Humanism
Describe Humanism
Humanism involves individuals taking ownership of their own learning. It focuses on the affective domain over the cognitive domain as well as developing independence, self-reliance, and self-awareness.
Describe CRT
Critical Race Theory (CRT) compels us to confront the historical impact of laws disadvantaging minority groups such as people based on race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and disability status.
Humanism centers on the holistic development of the individual; CRT examines how systemic racism and historical inequalities impact education systems, curricula, and student outcomes.
What is one of CRT's strengths?
CRT promotes the use of culturally significant and appropriate curricula.
Who are the core founders of Humanism?
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers are considered important founding members of the Humanistic educational philosophy established in the mid 1900's.
Maslow believes that learning can be maximized if some prerequisites are met such as feeling safe, loved, a sense of belonging, and strong self-esteem.
Rogers believes that teachers are facilitators and humanistic teachers are genuine, unconditionally accepting, and empathetic.
What role do teachers play from a humanistic viewpoint?
Humanists view teachers more as facilitators. These facilitators may be less strict regarding personal beliefs than traditional teachers and take into account the ideas and feelings of their students. The relationship between facilitator and student is very important in humanism and is more of a cooperative relationship.
What are the critical core components of CRT?
1. race is socially constructed, 2. racism is normalized, 3. interest convergence, 4. differential socialization, 5. intersectionality, 6. voices of color thesis
What are the similarities between CRT and Humanism?
They both tie into culturally responsive teaching.
What is one strength of Humanism?
Humanism develops strong self-concept which has a reciprocal relationship with academic achievement.
Who are key CRT researchers?
Starting in the 1970s, Bell, Freeman, Crenshaw, Delgado, Harris, Lawrence III, Matsuda, Williams, and more recently, Kellner, Giroux, Blake, Masschelein.
What are some values of humanism?
-Overall well being
-Strong self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-concept
-Acceptance of others
-Empathy
What do interest convergence, and differential socialization refer to?
The idea is that social change for minority groups occurs when their interests align with those of the majority.
The practice of attributing various negative stereotypes to members of minority groups.
Where did the phrase "Bear Down" originate?
In 1926, John Byrd "Button" Salmon, our student body president and quarterback, was critically injured in a car crash. His last words to his coach were, "Tell them … tell the team to bear down."
What is a weakness of CRT?
While CRT raises awareness and advocates for the reduction of inequities in education, it often remains ineffective due to strong traditional forces in educational practices.
Who coined the CRT term intersectionality?
Crenshaw's work has been foundational in critical race theory and in "intersectionality," a term she coined to describe the multiple areas of simultaneous prejudice (racial, gender, religion, language, ability, and many others).
What other psychological theories are closely related to humanism?
Positive Psychology founded by Martin Seligman explores the impact of 4 traits on individuals, well being, optimism, happiness, and self-determination.
How does CRT approach the study of teaching and learning?
CRT is used in education to raise awareness about racism and inequities in education. CRT studies have revealed a connection between individual racism and larger systemic forms of racism (Huber, 2012).
What is one way Humanism and CRT affect students in the classroom?
Critical thinking is a student trait from both Humanistic and CRT perspectives. Whether students take ownership of their learning or analyze racial inequality, critical thinking is a key component.
What is one weakness of Humanism?
This philosophy is difficult to assess as holistic growth is very subjective and measured differently from case to case.
Humanism Citation
Arab, M., Ghavami, B., Akbari Lakeh, M., Yaghmaie, M., & Hosseini-Zijoud, S.-M. (2015). Learning Theory: Narrative Review. International Journal of Medical Reviews, 2(3), 291–295. https://www.ijmedrev.com/article_68672.html
Arghode, V., Brieger, E. W., & McLean, G. N. (2017). Adult learning theories: implications for online instruction. European Journal of Training and Development, 41(7), 593–609. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-02-2017-0014
Arnold, J., & Foncubierta, J. M. (2021). The Humanistic Approach. In The Routledge Handbook of the Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. Routledge.
For the group! Is there a place for humanism in current schooling and does it perpetuate the current issues of inequity in the United States education system? Why or why not?
Any perspectives are welcome!!
Classroom participation is welcome!
What is below the UA football field?
The University of Arizona football stadium, also known as Arizona Stadium, has a scientific optics facility called the Mirror Lab hidden under the east wing.
What is a criticism of CRT when addressing microaggression?
Some studies have shown that when addressing microaggressions in education, CRT is not always articulated and executed (Wintner et al., 2017).
CRT Citations
Huber, L. P. (2011). Discourses of Racist Nativism in California Public Education: English Dominance as Racist Nativist Microaggressions. Educational Studies, 47(4), 379–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2011.589301
Wintner, S., Almeida, J., & Hamilton-Mason, J. (2017). Perceptions of microaggression in K-8 school settings: An exploratory study. Children and Youth Services Review, 79, 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.07.020