Today, on Blooming Curious we're talking about how we can use
Maslow's hierarchy of needs to motivate children to love learning.
This blog post that I wrote on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and how it links to
children's motivation, it's probably one of the most popular posts that I have.
Now Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who in 1943 published a paper
called The Theory of Human Motivation, and in this paper, he said that humans
have an inbuilt desire to fulfill our own talents and our possibilities.
And he then takes us through this hierarchy, almost like a little
ladder of, so to speak, of how we go through different stages in life, to
eventually reach self-actualization.
Which is the stage related to personal growth and learning.
And basically before we can get to this, the top state, really, there are
a whole list of bottom ones that we have to get through before we can actually
reach the stage of self-actualization.
And that got me thinking.
And I wrote about this in one of my newsletters, actually to my subscribers.
Is that I remember so clearly one day we were on holiday in South Africa and
going to a flea market and there outside the flea market was a woman sitting
with her two children under a tree.
And to me that was such a stark difference in terms of her kids, which
just sat so close to her with these wide open eyes, they didn't move.
And I contrasted that what I was seeing inside this park where kids were
running around and they was screaming and laughing and have a fun time.
I thought, why is it that her children are just sitting there so quietly, so close
to her, and these other children were running around having the greatest time.
And then I realized it was Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Her children hadn't had their basic needs met yet.
Whilst those in the playground that were running around and laughing,
those kids had their basic needs met.
And when we think about this hierarchy of needs, we can see how
things like poverty, for example, hold children back from learning.
And so Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be used by us teachers
and parents, to actually help children fulfill their talents.
And their possibilities.
So as I go through this hierarchy,
I think it's really important that we think about curiosity, which is probably
right at the top of the hierarchy.
And curiosity is really a motivation to ask questions.
And nobody can be motivated to ask questions unless you have a full
belly, which starts right down at the bottom with our physiological needs.
And for us, it means providing for our basic needs, feeling safe,
having enough food, having fresh water, all those kinds of things.
And when we think about this in terms of how children learn.
Providing proper nutrition and health care, this supports
children's physical development.
And it is fundamental for their physiological needs.
Because if you're hungry, when you don't feel well or you're
ill, or you haven't slept.
Or you are living in a home where your basic physiological needs aren't
met, there's not going to be much chance of you coming to school the
next day, and actually being able to focus and concentrate and learn.
In the west, our needs are over met.
We eat too much.
So, how does this
bottom of the pyramid need actually affect our children's learning.
Well, I think.
That we need to start thinking about what it is that we're
feeding our kids proper nutrition.
A child can't focus on learning at school.
If they're bouncing off the walls because their whole lunch box was
just full of sugar and treats.
If we want children to learn.
It's all great that they're coming from homes where they've got food in
their bellies, that they feel safe.
That they've, you know, slept in a nice warm bed.
But yet we're seeing children come to school in the west that actually
are unprepared properly to learn.
These are kids that are being raised on sugar.
It's no wonder that some of these children can't actually even focus to learn.
And so for me, one of the first things, when a child has problems, staying
focused, is instead of rushing off to a doctor to get them on an ADHD medication,
perhaps it might be a good idea just to look at what their diet is like.
So when we look here at ourselves and how we are so fortunate in
the west to have all our basic needs, met most of us anyway.
We are so very lucky.
But yet some of those kids are being fed incorrectly and that does not
set them up for proper learning.
Now the next step up is of course, safety and security, providing
a safe and secure environment so that children feel protected.
This reduces their anxiety.
It's also about setting boundaries for kids to help make life predictable.
Children thrive on boundaries.
And there's this fabulous book that I read many years ago
called Boundaries for Kids, I think.
And I think it's written by doctors, Townsend.
It's a fabulous book and it really helped me to be a better parent because
it really showed and highlighted the fact that children thrive when they
have boundaries, children's thrive when life is predictable, when they
know what's going to happen next.
When they know that when you walk through their door or when then they walk through
a classroom, they know what's coming.
You know, for children who live in homes that are unpredictable or that live
in families that are dysfunctional.
There is no predictability.
It causes tremendous anxiety and I can speak to that from
our own personal experience.
I grew up in a dysfunctional family.
Where nothing was predictable.
And so I can tell you from personal experience that predictability
makes life safe for children.
And so in our classrooms and in our homes, Life needs to be predictable.
Children need to know how far they can push the boundaries.
And when they overstep that boundary, what the consequence will be.
Because that makes life easy to navigate.
And when life is easy to navigate and you feel safe, your belly is
full, you know your parents love you.
You know that your school wants the best for you.
