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The ABCs of Life draws on major educational
and psychological theories:
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Following sustenance and shelter, individuals need safety, including order,
structure, and limits; affiliation and acceptance; and a sense of achievement,
competence, and recognition. These all come before cognitive needs to
know, understand and explore that are addressed through classroom academics.
The ABCs of Life taps into a very basic human desire to have consistency,
a sense of belonging and pride in oneself. Lesson One is designed to help
teachers, administrators, children, parents and guardians establish just
such an environment within their schools and their daily lives.
PIAGET
The ABCs of Life represents a continuum of development that is sequential.
Using Piaget’s work on accommodation and assimilation, the program
is designed to allow children to master one skill at an age appropriate
level before moving on to the next. For example, self-control gives children
a sense of mastery, which allows them to feel pride. Feeling pride leads
to feeling happy about oneself internally, which evolves into a sense
of self-worth and confidence. Once self-confidence is firmly established,
a child can begin to understand what taking responsibility means and what
consequences are. This continues through thinking and problem solving
to the final skill of cooperation.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
The ABCs of Life also recognizes the relationship between cognitive and
affective development. Piaget theorized that the affective domain provides
an important link between cognitive learning and behavior. More recent
research on the affective domain supports Piaget’s theory, highlighting
the importance of emotional skills such as responsibility, impulse control,
empathy and caring. In his book, Emotional Intelligence*, Daniel
Goleman prescribes the need for schools to teach self-control, persistence
and zeal—qualities that are far more important to safety and civility
than academic excellence.
Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of psychology at Harvard University, has
played a major role in helping educators understand the link between the
cognitive and affective domains. In his book, Frames of Mind**,
he names seven different intelligences and presents the case that schools
traditionally teach to only two of them—math and verbal. He
identifies two other intelligences that form the basis of social and emotional
literacy—intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences. Gardner's
model is calling attention to the need to actively promote curriculum
that enhances these skills. The Lesson One concepts of self-control and
self-confidence support the development of intrapersonal intelligence
that helps children manage their own feelings. Responsibility, problem
solving and cooperation support interpersonal intelligence that helps
children get along with others and care for the world around them. Together,
these concepts help children become “emotionally literate” and
provide the foundation for them to achieve personally and academically.
*Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, Bantam Books, July 1997.
**Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple, Howard Gardner, Basic Books,
March 1993.
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