In current education, humanist educators consider learning from the perspective of the human potential for growth, becoming the best one can be. The shift is to the study of affective as well as cognitive dimensions of learning. Beliefs include: human beings can control their own destiny; people are inherently good and will strive for a better world; people are free to act but must be responsible; behavior is the consequence of human choice; and people possess unlimited potential for growth and development. There is a natural tendency for people to learn, which will flourish if nourishing, encouraging environments are provided.
Humanism was developed as an educational philosophy by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), who emphasized nature and the basic goodness of humans. Rousseau’s view on society was very strong. Rousseau believed that we created for ourselves artificial and fake realties for ourselves. Rather than letting children’s mind be controlled and govern my educators, he opted for letting children think for themselves. Teachers roles should be to encourage their students to be the best versions of themselves, and not to create competitions.
In order to create a functional classroom, there must be three concepts present. Those concepts are engagement, self-evaluation, and good relationships.
There are many ways to keep a class engaged in lessons. To begin, one way is to introduce cooperate learning. In recent studies, students are shown to work better if they work in groups. Each student is assigned a task and is encouraged to ask fellow classmates for help or ideas. This gives a student a chance to view the assignment in different perspectives, and also encourage communication between peers. Another way to keep a class engaged is to make the lessons relevant to their present day lives. Students often find themselves not paying attention to things that appear no relevant to them. Ways to help that problem are to tell stories, or to even ask students to share about their own ideas based on the concepts. Another way to promote engagement is by letting students decide what times work best for them to complete certain assignments. Students often feel pressured when working by a strict schedule. Students should be given the opportunity to work freely on given assignments so they can provide their best works. By getting rid of harsh deadlines, students are more prone to ask questions and understand certain materials, rather than just completing assignments.
Self-evaluation is becoming a big factor in our educational settings. Self-evaluations are a good opportunity for students to sit back and think about their assignments and overall well-being. This prompts for development inside and outside the classroom. A really effective way to reflect on what is going on is to keep some type of journal. Journaling gives the students opportunities to reevaluate their current situations and see what they can change. This brings back to the idea that students should understand the reasons for their own behaviors. Educators are present to guide their students to the right paths and provide wholesome atmospheres, not to change how the students already is. Another way for self-evaluating is letting having a mini conference time with each student to go over the work they are going to submit. This gives an opportunity for better understanding, communication, and improved grades.
Having good relationships can mean two things. The first thing is making sure there is a good student teacher bond. Having such bond will encourage students to make more effort towards learning. Basically, this humanistic idea has to do with a teacher establishing interest for each child, not just a class. This way, students alongside their peers can openly discuss about their feelings and interests. A good example of a good relationship might be attending extracurricular activities such as: sports, fine arts, and volunteering. Having such good connections gives the student the confidence to share with their loved ones what is going on in school, as well as what they like and don’t like. The second thing has to do with forming a good relationship with the parent or guardian. This gives for an opportunity for families to discuss things at home. A great example of this would be parent teacher conferences. They are amazing opportunities for educators to discuss students’ successes and strengths inside the humanistic classroom. the humanistic philosophy doesn’t end at school, it could also work at home. Parents should treat their children like they would treat anyone else. The humanistic idea in the household works the same as the one in school. It is a parent’s job to also guide their children into the path of success and to teach them how to make good decisions.
Overall, the humanistic view has to do with the idea that children are good at the core and that education should focus on rational ways to teach the whole child. This theory states that the student is the authority on how they learn, and that all of their needs should be met in order for them to learn well. The humanistic idea can work in all types of educational settings. Commonly, people come to think that such actions can only work in the primary grade of education. The truth is, it can work in all settings, as long as the educator guides the students on how to do so.