That life is predictable and you know, what's coming your way.
It's much easier than to focus on the next step in Maslow's hierarchy
of needs, because you feel safe, you feel secure, your belly's full.
And so that's really important to think about when we are
raising and teaching children.
Our classrooms can not be chaotic spaces.
They need to be predictable.
As teachers that means that we need to be organized.
It doesn't mean that you have to be rigid because we all know that so
many new things happen every day.
You can't always stick to the timetable.
But children need to know, basically what's coming their way.
So providing the safe and secure environment where children feel
protected really reduces anxiety.
And we all know as teachers that children who suffer from anxiety do
not learn as well as those who don't.
So we need to make sure that all these elements of having boundaries of ensuring
that we are predictable and that life is as predictable as possible really helps a
long way towards helping children learn.
Our next step up in this hierarchy of needs is love and belonging.
This highlights, the importance of social interactions to fulfill
children's needs for love and friendship, and a sense of belonging.
Spending quality time with our children and encouraging friendships, so that
children feel loved and cared for, this is the third step in the hierarchy of needs.
And when it comes to love and belonging, we all know, especially when we dealing
with these early childhood children, that their friendships, are above all
the most important thing to these kids.
And so when we're in his primary school setting, when early years
program, it's those friendships and those relationships with our
children that are the most important.
Right?
So building those relationships with children, finding out about what it is
that they like, what it is that they enjoy doing, where are their talents?
That's what we need to be focused on.
As parents and as teachers is building up our children's self-esteem
really, which is the next step in the hierarchy, by the way.
But children need to feel that they're loved and that means that we have
to spend quality time with them.
And that brings me to something I've spoken to before.
If our children are trying to have a discussion with us and we're on our
phones well, that's not really going to give them any kind of sense of that
they feel loved.
Okay.
That's going to make them feel that they are second class citizens
and that your phone is more important than the conversation
that you're having with your child.
Or your student.
And so when your child or your student is talking to you, we need
to give those children 100% of our attention so that they feel that
they matter so that they feel that what they have to say is important.
That we think it matters that they matter.
So when it comes to love and belonging, we're obviously going to help
children navigate their relationships.
We're going to help children navigate all these social
problems with their friendships.
We're going to give them the structures and perhaps helpful hints to help them
to navigate friendships and to make sure that they are actually good friends,
that they not mean that they not bullies, that they not saying ugly things to
their friends, but that they are kind and welcoming and accepting of everybody.
Right.
That's what we want.
And that whole love and belonging is about making your children and our students
feel that they are loved and that they belong in our classrooms, in our homes.
And so giving them our full attention and creating a safe spaces for them
to ask questions, for example, so that they know that their thoughts,
their ideas, their interests, are important and that they matter.
And that's how we create the sense of love and belonging in
our students and in our children.
Now the second last rung in our hierarchy of needs is self-esteem.
And this is focused on activities that promote self-confidence
and a positive self image.
It's recognizing children's achievements and their unique abilities and
celebrating independence and grit.
Kids with good self-esteem are more likely to cope with mistakes and
they feel proud of what they can do.
And so often now we're seeing kids with low self esteem and when a child
has low self esteem, that is when they are more likely to go and get
hooked up with groups that perhaps we don't want them to be hooked up with.
This is when they are going to go look for place or for people that
are going to make them feel good.
Right.
So, what we need to do is we need to give children that self confidence
and that positive self image.
And I think that comes to us as parents and teachers, we need to
stop doing things for our children.
And when I say that, I mean, we need to stop carrying their backpacks
for example.
Because what that is telling our children is, you know what, sweetie,
you are not strong enough or big enough to carry your own backpack.
We need to do that for our children.
We need to get them understanding that they have what it takes, that they're
strong, that they're independent.
Grit is one of the most important traits that we can give our children.
And if children have grit, they are more likely to succeed.
Because it's that perseverance that sees us having success later on in life.
Often there are so many people who are super smart, but they don't
have that grit and perseverance
so they just give up before they get there.
And this is such an important trait we need to leave our children with.
We need to encourage them to have grit.
That whole thing about self-esteem.
We need to give them challenges.
You know, when you look at children who are playing video games.
They love games with challenges, the thing where they can get to
that next level, get the next badge, um, open up the next prize.
They love challenges.
And then what do we do?
We take away challenges.
We don't ask them to ask questions.
We try not to make life hard for the poor little things.
We try to wrap them up in cotton wool.
We try to take away all obstacles.
And then we hear about things like lawn mower, parenting, and helicopter
parenting, where we trying to just, you know, make our children's lives easy.
