The two key theories that I have identified in the education field are the Theory of

Human Motivation and the Social Cognitive Theory.

Theory of Human Motivation

The Theory of Human Motivation was introduced by Abraham H. Maslow in 1943 in

his article “A Theory of Human Motivation” which appeared in Psychological Review.

Maslow’s article was further expanded upon in his book: Toward a Psychology of

Being. Maslow later in 1954 in his book titled Motivation and Personality, formally

introduced the Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow formulated a needs-based framework of human motivation and based it

upon his clinical experiences with people rather than animal behaviors. The basis of

Maslow’s motivation theory is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied

needs, and that certain lower factors need to be satisfied before higher needs can

be satisfied. According to Maslow, there are general types of needs which are

physiological, survival, safety, love, and esteem, that must be satisfied before a

person can act unselfishly. Maslow called these needs “deficiency needs”. The

theory of motivation provided that as long as we are motivated to satisfy these

needs and cravings, we are moving towards growth, towards self-actualization.

Maslow’s model indicates that fundamental, lower-order needs like safety and

physiological requirements have to be satisfied in order to pursue higher-level

motivators along the lines of self-fulfillment. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is

depicted in a hierarchical diagram called “Maslow Needs Pyramid” or “Maslow

Needs Triangle”. After a need is satisfied, it stops acting as a motivator and the

next need one rank higher starts to motivate. The hierarchy starts with

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Physiological Needs at the lowest, followed by Safety Needs, Social Needs, Esteem

Needs, and Self-Actualization.

Self-Actualization is the summit of Maslow’s motivation theory. Self-Actualization is

about the quest of reaching one’s full potential as a person. Unlike lower level

needs, self-actualization is never fully satisfied; as one grows psychologically there

are always new opportunities to continue to grow.

Esteem needs refers to the urge to attain a degree of importance after a person

feels that the “belong”. Internal motivating esteem needs are those such as self-

esteem, accomplishment, and self-respect. External esteem needs are those such

as reputation and recognition.

Social needs refer to interaction with others such as friendship, belonging to a

group, and giving and receiving love.

Safety needs involves security and the need to be free from the threat of physical

and emotional harm. According to Maslow, if a person feels threatened, needs

further up the pyramid will not receive attention until that need has been resolved.

Physiological needs are those required to sustain life, such as air, water, food, and

sleep. These are fundamental needs which have to be satisfied before any of the

higher needs are recognized.

Application of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation to Education

The most important educational goal is for students to learn. It is also important for

newly gained knowledge and information is meaningful to the students so that it

may be used throughout their lives. An essential factor which helps students to

meet learning goals is motivation. If the student is unmotivated in any way, it is

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unlikely that learning can be achieved and if by chance learning takes place, it will

probably not be retained.

Maslow’s hierarchy order must be considered by administrators and teachers in

order to maximize the effectiveness of the school-wide and individual classroom

teaching programs. Student should have the capability of reaching their highest

levels of potential. Teachers should take the responsibility in knowing or finding out

their students’ needs. Teachers have also the responsibility of developing,

encouraging, enhancing, and maintaining the students’ motivation. This includes

developing a stimulation or challenge to catch the students’ interest.

Social Cognitive Theory

Albert Bandura is considered the leading proponent of the Social Cognitive Theory.

The Social Cognitive Theory stemmed from the Social Learning Theory. Social

learning theory focuses on the learning that occurs within a social context. Bandura

first began publishing his work on Social Learning Theory in the early 1960s. In

1986, Bandura officially launched the Social Cognitive Theory with his book Social

Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory.

The Social Cognitive Theory defines human behavior as a triadic, dynamic, and

reciprocal interaction of personal factors, behavior, and the environment (Bandura,

1977a: 1986; 1989). According to this theory, an individual’s behavior is uniquely

determined by each of these three factors. While the Social Cognitive Theory

upholds the behaviorist notion that response consequences mediate behavior, it

contends that behavior is largely regulated antecedently though cognitive

processes. Therefore, response consequences of a behavior are used to form

expectations of behavioral outcomes. It is the ability to form these expectations

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that give humans the capability to predict the outcomes of their behavior, before

the behavior is performed. The Social Cognitive Theory’s strong emphasis on one’s

cognition suggests that the mind is an active force that constructs one’s reality.

Bandura considers observational learning (modeling) and self-regulation as the

“strong-suit” of the human species. Human species learn by observing models and

build self-efficacy, their belief that they can accomplish the work modeled. Based

on the understanding of why it is important to learn something and their belief that

they can accomplish the learning, they will then self-regulate their learning and

become proactive in their efforts to gain mastery.

Triadic reciprociality is where the person, the behavior, and the environment were

all inseparably entwined to create learning in an individual. (Bandura 1986) In the

social cognitive view people are neither driven by inner forces nor automatically

shaped and controlled by external stimuli.

Self-efficacy refers to personal beliefs about one’s capabilities to learn or perform

actions at designated levels. (Bandura 1977) Self-efficacy is a belief about what

one is capable of doing; it is not the same as knowing what to do. Bandura (1986)

considered self-reflection the most uniquely human capability. There are four

primary strategies for efficacy development: Mastery learning, Imitation, Modeling,

and Social Persuasion.

Self-Regulation development consists of three primary strategies which are goal

setting, planning, and persistence. (Bandura 1977) These beliefs of personal

competence affect behavior in several ways. They influence the choices individuals

make and the courses of actions they pursue.

Application of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory to Education

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Bandura found that people could learn new actions merely by observing others

perform them and this did not fit into the behavioral model of learning. Bandura felt

that behavioral model overlooked psychological processes or only partially studied

such effects. Student must believe that they are capable of accomplishing school

tasks. Teachers can promote such self-efficacy by having students watch others

and experience their own success. Teacher should help students set realistic

expectations for their academic accomplishments. Self-regulation techniques

provide an effective method for improving student behavior in school and in the

classroom.

Relationship between the Theory of Motivation and the Social Cognitive Theory

Both theories promote learning which is an essential goal in the field of education.

Human species learn in various environments such as in school, at home or even

while at play. The social cognitive theory refers to human cognition and by

watching an event or a demonstration, one has the cognitive ability to imitate such

skills or actions, thus one has learnt. Motivation would be important as it would

create a need to learn such a skill or action and if there is no need to learn, one may

not even retain the knowledge even though such skill has been demonstrated to the

learner. However the social cognitive theory refutes behavioral model of learning,

learning can be achieved with behavioral models with motivation and

reinforcements.

References

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 Bandura, Albert (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. :

Prentice Hall.

Bandura, Albert (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A social

cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice Hall.

Bandura, Albert (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective.

Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 1999, 2, 21-41

Maslow, Abraham (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological

Review, 1943, 50, 370-396

Maslow, Abraham (1987). Motivation and Personality. Harper & Row, N.Y. :

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company