1. Understanding Students’ Basic Psychological Needs

2. Personal Need Theories
Abraham Maslow
Rudolf Dreikurs
William Glasser
Stanley Coopersmith
Human Development Theory
Erik Erikson
Social Factors Theory
David Elkind
Joan Lipsitz

3. - In order for students to perform adequately,
their basic personal needs must be met

4. Abraham Maslow
Maslow is considered the founder of humanistic
psychology. His position is that people have a need
to be both competent and accepted.
Hierarchy of Needs
• Self-actualization
• Self-respect
• Belongingness and affection
• Safety and security
• Physiological needs

5. Abraham Maslow Hierarchy of Needs
• Physiological Needs: characteristic of the
normal human functioning or survival
(examples: water, sleep, food, clothing,
shelter)
• Safety Needs: Injustice and inconsistency
are under control and the unfamiliar rare
(examples: personal security, financial
security, health and well-being, safety
against accidents/illness)
• Love/Belonging Needs: need for
emotionally-based relationships
(friendship, intimacy, a supportive family)
• Esteem Needs: need for respect,
acceptance and value by others
• Self-Actualization: need to take risks,
learn, and attain one’s fullest potential

6. Rudolf Dreikurs
Dreikurs theorized that the basic need of all
humans is to be socially accepted.
“We should realize that a misbehaving child
is only a discouraged child trying to find his
place; he is acting on the faulty logic that his
misbehavior will give him the social
acceptance which he desires.”

7. Dreikurs described four goals associated with
students’ disruptive behavior:
 Attention Getting: A child deprived of the opportunity to gain
“status” through personal contributions will seek proof of this
status though getting attention
 Power: If adults did not respond to these attention getting
tactics, the student will seek power.
 Revenge: If an adult counters with “greater” power, the
student will seek revenge.
 Displays of Inadequacy: A child who has sought attention,
power and revenge, to no avail, will eventually loose hope and
come to expect failure and defeat.

8. William Glasser
Glasser espoused the human need for a
sense of efficacy (i.e., produce effects) and
power. He identified five basic needs:
1. To survive and reproduce
2. To belong and love
3. To gain power
4. To be free
5. To have fun

10. Stanley Coopersmith
Individuals need to experience a sense of
significance, competence, and power.
• significance – value from a positive two-
way relationship
• competence – ability to perform a
socially valued task
• power – ability to understand and
control one’s environment

11.  Reactive Bullies
◦ Strong responses to perceived threatening
situations
◦ Lack positive relationships with adults
◦ Are remorseful after violent behavior toward others
 Proactive Bullies
◦ Behavior is calculated and planned
◦ Behavior is a component of their identity
◦ Develop a sense of security and power relating to
their behavior
◦ Intentionally choose students who are emotionally
and/or physically weaker and easily controlled

12. - In order for students to perform adequately,
they must fully develop at each stage of life

13. Erik Erikson
Erikson identified eight stages of human
psychosocial development:
Stage 1: Infancy : Children develop a sense of trust
Trust and hope vs. mistrust and despair
Does the child feel that he can rely on caregivers, if
needed?
“Children who have been abused, abandoned, or
ignored” may be reluctant to rely on others for
support.

14. Stage 2: Early Childhood (toddler): Children
develop a sense of autonomy
autonomy vs. shame and doubt
Is the child given an opportunity to “test himself”
(i.e., explore the word), with support?
Without these opportunities, children may develop a
sense of shame. Support is key. Parents cannot be
too smothering or too neglectful.
Children develop a sense of independence.

15. Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt (kindergarten): Children
begin to utilize that sense of independence
Can the child plan to do things on him own?
The child should not feel guilty about making his or
her own choices.

16. Stage 4: Industry vs. inferiority (age 6 to puberty):
Children begin compare their self-worth to that of
others
Does the child realize that some people are better at
some things than others or does the child focus on
his disparities?
The child should not feel inferior.

17. Stage 5: Identity vs. role confusion (teenager):
Children begin to seek identity
They may begin to question themselves:
How do I fit in? Where am I going in life?
Are children given an opportunity to explore or are
they pushed to conform to adult views?
The child will discover his identify, if given the
opportunity.

18. Stage 6: Intimacy vs. isolation (young adult): The
development of intimate relationships and choices begins
Will I date? Will I get married?
Stage 7: Generativity vs. stagnation (mid-life crisis):
Adults begin to measure accomplishments/failures
What have I accomplished in life? How might I help the
next generation?
Stage 8: Ego integrity vs. despair (old age): Satisfaction or
dissatisfaction with accomplishments begins
* Reflection on the past begins, and the conclusion is either
satisfaction or despair.

19. - In order for students to perform adequately,
they must have positive interactions with others

20. David Elkind
Elkind stated that relationships between children and
adults involve ever changing patterns (i.e., implicit
contracts) of dealing with each other.
Basic Contracts:
1. Responsibility-freedom (adults monitor child’s
development to provide freedoms that ultimately
lead to responsibility)
2. Achievement-support (adults expect children to
achieve and consequently lends support for the
accomplishment of goals)
3. Loyalty-commitment (adults expect children will
respond with acceptance since they (i.e., the adults)
lend support to the children)

21. Joan Lipsitz
Lipsitz researched the needs of early adolescence.
She emphasized the importance of schools meeting the
following young adolescents’ needs:
1. Diversity
2. Opportunities for self-exploration and self-definition
3. Meaningful participation in school and community
4. Positive social interaction with peers and adults
5. Physical activity
6. Competence and achievement
7. Structure and clear limits

22. A student may be at risk because:
• His/her personal or developmental needs were not met prior to
entering the classroom
•There are few educators within the school system from the student’s
social/cultural group
• The school system provides a curriculum that fails to validate the
student’s cultural background
• The teaching strategies are not aligned with the student’s learning
style
• The student has limited English proficiency
• The student has a disability (special needs)
• The student has limited support for success outside of the school
setting
• The student has limited time for educational-related tasks outside
of the school setting
• The student does not see a positive correlation between school-
based learning and his/her future