Anthony - Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Christian Education

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2001. – 752 p.

ISBN 0-8010-2184-7 (hardcover)

 

The field of Christian education is by no means a recent phenomenon. Its origin is found throughout the text of Scripture. Its goal is to bring people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ (justification), to see that they grow in their newfound faith (sanctification), and to ultimately present them spiritually mature at the throne of God (glorification). From a theological point of view, Christian education stems from a personal knowledge of and passionate relationship with the eternal God. Christians worship God because of who he is and what he has done for them in Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers them to present his Word to a lost and fallen world so that the lost will repent from their sin and undertake a relationship with the true and living God.

 

The challenge throughout the history of the church has been to present Christ to the world in such a manner that he is seen as relevant. The contemporary world has become increasingly postmodern and biblically illiterate. Norms and values that were once considered foundational for a democratic society have been rejected in favor of a pluralistic worldview. Moral relativity has undermined the social structure of society, and as a result the church is often left bewildered by the events that have ostracized human beings from their Creator. According to Scripture, only two things last for eternity, people and the Word of God (Isa. 40:8). The Christian educator’s task is to put these two together. Given the current social environment, however, that task is far more challenging than it might appear.

 

Dating back to the early church, religious leaders understood the interdependence that existed between their personal relationship with God and their ministry for God. Before they did the work of God they had to become the people of God. Community grew out of fellowship and ministry came as a result of one’s relationship with God and others. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit brought a manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. Men and women were expected to employ their gifts for the benefit of the body of Christ. As this was done, the body grew in maturity, resulting in both numerical and spiritual growth. This process is at the very heart of what Christian education is about, both then and now.

 

As the church grew it ebbed and flowed in terms of its spiritual priorities. A serious student of church history will concede that God often confounded the wise by using those who, in the eyes of the world, were ill-equipped to do his work. The laity were often used by God to challenge those who had grown dull in their personal walk with Christ because of the demands placed upon them in their professional calling as ministers. Countless times the church’s paradigm had to be reset as God moved in new and mysterious ways. This was certainly the case when Robert Raikes brought his new approach to theological instruction to North America in 1780. As an English layman, he understood the importance of dependence upon God for guidance and provision.

 

* * *

 

Needs, Maslow’s Theory of

 

Abraham Maslow is considered to be the father of humanistic psychology, which centers on human beings and their values, capacities, and worth. His 1954 book Motivation and Personality joined Carl Rogers’s Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942) in introducing many of the basic tenets of humanistic psychology. Humanism reflects Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s romantic view of human nature as intrinsically good, but corrupted by society. It developed in reaction to Freud’s view of human nature as problematic and tinged with intrinsic evil and to the behaviorists’ view of human behavior as determined solely by environmental influences.

 

Maslow believed that all human beings have an innate drive for self-realization, self-fulfillment, or self-actualization. Self-actualization is the unfolding and fulfillment of one’s personal potential. People move toward that fulfillment through the meeting of seven levels of basic needs. This hierarchical model is expressed as a pyramid, with basic needs on the bottom and self-actualization as the culminating point of the pyramid. Each level of the pyramid is dependent on the previous level.

 

The first four levels deal with deficiency or basic needs. These include survival (needs for shelter, warmth, food, water, and sleep); safety (concern for tomorrow’s needs, security and freedom from threat in an orderly, predictable environment); belonging and love (receiving love and acceptance from family and peers, establishing relationships); and self-esteem (recognition and approval, self-respect, competence and mastery). Of these basic needs the physiological needs are the strongest because if deprived of these, the person would die.

 

Beyond these basic needs exist growth needs. Intellectual achievement (the need to know and understand) and aesthetic appreciation (experiencing and understanding beauty, order, truth, justice, and goodness) exist and may lead to self-actualization (development of one’s talents, capacities and potential). It is, according to Maslow, “the desire to become everything that one is capable of becoming.” Characteristics of the self-actualized person include such things as acceptance of self and others, spontaneity, openness, democratic relations with others, creativity, positive humor, and independence. Clouse (1993) includes these characteristics as well: self-actualized persons are realistic, resist conformity, have a high sense of ethics, and center on work rather than on themselves. Maslow embraced the concept of self-actualization both as an empirical principle and as an ethical ideal.

 

Yount (1996) refers to Maslow’s later work (1968) and defines an eighth level called transcendence. This is defined as the spiritual need for broader cosmic identification. Yount indicates that this level is included in only one text, indicating that it seldom receives attention.

 

Educators make application of Maslow’s theories by realizing that if basic needs are not being met, students will have difficulty focusing on growth needs, including the need to know and understand. Maslow believed that children make wise choices when given the opportunity. When children are in attractive learning situations, they will choose from the offerings they find personally valuable. The learning experience becomes its own reward.

 

The humanistic educator sees the child as a whole person, a totality composed of many interrelated parts. Basic skills of learning are important, but must not exclude human relations. Moral learning is a part of understanding what makes other people unhappy and of learning to act in socially acceptable ways. Morality is internal, rather than imposed by external forces. Humanistic themes such as accepting self and others, understanding one’s own feelings and the feelings of others, achieving mastery and competence, setting purposeful goals, and dealing with choice and the consequences of choice, are a part of the educational process.

 

The influence of humanism is somewhat moderated today by a society disillusioned by the hope of creating a better world through a humanistic educational program. The emphasis on personal self-fullfillment seen in Maslow’s model may have led to too much emphasis on the individual and too little emphasis on the good of the society. Clouse (1993), in a balanced examination of humanism, also indicates that the rise of cognitive psychology has overshadowed the humanist approach.

 

Some religious organizations have been critical of the tenets of secular humanism—the self-sufficiency of man, the rejection of religion as little more than superstition, acceptance of the scientific method, and placing primacy on values of academic freedom and civil liberties. Their criticism has been broad-based and condemnatory of all forms of humanism.

 

Yet humanism as a concept continues to influence educators, both secular and religious, who view pleasant methods, trained teachers and attractive classrooms, and a focus on the learner as essential to the learning experience. Maslow’s emphasis on human potential continues to define many aspects of the postmodern society, emphasizing attention to the inner self, awareness of cultural limitations, pleasure in beauty and nature, and wise decision-making.

 

Barbara Wyman

 

Bibliography

 

See also Hierarchy of Needs; Humanism, Christian; Humanism, Classical; Jung, Carl; Maslow, Abraham Harold; Rogers, Carl