Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory: A Theory of Motivation

The most well-known theory of motivation is Maslow’s need hierarchy theory Maslow’s

theory. It is based on the human needs. He classified all human needs into a hierarchical manner

from the lower to the higher order.

Physiological needs are considered the first step in internal motivation according to

Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This theory states that humans are compelled to fulfill these

physiological needs first in order to pursue intrinsic satisfaction on a higher level. In order to

pursue intrinsic motivation higher up Maslow's hierarchy, Physiological needs must be met first.

This means that if a human is struggling to meet their physiological needs, then they are unlikely

to intrinsically pursue safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. Physiological needs

include homeostasis, food, water, sleep, shelter and sex (Maslow, 1943).

Safety and security needs are about keeping us safe from harm. These include shelter,

job security, health, and safe environments. If a person does not feel safe in an environment, they

will seek to find safety before they attempt to meet any higher level of survival, but the need for

safety is not as important as basic physiological needs. Safety and security needs include

personal security, emotional security, financial security, health and well-being, and safety needs

against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts (Maslow, 1943).

Social belongingness need is especially strong in childhood and it can override the need

for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this level of

Maslow's hierarchy – due to hospitalism, neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc. – can adversely affect

the individual's ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general.

Social belongingness needs include friendships, intimacy, and family (Maslow, 1943).
 Self-esteem needs is what most people need to be stable. Maslow noted two versions of

esteem needs: a "lower" version and a "higher" version. The "lower" version of esteem is the

need for respect from others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and

attention. The "higher" version manifests itself as the need for self-respect. For example, the

person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence, and

freedom. This "higher" version takes guidelines, the "hierarchies are interrelated rather than

sharply separated". This means that esteem and the subsequent levels are not strictly separated;

instead, the levels are closely related (Maslow, 1943).

Self-actualization can often be described as a value-based system when discussing its

role in motivation. Since all levels of Maslow's hierarchy must have been met in order to acquire

this level, seeking to fulfill this form of satisfaction can be defined as an explicit motive. An

explicit motive can be defined as a reward-based system that is used to intrinsically pursue

certain values or goals. Individuals who are motivated to pursue this level are seeking and

understanding how their sense of self-partakes within their human behavior. Self-actualization

can include male acquisition, parenting, utilizing abilities, utilizing talents, pursuing a goal, and

seeking a happiness (Maslow, 1943)

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs can provide teachers a reminder and framework that our students

are less likely to perform at their full potential if their basic needs are unmet. This theory helps us in

our study since it explains how motivation works to the students in learning new concepts

particularly in Mathematics.

To support our students' physiological needs, we can ensure that all students have access
to water in their rooms. To support our students physiological needs, we can ensure that we
have nutritious snacks available to sustain energy levels throughout the morning or afternoon.
 To support our students physiological needs, we can ensure that if a student is in
desperate need of sleep, they are allowed to take a short nap at school. If not, research indicates
that sleep-deprived students learn less and may even disrupt the learning of others.

To support our students' safety needs, we can continuously equip students and monitor
the climate of our classroom to decrease bullying.

To support our students' love and belonging needs, we can create our classroom that has
a family or close-knit feel, like a sitting arrangements and putting students in groups where they
feel supported.

To support our students' esteem needs, we need to provide affirmative feedback so that
students know their specific strengths and can articulate when they've used them to succeed in
our classrooms. Let them share positive feedback with each other.

In theory, when we support students in all of those stages noted, students can perform at
their fullest potential, which is the self-actualization stage. Still it is necessary for us to provide a
conducive learning environment to our students to be more motivated in their study which will
help them in their academic performance

Cognitive Development Theory

Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a

mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and
regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and
interaction with the environment (McLeod, 2018).
To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental
processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children
construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies
between what they already know and what they discover in their environment (McLeod,
2018).
Jean Piaget emphasized about schema which he defined as a building blocks of
intelligent. He emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development and
described how they were developed or acquired.
Cognitive Development Theory of Piaget is important to the current study because of
how it emphasized on the cognitive development of a learner. Learners’ academic
performance will always matter on the acquisition of knowledge through study habit. The
assumption of the schema studied by Piaget taught us that we store those mental
representations / information and apply them when needed. Studying is one of the factor
that you can acquire information. In this manner, the researchers considered the cognitive
development theory of Piaget as part of the theoretical framework of the current study to
substantiate.

REF:
McLeod, S. A. (2018). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html