The four pillars of education. Education throughout life is based on four pillars.

Learning to know,
learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be. Learning to know by combing a sufficiently
broad genera. Knowledge with the opportunity to work in depth on small number of subjects

Three main domains of learning and all teachers should know about them ad use them to construct
lessons. These domains are cognitive (thinking), affective (emotion/feeling), and psychomotor
(physical/kinesthetic). Each domain on this page has a taxonomy associated with it. Taxonomy is simplu
a word for a classification. All of the taxonomies below are arranged so that they proceed from the
simplest to more complex levels.

Learning takes place in multiple domains and at various degrees of complexity. The Cognitive,
psychomotor, and affective domains are widely accepted and you can find support for the Social domain
(Personal and Social Responsibility), and the health related fitness domain

Cognitive Domain: knowledge and mental skills.

Psychomotor Domain: motor skills
Affective Domain: feelings, values, dispositions, attitudes, etc.
Social Domain: Teamwork

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

In Chapter 2 you saw that people become actualized to accomplish higher
motives only after they have fulfi lled certain basic needs.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow identifi ed seven categories of basic needs
common to all people. Maslow represented these needs as a hierarchy in the
shape of a pyramid (Figure 3.1). A hierarchy is an arrangement that ranks
people or concepts from lowest to highest. According to Maslow, individuals
must meet the needs at the lower levels of the pyramid before they can
successfully be motivated to tackle the next levels. The lowest four levels
represent defi ciency needs, and the upper three levels represent growth
needs.
Physiological Needs
Notice that the physiological needs are the foundation of the pyramid. Why do
you suppose these needs occupy this position?
Maslow suggested that the fi rst and most basic need people have is the
need for survival: their physiological requirements for food, water, and shelter.
People must have food to eat, water to drink, and a place to call home before
they can think about anything else. If any of these physiological necessities is
missing, people are motivated above all else to meet the missing need. Have
you ever had a hard time paying attention to what the professor is saying when
you are hungry? Some of your future students may not have had breakfastor
even dinner the night before. Free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs
have been implemented in schools to help students meet some of their
physiological needs.
)
Growth
Needs
Deficiency
Needs
Physiological Needs
Safety and Security Needs
Love and Belongingness Needs
Self-Worth and
Self-Esteem Needs
Need to Know
and Understand
Aesthetic Needs
Self-
Actualization
Needs
FIGURE 3.1
Maslows hierarchy of needs.
2009 Wadsworth Cengage Learning

Safety and Security Needs

After their physiological needs have been satisfi ed, people can work to meet their needs for safety and security. (But
thephysiological needs must be met fi rst.) Safety is the feeling people get when they know no harm will befall them,
physically,mentally, or emotionally; security is the feeling people get when their fears andanxieties are low. How does this
relate to students in school? What threats to theirphysical, mental, or emotional security might students perceive in
school?(You will investigate safety and security in the classroom more thoroughly in Chapter 8.)
Love and Belongingness Needs
After the physiological needs and the needs for survival and for safety and security have been met, an individual can be
motivated to meet the needs represented athigher levels of the pyramid. The third level of the pyramid are needs associated
with love and belonging. These needs are met through satisfactory relationshipsrelationships with family members,friends,
peers, classmates, teachers, and otherpeople with whom individuals interact. Satisfactory relationships imply acceptance by
others. Having satisfi ed their physiological and security needs, people can venture out and seek relationships from which
their need for love and belonging can be met.

Think about students of the age that you desire to teach. What do they need
from their teacher and the people with whom they establish relationships that will
assure them they are accepted?

Self-Worth and Self-Esteem Needs

Once individuals have satisfactorily met their need for love and belonging, they can begin to develop positive feelings of self-
worth and self-esteem, and act to foster pride in their work and in themselves as people. Before they can work
toward self-esteem, however, they must feel safe, secure, and part of a group such as a class in school. In a study by
Yamamoto et al. (1996), more than 1,700 children in grades 2 through 9 reported that the most stressful events in their
lives were those that threatened their security and those that threatened to embarrass them, thereby challenging their
developing sense of love and belonging. As a teacher, you need to fi nd ways you can help students in your classes develop
positive feelings about themselves and thus begin to satisfy their needs for self-worth and self-esteem.

The Deficiency Needs

The fi rst four levels of Maslows hierarchy of needs are essential for a persons well-being and must be satisfi ed before the
person is motivated to seek experiences that pertain to the upper levels. If a student cannot meet any of these needs, that
student will not be motivated to pursue any of the needs in the succeeding levels.
Because of this, the fi rst four levels of needs are called defi ciency needs. After a defi ciency need has been satisfi ed, a
persons motivation to satisfy it lessens. Fortunately, many students come to school with the defi ciency needs of physiology,
safety and security, love and belongingness, and self-esteem already metat home; in peer groups; in church, scouting,
athletic, or music groups; in other groups; or in some combination of these. However, some students who come to
school are not having these needs met elsewhere and look for ways to satisfy these needs in school. And all students must
meet these defi ciency needs before they can successfully work at learning.

The Need to Know and Understand

The fifth level of Maslows pyramid represents an individuals need to know and understand. According to Maslows
hierarchy, this motivation cannot occur until the deficiency needs have been met to the individuals satisfaction. As you can
imagine, the need to know and understand is a primary area of focus for education and is a topic on which we will
concentrate. One of our primary jobs as educators is to motivate students so they will want to know and understand.

Aesthetic Needs
Aesthetics refers to the quality of being creatively, beautifully, or artistically pleasing; aesthetic needs are the needs to
express oneself in pleasing ways. Decorating your living room, wrapping birthday presents attractively, washing and
waxing your car, and keeping up with the latest styles in clothing are all ways of expressing your aesthetic sense. People are
motivated to meet this need only after the previous fi ve needs have been met. In what (desirable) ways might your
students express themselves aesthetically in your classroom? In what ways might you express yourself aesthetically in your
classroom?

The Need for Self-Actualization

At the top of the pyramid is the need for self-actualization, which is a persons desire to become everything he or she is
capable of becomingto realize and use his or her full potential, capacities, and talents. This need can be addressed only
when the previous six have been satisfi ed. It is rarely met completely; Maslow (1968) estimated that less than 1% of adults
achieve total self-actualization.

The Growth Needs

The upper three levels of the pyramid constitute a persons growth needs. Growthneeds can never be satisfi ed completely.
Contrary to the defi ciency needs, for which motivation diminishes when a need is satisfi ed, as growth needs are met,
peoples motivation to meet them increases. The more these needs are satisfi ed,the more people want to pursue them. For
example, the more one comes to understand,the more ones motivation to learn more increases. Have you experienced
this yourself? In what situation? We hope you are experiencing this increased motivation to learn in your introduction to
education course.