PSCS - Humanistic Psychology

Class #9 - 3/18/08

2008-03-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

With about half the class absent due to the play rehearsal, I postponed introducing Kohlberg's stages of moral development and instead re-introduced Alfie Kohn, specifically his idea that reward systems are problematic. You may recall this topic when we talked about behaviorism earlier in the term. Kohn has concluded that while reward systems work in the short term, they do not produce long-standing results. In fact, they are counter-productive.

Learn more -- Punished By Rewards

Learn more about Alfie Kohn here.

Class #8 - 3/11/08

2008-03-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

We revisited the short story "The Lottery" and further discussed your reactions to it, two weeks removed from me having read it aloud to you. I wanted to engage you on the level of "right & wrong." Are there some things that you think are just wrong? The bulk of the class was spent considering this and related questions.

Next week I intend to introduce you to Kohlberg's stages of moral development, the link here being a Wikipedia entry on the subject. If you want, consider reading it in preparation for next week's class.

Additionally, I gave you an overview of humanism as provided by the Humanists of Washington. While I think your overall reactions to it were negative, you might be interested in doing more research. Several of you, I suspect, would be interested in learning about Ethical Culture. I think one of the better resources is The Ethical Society of St. Louis.

Class #7 - 2/26/08

2008-02-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

I've been having so much fun planning for this class, considering unique ways to explain some of the tenets of humanistic psychology. I stepped well outside the conventional box this week by reading to you Shirley Jackson's famous/infamous short story, "The Lottery." My thought here is to enter into a dialogue about concepts of morality, using this controversial story as a springboard. We'll get some basic ideas out (are some things just "wrong," some things just "right?") and then look at this from a humanistic standpoint.

In some ways, this class is evolving from strictly a "Humanistic Psychology" class to more a class on humanism. In fact, you may want to look at the Wikipedia entry for Humanism.

If you missed today's class, you can read "The Lottery" online here. To be well prepared for our continuing dialogue on morality, please consider reading Christiane Amanpour and the Moral Lottery.

Note, there is no class next week due to intensives week so we'll continue our dialogue on March 11th. Counting class that day, there are only 3 class sessions remaining. And do be aware I'll be pitching the "49 Up" class many of you requested for spring term.

Class #6 - 2/12/08

2008-02-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

I asked you to remember what you could about being 7 years-old, adapting this memory exercise from an idea I found on this website (POV's "49 Up"). I had mentioned a couple of weeks back about the filmmaker in England who had followed a group of people beginning at age 7 and now through age 49, filming them every 7 years. Many of you were fascinated by the idea so I had done some more research about it.

Of great interest was Alex sharing about the cruel game played in his 2nd grade class that was eventually stopped by the teacher. That got us talking about what it means to be mean. We looked at this from an Eriksonian stage point of view, Industry vs Inferiority, and how important it is at age 7 to feel confident with your peers.

I encouraged you to consider a project in which you took this exercise to a deeper level, partnering with someone else in the class. One way to do this can be found here.

I then showed you a snippet from the movie "28 Up," the fourth film in the series when the subjects were all 28. So many of you enjoyed this that you asked me to develop a class on the movies for the spring. I have started doing just that.

You can learn more about the film series here.

Class #5 - 2/5/08

2008-02-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted to try engaging you all a different way in this week's class by showing you a movie! Less lecture and more video. Yay!! I spent some time over the week looking for a short film, one we could watch during class AND still have time to chat, that would illustrate in some way one or more Erikson's stages. I chose the film Unfolding by Christian Vuissa. The film focuses on Lila, a teenage girl who is struggling to understand her father (and her relationship with him) because he lost his memory when she was very young.

After doing a little online research about the movie, I found a excerpt from an interview with Vuissa in which he explains the movie's ending. He says, "After she resolves her relationship with her father, Lila is ready to 'move on' with her life. By accepting her father, her own identity can finally unfold." We discussed this in class, how at the beginning of the movie, when Lila refuses to visit her father, that she is working through Erikson's Identity vs. Role Confusion stage, the strengths of which are devotion and fidelity. Early on she is confused and angry, unsure of her role and missing the supportive role her father would ideally have. As the movie unfolds and her sense of self, her identity, gets stronger, she is able to see her father and his life from a wider perspective; in short, she sees him as a person with an interesting history. In turn, she "grows up" and we see glimpses of her moving in to the next stage, Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation. We are left hopeful that Lila now has the strength to pursue healthy intimate relationships.