And what we're actually doing is making their lives hard because we're
taking away a chance for them to push themselves, to give them challenges,
so they can actually meet those challenges.
And when they do, they feel so proud of themselves.
And it's that pride in themselves that builds their self esteem.
And that's what we want.
We want children to have strong self-esteem.
And to have that we need to give them challenges and to have that it
means that we need to back off and let them have a bit of a struggle,
'cause that struggle creates character.
So let's not forget that.
And then we get an, a last rung of Maslow's hierarchy,
which is self-realization.
So their bellies are full.
They feel safe.
They feel secure.
We've given them our full attention.
We've given them love.
They know where they belong in their families and in their schools.
They have high self-esteem.
We've given them these small little struggles that they have overcome,
which has built their self esteem.
And now they have grit and they have perseverance.
And now they can actually get to self realization or as Maslow
calls it self actualization.
And this is the last step in the hierarchy of needs.
And this is related to personal growth and learning.
And now is the time that we provide children with opportunities when they
can explore their interests and their talents and develop skills, and encourage
curiosity to meet their full potential.
It focuses on those positive behaviors and qualities that will help children achieve
personal satisfaction and personal growth.
So if I go back to my little story that I told you at the beginning.
You cannot be curious and ask questions and think that you now want to
develop your skills and your talents, and maybe be, you know, become an
artist or a great tennis player.
If you don't have strong self esteem, if you don't believe in yourself, you
don't have any grit or perseverance.
If you don't feel that you are loved that you've got a full belly, how are you
going to now be curious about the world around you if those things aren't met.
So in order for us to help our children as educators, don't be
always say, and as parents, we just want the best for our children.
We want to help them to reach their full potential.
Well to reach their full potential they have to have all those steps
in that hierarchy of needs met.
And once they've had all those steps met, we've provided them with safety,
we've given them good, healthy food so that they're not bouncing off walls
because they're full of sugar and e numbers and colourants and preservatives.
We've provided a safe space where they can feel safe.
We've provided them with a space where they feel loved and
they feel a sense of belonging.
We've provided them with enough challenges in their lives so that
they have a sense of grit and that they have pride in their achievements.
And now.
Can you imagine?
What it would be like, cause now you can actually support their interests.
Now is the time where they can be curious.
Where they can explore the world around them, where they can achieve self
satisfaction , in what they've achieved.
And embraced personal growth.
We can't expect kids to start thinking about that metacognition about how
am I learning and how am I thinking?
And what's the best way for me to learn.
If we haven't even given them grit and perseverance.
You're the minute you put a math problem in front of them.
They fall apart.
The minute they have a little challenge when they have to work in a group to
figure out a problem, they start crying and they're falling apart because
they haven't yet acquired high enough
self-esteem.
So for us as educators and parents, what does that mean?
It means that if a child is falling apart at a math problem, and they've
got all those other needs met.
It means that they lack self-esteem and perhaps that is where we need
to have a conversation instead of saying, well, you know what, they
actually can't do math problems.
Maybe the problem lies in the fact that they lack self-esteem that they lack
grit and perseverance to keep going.
So I created an infographic using Maslow's hierarchy of needs and related
to how children learn and how we can best meet the needs of children to
help them meet their full potential and how Maslow's theory can help us
as educators and parents to rekindle and nurture children's curiosity.
Because we know that highly curious people are also highly motivated to learn.
And curiosity means that we ask questions.
And a lack of curiosity means that there is a lack of interest and
a lack of motivation to learn.
So, if you want to have a look at my little infographic that I created.
I will leave a link for you in the show notes.
I hope that you found today's episode a little bit interesting.
As I said, it's probably one of my most popular blog posts,
this one on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and how it relates to children's learning.
And if you want to download your own little infographic I'll leave a link
for you to do so in the show notes.
Now I just want to say thanks so much for listening to blooming curious.
Uh, I know that there's so many other podcasts you can listen to, but
you've chosen to listen to this one.
And for that, I am eternally grateful.
But if you like any of the episodes, on blooming curious,
and even this one, could I ask you to do me a massive favor, please?
Could you please leave a review.
Could you also please like this podcast and share it because that
is actually the way podcasts grow.
The more you tell other people about this podcast.
The more other people will get to know about it and they'll listen
and in blooming, curious can grow and who knows how many people we can motivate to
get more kids and adults curious, which is exactly what the world needs now.
More curiosity, more questions.
More people who can think independently, critically, and who have curiosity.
So like, and share with a friend that would be awesome.
Thank you so much.
And remember.
Curiosity is your superpower.
And so same time, same place next week.
I'll see you there.
Thank you for listening.