Major Philosopy of

Education; Humanistic
approach
WHAT IS HUMANISM?

 Humanism is originally a psychological term. It

emphasizes the importance of the inner world
of the human being and places the individual’s
thoughts, feelings and emotions at the
forefront of all human developments.
WHAT IS HUMANISTIC APPROACH?

 Humanistic approach is a language

teaching method which emphasize
humanism as the most significiant
element in the teaching process.
Principles of humanistic approach:

Development of human values

Growth in self-awareness and in
the understanding of others
Sensitivity to human feelings and
emotions
Active student involvement in
learning and in the way learning
takes place.
WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE
 Affective humaistic approach sees human
being as a whole person.
 The content is decided by the student.
 The information and learning that takes place
appeals to what the student hopes to gain and
learn.
 It depends less on materials techniques and
linguistic analyses, and more on what goes on
inside and between people in the classroom.
WHY HUMANISTIC APPROACH
EMERGED?
o Humanistic approach emerged to eliminate the limitations
of audiolingual (behaviouristic) and cognitive approach
(cognitivist).
o Humanistic approach view of the human being: made up
of a “house” consisting of mind, body, emotion and spirit
but traditional view of the student our educational system
is generally focused on the “first floor” where we deal
with observable data, information focused on skills and
knowledge base so that young people can become good
employees, workers, entrepreneurs and providers for
their families – what we might call a success in life.
 There are three most important figures in humanistic approach;

 Eric Erikson sees that humans psychological development depends not

only on the way in which individuals pass through predetermined
maturational stages but on the challanges that are set by society at
particular times in their lives.
 Abraham Maslow who proposes a famous hierarchy of needs
deficiency needs and being needs.
 Carl Rogers who supports that human beings have a natural potential
for learning but this will take place only when learning is relevant to
individual.
 Although they have different ideas they all advocates humanistic
approach.
WHAT ARE SOME IMPORTANT AFFECTIVE
FACTORS IN HUMANISTIC APPROACH?
 ANXIETY
 SELF – ESTEEM : is a kind of self – judgement
of worth or value
 LANGUAGE EGO : it refers to the relation
between people feelings of personal identity,
individual uniquesness and value of their first
language.
 EMPATHY: it means putting oneself into
someone elses shoes of reaching beyond other’s
feelings.
APPROACH
Theory of learning:
 ıt is constructivist.
 According to AHA learning is conducive to
personal change and growth and can facilitate
learning provided that the student participates
completely in the learning process and has control
over its nature and direction.
 AHA sees individuals as different from each other in
terms of psychological and social side.
Theory of language:
 It is structural and
functional.

 It includes structural
functional activities.

 It gives importance to forms

and meaning.

 Students learn only

when language is meaningful
fort them.
OBJECTIVES
 Students will learn best what they want
and need to know.
 Knowing how to learn is more important
than acquiring a lot of knowledge
 Self-evaluation is the only meaningful
evaluation of a student's work.
 Feelings are as important as facts.
 Students learn best in a non-threatening
environment
 TEACHER ROLES
 Allow the student to have a choice in
the selection of tasks and activities
whenever possible.
 Help students learn to set realistic goals.
 Have students participate in group work,
especially cooperative learning, in order
to develop social and affective skills.
 Act as a facilitator for group discussions
when appropriate.
 Be a role model for the attitudes, beliefs
and habits you wish to foster.
Constantly work on becoming a better
person and then share yourself with
your students.
LEARNER ROLES

 They are autonomous.

 They learn what they want..Also they are
director as they shape their activities and
group works.
SYLLABUS

 Students are given the

freedom to determine and
assess their learning and
they study language which
they find meaningful and
relevant to them.
LEARNING TEACHING ACTIVITIES

 Learning together: 4 to 6 students have a

worksheet they must learn or complete
together.
encouraged to help each other.
 No competition among groups.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
 Bringing variety and
creativity to the use of
materials and activities used
in class is the most facile and
fun way of keeping the
motivation level high in a
language class.
 Visually attractive handouts,
 worksheets,
 flipchart,
 realia,
 newspapers,
 audiovisual aids
CHARACTERISTICS

 The characteristics of this approach are as follows:

 There should be respect for both the teacher and students and
their feelings.
 Meaningful communication is emphasized.
 Pair and group work are emphasized.
 It is important for students to support each other.
 Learning a foreign language is a self-realization experience.
 Teacher is like a counselor.
 Teacher should be proficient in the target language and
students' native language.
ADVANTAGES

 It improves cooperativeness, creativity and

independence.
 It increases positive attitudes towards teacher and
school.
 It develops stres free environment.
 It reflects a holistic affective and student centered
view of language learning.
 It promotes self confidence.
 Teachers can use music, art and action to make the
class interesting and lively.
DISADVANTAGES

 Humanistic teachers aim for good things but these

are not clearly defined.
 Humanistic approach is highly dependent upon the
capabilities of the teacher.. Teachers should be
proficient in the foreign/second language and they
should be viewed as facilitators and counselors
 It requires carefull preparation of materials.
 Some members dominate anothers are ignored.
CONCLUSION

 Language teaching and learning is a complex process. In

this process, what to learn and how to learn are influenced
by the cognitive motivation, yet cognitive motivation is
determined by individuals’affect. So in language
teaching, teachers should always bear the affective factors
in their minds and put students in the first place, then they
may achieve the success in language teaching.
 The honeymoon of humanistic approaches was short
lived. The problem was that humanism in ELT had
become assciated with topics such as psycho drama, NLP
or gestalt therapy.