11 Human Tendencies

What are human tendencies?

Dr. Montessori discussed eleven human tendencies that became evident through her observations and studies. These are internal needs, or natural urges, that drive humans to make choices, behave a certain way, and set goals. Her educational philosophy is built on designing an environment for students that recognizes these urges and feeds and harnesses them in positive ways for optimal growth and learning.

The eleven human tendencies that Dr. Montessori identified are:

1. Orientation- to “fit in” with one’s environment and find one’s place
2. Order-to make sense of the environment and understand one’s surroundings
3. Exploration-curiosity and the desire to understand
4. Communication-to understand and be understood
5. Activity-of mind and body
6. Physical Manipulation (of items)-to touch, feel, and experience
7. Work-enables independence and dignity
8. Repetition-to achieve the joy of mastery
9. Exactness-the desire to be precise
10. Abstraction-the ability to reason and interpret
11. Self-perfection-the development of self-satisfaction and a sense of self-determination

Orientation

The human tendency of social orientation is one’s awareness of other people and how one relates and adapts to interactions with others. The National Library of Medicine states that one’s social orientation manifests as one’s perceived problem-solving abilities, one’s identification with and alignment with prosocial behaviors and values, and one’s self-efficacy expectations. Positive Discipline uses the term “purpose and belonging” to describe what all humans strive for. Orientation refers to one’s sense of belonging. Benefits of a strong social orientation extend beyond positive interpersonal and intrapersonal feelings. Studies support that our orientation to others and to time impact our decision-making competency and perception of stress..

Order

Studies support that a sense of order may be one of the mental capacities that most separates humans and other animals. As we grow, we begin to recognize the patterns and categories in the world around us. We take information in through our senses, and we are able to process it by understanding how that piece of information fits into the larger puzzle of all the information we experience in a day or in our lifetime. For children, this may visibly manifest as lining up toys in neat rows or sorting objects by color or size. Internally, this is also occurring as children begin to be able to sort the things they see into categories, such as living and non-living, and make generalizations about new and unfamiliar objects based on what they know about these categories.

Then, as we get older, this manifests as routines and filing systems–the ways we make sense of everything in our days, and sort them to be less overwhelmed. For example, when we sort overwhelming to-do lists into urgent, important, not urgent, etc. we are using higher order skills to create a sense of order within our large number of tasks.

Exploration

Exploration is the human tendency that helps us address fundamental questions we have about ourselves and our Universe. Whether this is a child dropping various items repeatedly to help understand gravity, or humans exploring space to ask, “Are we alone?”, exploration continually expands what we thought we knew about our world. NASA believes that pushing the boundaries of exploration has shaped humanity.

Communication

Communication is the foundation of all human relationships. This human tendency allows for two essential paths:

1. We can learn about more than what we have directly experienced by learning from others.
2. We can form relationships with others and live in community.

We are born primed for communication. Infants can recognize their mothers’ voices after mere days of life. Receptive and expressive communication are vital tools for human development.

Activity

Mental and physical activity are tied together and both are essential human tendencies. Being active releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good – boosting your self-esteem and helping you concentrate as well as sleep well and feel better. Back to the idea of “purpose and belonging” from Positive Discipline, activity helps give us a sense of purpose.

Manipulation

There are many different sub-skills within physical manipulation. Manipulation of objects is a vital human tendency. It helps us:

• Take in information about our world and learn more through touch and exploration
• impact our experience and our world through enabling us to complete practical life activities (button our shirt, garden, etc.)

Work

The human tendency of work helps us structure:

• identity
• social bonds
• ways to meet our needs (for example, either directly growing our food or working to make money to buy food)

Beyond just the personal benefits of fulfillment through work, work is the foundation of society and helps create the possibilities that exist within our complex societies of today.

Repetition

Repetition is the key to mastering any skill. Tony Robbins has a great way of describing the steps to Mastery:

• MODELING. Model someone who’s already achieved what you want. …
• TOTAL IMMERSION. You have to totally immerse yourself into the thing you are trying to master.
• SPACED REPETITION. You need repetition.

Studies show that new neural pathways are created in the brain when tasks are repeated often. This allows us to master tasks, develop our brains, and build our potential.

Exactness

Exactness includes taking care with details and finishing tasks to satisfactory completion. This allows us to feel pride in our accomplishments and to know we completed our task well.

Abstraction

In psychological terms, abstraction refers to “the classification of a stimulus into a wider or more inclusive superordinate category” (Science Diet). This is the ability to apply general ideas by analyzing similarities and differences with previous knowledge. For example, if you ask a young child who is not yet using abstract thinking to draw a river, they would only be able to draw a river they have seen in real life. An older child might be able to use what they know about tropical rainforests, rivers, and ecosystems and draw the Amazon river, even if they have never seen it before.

In addition, the APA Dictionary of psychology includes comprehension of intangible concepts such as truth or goodness into skills of abstraction. These concepts guide our moral compasses and allow us to navigate living in community with others.

Self-Perfection

Montessori used the term self-perfection to describe the human tendency of forging oneself through learning, experience, and effort. In today’s terms, this phrase can often be linked with the unrealistic goals of perfectionism. Therefore, in today’s modern English, I prefer to think of this human tendency as self-determination. Self-determination is the idea that we are in control of ourselves. We can make choices and put in effort to help shape who we are and what we experience. This gives a sense of empowerment as human beings. Behavior is driven by a desire for growth. It helps avoid feelings of helpless pre-determination and orients us toward solutions and goals. It is more joyful and fulfilling because we find intrinsic motivation driven by enjoyment, interest, and satisfaction. Studies link feelings of self-determination with feelings of:

• Autonomy
• Competence
• Connection

Relationships Between Human Tendencies

The first four human tendencies (orientation, order, exploration, and communication) are centered around absorbing information from our environments. They allow us to learn about our world.

The next several human tendencies (activity, manipulation, work, repetition, and exactness) are about impacting that world of which we are a part. These tendencies allow us to master tasks and express ourselves in ways that leave a mark on the world and the experience of the people around us.

Abstraction and self-perfection transcend the immediate environment. These human tendencies lead to imagination of the immense and infinitesimal which we cannot directly experience. They lead to creativity and internal work that may not be visible to others. This is us moving beyond the concrete experience of our environment toward “something more”.

Using the 11 Human Tendencies as Motivation

As teachers, it is essential that our environments provide opportunities for children to exercise their eleven human tendencies. This includes the freedom to explore and be curious, purposeful work (both in meaningful assignments vs. worksheets and also physical work to care for themselves and the classroom space). A culture of careful expressive and receptive communication must be nurtured. And space must be made to allow the child to work at their own pace, providing opportunities for repetition to mastery. If children cannot have the time and practice to achieve mastery, the learning cycle has not been completed; neural pathways have not been formed and our work has teachers has not come to fruition. Finally, as children exit early childhood and become capable of abstract thinking, opportunities and space must be given to allow children to make connections, ponder big questions, and use their imaginations.