Frontiers Enablement Model

1. Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs

Maslow's theory states that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs must be satisfied before higher needs.

Basic Needs

Basic (or physiological) needs are those required to sustain life, e.g. air, water & food.

Safety Needs

Once these needs are met, attention turns to safety needs - to be free from the threat of physical & emotional harm. They might be fulfilled by living in a safe area or having financial reserves.

Belonging

Once these lower needs are met, higher level needs awaken. The first level of higher needs are belonging or social needs, which relate to interaction with others and may include: friendship, belonging to a group, giving & receiving love.

Esteem

Once a person feels a sense of belonging, the need to feel important arises. Esteem needs include internal esteem needs, e.g. self-respect & achievement, and external esteem needs, e.g. social status & recognition.

Cognitive

It is only once these lower needs have been met, that cognitive needs can be met. However, most schools focus primarily on cognitive needs, ignoring lower levels.

Aesthetic

Aesthetic needs are about appreciating nature and beauty. Maslow placed them at a similar level to the cognitive needs.

Self-actualisation

Self-actualisation - the quest of reaching one's full potential as a person - is the summit of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Unlike lower level needs, this need is never fully satisfied; as one grows psychologically there are always new opportunities to continue to grow. Self-actualised people tend to have needs such as truth, justice, wisdom & meaning.

Applying Maslow

For successful motivation in the classroom, it is important that teachers understand which needs are active for individual students. Low-level needs such as physiological requirements and safety must be satisfied before higher-level needs such as self-fulfillment are pursued.

While Maslow's approach has limitations, it is a useful starting point, from which we developed the Enablement Model.

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