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Heightening Teachers' Awareness about their Profession
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order to deserve the title of humanistic education. Kirschenbaum's eight criteria collectively describe and define the essence of humanistic education. As stated earlier, humanistic education starts from the learner; the learner is ever the focus; the centre of gravity of entire process. The concept of learner is not derived from studies of animals, like rats, cats and pigeons. Human beings are different from lower-order animals. Similarities between a human being and a dog or a pigeon are essentially superficial. According to Maslow, the prime reality for a humanistic teacher is human experience itself and it is from the human experience, needs, goals and values (Maslow, 1967). Human beings act not merely because of their biological needs; in fact the humane behaviour of human beings can be understood, only in terms of their higher needs of competence, recognition, belongingness and self-actualisation. To quote Maslow,
"It looks as if there were a single ultimate value for mankind, a far goal toward which all men strive. This is called variously by different authors self-actualization, self-realization, integration, psychological health, individuation, autonomy creativity, productivity, but they all agree that this amounts to realizing the potentialities of the person, that is to say, becoming fully human, everything that the person can become -"(1959, 123)
The humanistic teacher looks upon this sacred task of helping each individual student become fully human as the all-embracing goal for which he works This goal represents the central value of his creed and conduct as a teacher. All other values attend upon this value as worthy courtiers serving their noble sovereign. The humanistic teacher does not serve as a social engineer, as a powerful practitioner of technology of behaviour for whom the concept of autonomous man is a myth and all values are mere contingencies which can be used personal reinforces for initiating and sustaining a particular behaviour. To teachers whose creed is rooted in behaviourism, "the evolution of a culture is a gigantic exercise in self-control." If use of behaviour technology in classroom or in social life hurts human vanity or leads to a sense of helplessness, how does it matter for him? After
all,
"No theory changes what it is a theory about; He remains what he has always been. And a new theory may change what can be done with its subject matter. A scientific view of man offers exciting possibilities. We have not yet seen what man can make of man". (Skinner, 1971, 210).
To go by a scientific view of human beings is to deny the legitimacy of their essential nature. Scientific view may be helpful in mechanical matters; to extend
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