Humanism

Humanism focuses on human freedom, dignity, and potential. The key assumption of humanism is that people act with intentionality and values. This is in contrast to Behaviourism’s notion of operant conditioning and the Cognitivism’s belief that discovering knowledge or constructing meaning is central to learning. Humanists believe that it is necessary to study the person as a whole, especially as an individual grows and develops over their lifespan. It follows that the study of the self, motivation, and goals.

Key proponents of humanism include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. A primary purpose of humanism could be described as the development of self-actualized, automomous people. In humanism, learning is participant-centered and personalised; the educator adopts the role of facilitator. Emotional  and cognitive needs are fundamental. The goal is to develop self-actualised participants in a cooperative and supportive learning environment.