as an accumulation of one’s ideals, values, and lofty aspiration. It is that higher part of self, super ego, or what I call super consciousness that is accessed through one’s intuitive sense. Second, spirituality can be seen in the sacred sense as the part of oneself connected to something beyond self which is of numinous origin. Regardless of the view, one’s spirituality opens that person up to experiences beyond the experience.

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IMPORTANCE SELF-ACTUALIZATION ACTIVITIES Self-actualization activities are designed to lead to a better understanding of oneself, which in turn makes it less likely that the conscious mind will be ruled by unconscious forces (Bettleheim, 1984). By bringing unconscious images, wants, and feelings to consciousness one is then free to act upon them. Also, neglecting the inner, subjective world of the psyche increases the likelihood that students will experience meaninglessness, psychic fragmentation, or some form of affect disorder (Jung, 1933; Smith, 1990; Sylwester, 2000). Educating the whole person means restoring balance between inner and outer lives, what John Miller (2000) calls soulful learning. So why should we care about self-actualization? The Gospel of St. Matthew, “What shall it profit a person if that person should gain the whole world but lose his or her soul” (Matthew 16:26). Which is to say, what is the use of having high test scores if our children do not know who they are, what their passions are, where their strengths lie, or how to obtain happiness? REFERENCES Bettleheim, B. (1984). Freud and man’s soul (2nd ed.). New York: Random House, Inc. Brophy, J. (1986). Teacher influences on student achievement. American Psychologist, 41, 10691077. Campbell, J. (1968). The hero with a thousand faces (2nd ed ). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Campbell, J. (1988), The power of myth. New York: Doubleday. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York: HarperCollins. Jung, C.G. (1938). Psychology and religion. Binghamton, NY: The Vail-Ballou Press, Inc. Krishnamurti, J. (1953). Education and the significance of life. New York: Harper & Row. Krishnamurti, J. (1964). Think on these things. New York: HarperPerennial Maslow, A. (1970. Religions, values, and peak-experiences. New York: Penguin. Maslow, A.H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Miller, J.P. (2000). Education and the soul: Toward a spiritual curriculum. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, Albany. Miller, J.P. (2001). Krishnamurti and holistic education. Encounter, 13(4), 36-44. Moore, T. (1992). Care of the soul: A guide for cultivating depth and sacredness in everyday life. New York: HarperPerennial. Russel-Chapin, L.A., Rybak, C.J., & Copilevitz, T.B. (1996). The art of teaching Jungian analysis. Journal of Humanistic Education and Development, 34, 171-181. Sternberg, R. (1996). Successful intelligence: How practical and creative intelligence determine success in life. New York: Plume Smith, C.D. (1990). Religion and crisis in Jungian analysis. Counseling and Values, 34, 177-186. Sylwester, S. (2000). Unconscious emotions, conscious feelings. Edu

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