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Applications of Adlerian Principles in School Settings.

1999; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 2; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

2156-759X

Deborah B. Pryor, Toni R. Tollerud,

Diverse Education Studies and Reforms

As counselors approach the 21st Century, they must learn and use applications in the school that assist in meeting student needs and developing student potential. Adlerian principles have served as a basis for working in schools since Alfred Adler first introduced them in the early 1900s, and they still have useful applications today. This article explores some applications of Adlerian principles that counselors can use or adapt in their work with students and teachers in the classroom. Overview Adler was the first theorist to emphasize the fundamental social nature of people. According to Adler (1927, 1930,1931/1980), people are inherently motivated to engage in social activities, relate to other people, and acquire a style of life that is fundamentally social in nature. Each person is born with the capacity to develop his or her social interest. Social interest is a person's ability to interact in a cooperative way with people that leads to a healthy society. In this way people develop a sense of belonging and tend to contribute to others in the society. While a person is born with social interest, it must be nurtured and developed along the way. How an individual engages and develops this social interest shapes his or her personality. The school then, becomes a primary setting. Counselors and teachers take on the roles of assisting children to acquire and develop a healthy social interest. Based on Adlerian principles, this includes helping children to belong, feel valued, develop positive self-worth, and not feel discouraged. Personality is also shaped by the choices people make to satisfy their needs. These needs effect a person's behavior because, according to Adlerian principles, all behavior is purposive and goal-directed (Thompson & Rudolph, 1996). Therefore, people act in ways that meet their needs and develop their perception of social interest. Adler's Model of Humanity Before elaborating on effective democratic methods and the implications involved, it is necessary to understand Alfred Adler's model of humanity (Adler, 1931/1980; Dreikurs Grunwald, & Pepper, 1982). Each educator's approach to the educational process is based on a concept of human nature. As theorized by Adler and applied by Dreikurs, all behavior is viewed as goaldirected. Some key concepts are defined and summarized as follows: 1. Human beings are social beings and have an insatiable goal to belong, to find a place in society. Children's behavior is a sign of the ways and means by which they strive to be important, although they themselves may be unaware of the purpose of their behavior. 2. Children's choices and actions taken may be based on faulty assumptions about themselves and life. Their behavior may appear inappropriate as they attempt to find significance. 3. Behavior is purposeful. Recommended methods for dealing with children's behavior make sense only if we can understand and/or recognize the purpose of that behavior. Viewing a child through labels such as hyperactive, learning disabled, or mentally retarded is of no use in helping discover more feasible alternatives. 4. Human beings are biased in their perceptions of the world and will follow what may be called private logic or unique reasoning, which determines the course of action one takes. 5. Children are sensitive to the social atmosphere they are engaged in and will perform early experiments with it, seeking what they want. Through this process of experimentation and growth, they integrate early experiences and develop goals accordingly (Dreikurs et al., 1982). 6. By the age of five, a child's lifestyle is formed and he or she has drawn general conclusions about the best way to face the situations/problems that life has to offer. (Thompson & Rudolph, 1988, p. 196). 7. Children strive for superiority in order to overcompensate for feelings of inferiority. By observation, trial, and error, children overcompensate and in doing so, draw their own conclusions about their life and where they fit in. …