| Humanism and Open Education Citation: Huitt, W. (2001). Humanism and open education. Educational Psychology Interactive . Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date], from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/affsys/humed.html Return to: The Affective System Humanism is a school of thought that believes human beings are different from other species and possess capacities not found in animals (Edwords, 1989). Humanists, therefore, give primacy to the study of human needs and interests. A central assumption is that human beings behave out of intentionality and values (Kurtz, 2000). This is in contrast to the beliefs of operant conditioning theorists who believe that all behavior is the result of the application of consequences or to the beliefs of cognitive psychologists who hold that the discovery or the making of meaning is a primary factor in human learning. Humanists also believe that it is necessary to study the person as a whole, especially as an individual grows and develops over the lifespan. The study of the self, motivation, and goal-setting are also areas of special interest. As with other approaches to learning and development that we have studied, there are a variety of viewpoints within this tradition. The dominant view is called modern or naturalistic humanism and traces its lineage to Aristotle and Socrates (Gogineni, 2000). It is defined as "a naturalistic philosophy that rejects all supernaturalism and relies primarily upon reason and science, democracy and human compassion" (Lamont, as cited in Edwords, 1989). It is thus described as anthropocentric or human-centered. | |
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