TEFL Salem

Although many cultural differences exist amongst children throughout the world, one element is universal: child development. All children throughout the world age and grow intellectually. These changes occur through brain elasticity, but also through environmental cues and situations. As new situations arise, children must learn healthy ways of coping and growing. This is when developmental stages come in. As a teacher, it is important to know these developmental stages, and around what age they typically occur. In this paper, I will explain what developmental stages are, and outline the stages most relevant to teaching children. I will also explain how knowing about these stages will help with teaching, as well as creating harmony and comfort within the classroom for all students. Erik Erikson is a famous Psychologist known for his work with developmental stages throughout human life. He named eight stages that occur from birth to death. Each stage, once completed, has a certain outcome depending on life influences within the time frame of the stage. For example, birth to 18 months can either result in trust or mistrust of the world based on environmental factors and influences at that time. Most of Erikson’s stages occur in childhood, however, he also has stages occurring in early adulthood, mid-adulthood, and late adulthood (Harder, 2002). As you can tell, Erikson was a firm believer that we never stop growing and learning. At the typical age for entering school, age 6, children are in the “school age”. This stage lasts until age 12, and is centered around the conflict of industry vs. inferiority. children are learning new skills, and going out into the world on their own without the safety of their caretaker. The freedom to explore, learn new skills and create lends to the feeling of industry and autonomy. If this freedom is not achieved, students fall into the less appealing of the two stage possibilities, inferiority. children can feel as if they aren’t achieving as much as other students are, thus lending to their feeling of inadequacy and inferiority. This stage is also very social, and if students aren’t given the freedom to explore and maintain industry, the inferiority felt can cause issues in self-esteem (Harder, 2002). It is important to know about this stage when teaching children, so that as a teacher, you can help them along their path of discovery and independence. It is also important to be aware of the sensitivity revolving around self-esteem at this stage. It is important to create and equal playing field in the classroom and treat all students the same to ensure some students don’t feel inadequate to others. Encouragement is key to build up the self-esteem within the classroom, and give the children a sense of competence instead of failure. The next stage in Erikson’s theory is staged from 12 to 18 years old. This stage is confronts the conflict of identity vs. role confusion. At this stage, children are taking the reigns in terms of being in control of whether they fall into identity or role confusion. Before this point, most situations that are out of their control are shaping the children’s outcome. At this stage, however, children are becoming more self sufficient and able in terms of making decisions and calling their own shots. children at this stage are learning how to separate themselves from their parents, or their society. They are learning to become him or herself, without the input of their family or society. If children shy away from responsibility and moral issues, this results in role confusion. If children confront responsibility and growing up without the input of a caretaker, they achieve identity (Harder, 2002). This can be a very difficult and confusing stage in a child’s life. They are going through many physical stages, such as puberty, as well as trying to understand where they fit in society and what type of person they want to be. children at this stage can be withdrawn and shy away from responsibility such as homework and learning. This is important to know as a teacher, so you can have compassion and patience in the classroom. As children develop, they are constantly learning; from the classroom to more internal issues, such as who they are in this world. It is important for teachers to be aware of these changes that are occurring in children’s lives, and be patient within the classroom. Citation Harder, A. (2002). The developmental stages of erik erikson. Retrieved from http://www.support4change.com/index.php?option=com_content