A critique of Maslow from a teacher's perspective.

This article examines the continued relevance of Maslow's hierarchy of needs in contemporary education through the perspective of a UK teacher in early 2025. While Maslow's model remains conceptually useful for understanding student wellbeing and motivation, the author highlights challenges such as inadequate physiological and safety needs—illustrated by a school heating failure and students’ sleep and nutrition issues—that complicate its straightforward application. The article argues for a nuanced use of Maslow’s hierarchy, recognizing that individuals sometimes prioritize higher-level growth needs despite unmet basic needs, and suggests complementing it with other motivation theories like Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and Csikszentmihalyi’s flow model. Ultimately, the piece advocates for critical engagement with motivational theories to better support teaching and learning in modern contexts.