Monday, August 25, 2014

"Bloom Stuff" and "Maslow Stuff"

I stumbled across this picture (via Twitter, retweeted originally from @DocbobLA) and this quote/idea reasonates with me: I believe that if we don't attend to the "Maslow stuff" with students (e.g. sense of belonging/trust, etc.) we won't be able to even get to the "Bloom stuff" (e.g. analysis, synthesis, other critical thinking skills).

In my district, I get to co-present with other administrators on the topic "Relationship Matters." The main idea of that presentation supports the claim this quote makes: relationships are the "oxygen" in teaching/learning situations. Positive relationships have to be in place before learning can occur - they are the atmosphere teachers and learners breathe and operate in.

I think I've always had and operated on that belief as a teacher, but I've never thought about the belief in this "Bloom and Maslow" context before. I'd love to hear from other psych teachers about
  • whether or not the quotes "fits" with your teaching (or not!) 
  • how you attend to "Maslow and Bloom" stuff in your classroom
  • possible connections to the motivation unit? If this quote is true for learning, maybe it could be the basic idea behind some really interesting discussions/activities during the motivation unit?


posted by Rob McEntarffer

2 comments:

MrsTemple said...

I believe this definitely counts in my case! I teach male juveniles ages 12-18 at a placement school. They come to us from the courts. They are with us instead of being in jail. Most of these kids don't have any trust with anyone. At least we are giving them a safe place to stay, food, and we also try to give them an education. Teaching them psychology is so rewarding because they are interested in learning about Psychology. I love this and I am so grateful for you sharing this with me.

Anonymous said...

I also agree with this idea. I love this photo so much that I am going to use it as the cover page for my evaluation portfolio this year.