The Need to Know and Understand

The fi fth level of Maslow’s pyramid represents an individual’s need to know and
understand. According to Maslow’s hierarchy, this motivation cannot occur until
the defi ciency needs have been met to the individual’s satisfaction. As you can
FIGURE 8.11 (continued)
Source: Text material adapted from D. Martin and K. Joomis, Building Teachers: A
Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education,
(Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007), pp. 72–75.
imagine, the need to know and understand is a primary area of focus for education
and is a topic on which we will concentrate. One of our primary jobs as educators
is to motivate students so they will want to know and understand.
Aesthetic Needs
Aesthetics refers to the quality of being creatively, beautifully, or artistically
pleasing; aesthetic needs are the needs to express oneself in pleasing ways.
Decorating your living room, wrapping birthday presents attractively, washing and
waxing your car, and keeping up with the latest styles in clothing are all ways of
expressing your aesthetic sense. People are motivated to meet this need only after
the previous fi ve needs have been met. In what (desirable) ways might your
students express themselves aesthetically in your classroom? In what ways might
you express yourself aesthetically in your classroom?
The Need for Self-Actualization
At the top of the pyramid is the need for self-actualization, which is a person’s
desire to become everything he or she is capable of becoming—to realize and use
his or her full potential, capacities, and talents. This need can be addressed only
when the previous six have been satisfi ed. It is rarely met completely; Maslow
(1968) estimated that less than 1% of adults achieve total self-actualization.
The Growth Needs
The upper three levels of the pyramid constitute a person’s growth needs. Growth
needs can never be satisfi ed completely. Contrary to the defi ciency needs, for
which motivation diminishes when a need is satisfi ed, as growth needs are met,
people’s motivation to meet them increases. The more these needs are satisfi ed,
the more people want to pursue them. For example, the more one comes to understand,
the more one’s motivation to learn more increases. Have you experienced
this yourself? In what situation? We hope you are experiencing this increased
motivation to learn in your introduction to education course.