Learning to Belong: The Why and How of Education
Educators are giving more weight these days to passion in learning. But few ever talk about belonging. In fact, it never comes up. Yet, if we look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the most pressing needs (or human motivations) after Safety are “Love and Belonging.” The need to belong comes before even Self-esteem or Self-actualization. For children and youth, this need can explain so much of why they learn what they learn. And I’ve come to believe this need to belong will determine much of what they choose to learn throughout the rest of their lives.
