From the author: Published in the collection “Ananyev Readings: B.G. Ananyev and complex studies of man in psychology” (Abstracts of the scientific and practical conference “Ananyev Readings-2003”) Under the general editorship of L. A. Tsvetkova, L.A. Golovey. St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2003.p.330-333 A. MASLOW’S CONCEPT IN DIAGNOSTICS AND CORRECTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT The problem of educational success is one of the pressing problems of the school. A huge amount of effort and money is spent to increase it - new textbooks and programs are written, psychological research is conducted on the effectiveness of educational technologies, family work is carried out, teachers improve their qualifications. But sometimes very effective approaches are overlooked. Namely, in various modern areas of psychology there are already effective concepts and technologies that can be used right now. One of them is the concept of hierarchy and human needs by A. Maslow. We have made an attempt to consider the school as an organization, then how the needs of students are met in the school, and how the satisfaction of needs affects the effectiveness of learning. Success in learning is possible if there is sufficient and preferably positive motivation for learning. At the same time, in relation to the learning process, motivation of at least the 4th level must be involved, namely, motivation based on the need for self-esteem, success, prestige, approval. In the optimal case, learning, as the acceptance of new life experiences, as development, expansion and personal growth thanks to this experience, should be largely based on motivation coming from the needs of the 5th level - namely, from the need for self-actualization and the realization of one’s own capabilities and abilities . But this is a matter for the more distant future of our education and, in general, our perception of the child. Currently it will be progressive to move from 1st, 2nd and 3rd level to 4th. What specific expression does this pyramid of needs find in school? From Maslow’s theory it is known that higher-level needs are not included in the motivation of a person’s behavior if the needs of a lower level are not satisfied, and if the personality in the previous personality development did not reach the 5th level (self-actualization). Therefore, when diagnosing the school environment, the classroom environment, it is important to consider how things stand with the satisfaction of needs at lower levels. The base of the pyramid consists of physiological needs. At school, this means warmth in the winter indoors, comfortable chairs and desks that match the student’s height, the opportunity to eat a good and affordable breakfast in the cafeteria, wash your hands with warm water (instead of ice), and these are the conditions for hygiene and comfort in the school toilet. This is also a portfolio with 3-4 textbooks instead of 6-10, adequate in weight to the student’s physical build. This is also an opportunity to hear what the teacher is saying in the classroom (the acoustic properties of rooms are often not thought out from the point of view of the educational process). This includes lighting in the classroom and the absence of noise from fluorescent lamps. Amazingly simple things! Now try to honestly examine a regular school in all these aspects. The next, 2nd level is occupied by the need for security. This is the need to have protection from destruction, pain, loss, fear, instability, emotional abuse. This level is no less relevant than the 1st level, because sometimes it is easier to adapt to the cold in the classroom than to the fact that in class at any moment a neighbor behind you can pull your pigtail. The constant need to monitor your own safety can greatly divert attention and energy from focusing on the learning process. The problem of school safety has the following components: physical safety, physical and personal boundaries, protection from material and emotional losses and from emotional abuse. Important componentsecurity – boundaries of information about the student’s family and personality. The right of an individual to information about himself is not sufficiently voiced in psychology and pedagogy. Often this boundary is violated at parent-teacher meetings in teacher statements and other forms of intrusion that are not agreed upon with the “owners” of the information. In American schools, there is a practice of giving students' grades in envelopes to parents. Thus, parents do not know how the rest of the children in the class are doing. This reduces the opportunity to compare your child with other children and increases the opportunity to emotionally accept both your child and other children in the class, and build non-judgmental relationships. A big problem is the lack of protection of the student from the emotional losses associated with transferring from school to school, from class to class (for example, when rotating students when moving from primary to secondary school). And the issue of emotional security in student-student relationships is extremely relevant. In some classes, students' learning activity is significantly blocked by the fear of being ridiculed by other students for making a mistake and giving the wrong answer to the teacher. In such a situation, no matter how much the teacher praises the student for excellent answers, the lower level need (the need for safety) will guide the student. Therefore, it is important not to ignore the need to create a safe atmosphere at school, an atmosphere of emotional security. Safety also means ending competition between students. The tendency to compete arises due to the comparison of the personality and/or results of a student’s educational activities with the personality and/or results of another student’s activities. This is followed by a feeling of hostility towards the one whose result is better, and a feeling of personal inferiority. Both not only contribute to academic success, but also destroy relationships and make the student’s individual manifestations dangerous (which is part of the implementation of level 5). It is correct to compare the student’s results with his previous results in time. The next, 3rd level contains the need for belonging, emotional contact, emotional connectedness. And this is, first of all, the connection between the child and the family, and the family with the child. Our point is that a child's entry into the wider world should not be accompanied by a loss of previous levels of functioning. In this case, connections with the family can continue to exist and also move to new hierarchical higher levels of functioning. We propose to consider the tendency to weaken the child’s connection with the family as culturally and historically determined and associated with the totalitarian ideology that has not been sufficiently eradicated in our culture, since it is totalitarian communities that are interested in breaking the connection between a person and his family, so that he becomes more controllable by the group and states. Within the school, it is proposed to consider the child’s need to stay connected with the family as important and to carry out preventive measures and support this connection. Meanwhile, it can be stated that the organization of school life limits the contact of a child with a parent, a parent with a school, a parent with a teacher, the presence of a parent at school, etc. It happens that a child does not have access to a telephone in order to contact his parents during the school day if necessary. Unfortunately, the scope of the theses does not allow us to present the issue in more detail. But it is precisely the violation of emotional ties (with a parent, teacher, peers) that is one of the leading causes of school maladjustment, leading to failures in academic success, up to failures in the term and for the year. The need for success, recognition, prestige and approval belongs to the 4th level. For this need to be activated, three hierarchically lower needs of the student must be satisfied. That is, the student’s desire to achieve success and various forms of encouraging success at school (grades, diplomas, other forms of social.