I mentioned an ad campaign for a whiskey that is using this idea of fathers having had real lives before they married. It's an interesting, and controversial, ad campaign. Take a look at it and consider it from an Eriksonian perspective. What stage(s) does the ad appeal to? Why? See the ad here.

Class #4 - 1/29/08

2008-02-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Having introduced you to the developmental theory of Erik Erikson last week, I spent the better part of this week's class providing you specific detail of each of his 8 stages. As I offered you last week, extend your understanding by visiting this link. An additional thing you could consider doing is to take one (or more) of the 8 stages and write a paper about it, perhaps using one of the earlier stages and illustrating your experience in it.

I've heard from several of you about how much you enjoy this class. That's great, especially considering, as I told you the first week, that a lot of it would be lecture-based. If you are finding this class deeply interesting, I really want to encourage you to extend your learning by taking on a project. There are few better ways to solidify your understanding of something than personalizing it in some way. Talk to me if you want some help with this. An additional benefit is the strong likelihood of earning high school credit for the work.

Class #3 - 1/22/08

2008-01-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Today's class was essentially a lecture, me presenting to you the "Hierarchy of Needs" theory of Abraham Maslow. To extend and get more from the lecture, I encourage you to visit this link and this link. The second one shows how Maslow's theory has been updated as well as providing free pdf and Word doc downloads of the hierarchy (for those of you scoring at home).

I illustrated the hierarchy by connecting it to educational settings, pointing out that PSCS is a clear attempt to provide a school setting based on this model. As I've said before, those wanting to consider this class for credit-earning purposes will need to propose, have accepted, and then complete a project based on one or more of the concepts I'm presenting in class. One such project could be showing in detailed form how PSCS supports Maslow's hierarchy.

I also made reference to Erik Erikson and his 8 stage developmental theory. A good overview of this can be found here if you found that interesting.

Class #2 - 1/15/08

2008-01-15T19:18:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Other than trying to sprinkle in the words gnarly & rad, and the phrase hella cool, as well as avoid describing anything as "tight," I presented a diagram from Newsweek magazine called "Psychology 101." It provided an overview of psychological thought as it has evolved from Freud forward. I found a blog entry that captures the text on the diagram. Link to it by going here.

I also talked a bit about Alfie Kohn. If you found anything I said about him interesting, I encourage you to visit his website. To read the interview with Kohn I referenced in class, go here. Read Kohn's theory of education, distilled to a few bullet points, by going here. For those of you wanting ideas for homework assignments, I suggest you write an essay comparing Kohn's philosophy to your understanding of PSCS.

I made reference to Harvard professor Howard Gardner, most known for his theory of multiple intelligences. I talked about his book The Unschooled Mind (btw, I referenced this book in my thesis). In it Gardner suggests that our educational system is more about training students to do well on tests than it is on helping students understand principles. He illustrates this by explaining how graduate students who tested well in high school physics reverted to their "unschooled" 5 year-old mind when presented a basic physics problem in actual terms. Interesting stuff. I compared it to the children's story, "The Emperor's New Clothes." For optional homework, consider writing up that analogy in your own words.

I also gave a very simplistic explanation of Joseph Campbell and his concept known as The Hero's Journey. Of course you all laughed at me when I suggested this concept is the basis of Star Wars and other movies. See what you think after reading this! If this topic interests you, I encourage you to view some movies and then complete the worksheet provided as a link here. Disney movies work great for this.

That should keep you busy!

Class #1 - 1/8/08

2008-01-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

The main part of the first class involved me reading aloud Tom Junod's excellent essay about Mr. Rogers called "Can You Say... Hero?" published in the 11/98 issue of Esquire magazine. Rather than try to introduce you to the tenets of humanistic psychology in some clinical way , I decided to present an example of a person who by my estimation reached "self-actualized" status, Mr. Rogers. Next week I'll start connecting the dots as to WHY I think Mr. Rogers was a self-actualized human being. In so doing, I hope to help you better understand humanistic psychology.

This class is not designed as a homework-intensive class, but those of you wanting to individualize a study to perhaps qualify for credit in this subject are encouraged to discuss this with me. As a starting spot, I offer you the Wikipedia link on the subject. Read it and let me know if anything in it appeals to you for a possible study.