Kirman William’s “Maturational Needs and Learning”
A knowledge of maturational needs is helpful in understanding past deficits that account for student behavior today. However, if the teacher is to communicate effectively with students, he must come to recognize the impact of what he, the teacher, says - i.e., the impact on the student apart from the validity of his statement. We so often get distracted by the logic of what we say and by the seeming usefulness of the information. We reiterate true statements but this produces hostility, jealousy, depression or a worsening of symptoms. We repeat ourselves louder with more emphasis and stronger feelings. And still we get no results. What is happening in such a situation is that we are ignoring an intervening variable, namely, the actual perception and meaning of our statement to the other person. Students, like other people are generally not concerned about the intention (good or otherwise) of the teacher; they are concerned about the effect of his behavior on themselves. It is a rather naive and narcissistic point of view if we, as teachers, wish to be appreciated merely for good intentions and efforts. The field of Education in particular seems bogged down in this resistances. The surgeon expects no appreciation for his word and effort if the patient dies; the airplane pilot gets no credit for a plane crash no matter how much he has persevered; the lawyer who loses a case cannot fall back on good intentions or effort. Educators must come to share this professional perception of their work. If the message has not come across to the student then the teacher has failed to state it correctly. The student is not to be blamed.