Influential Educators And Education Program

Erikson was a German psychologist and psychoanalyst. He was a student of Freud, and was greatly influenced by his theories of personality development. Similarly to Winnicott, Erikson drew on his experiences as a child analyst, to inform his contributions. Erikson’s theories, like Winnicott, are highly regarded today.

Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. Because his mother was Jewish and his father was not, he was often bullied in school. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, so his Jewish peers mocked him for standing out and being different, and his peers at school teased him simply for being Jewish. His own internal conflict with his identity sparked his interest in identity formation and development. Although he never actually received a degree in medicine or psychology, he became friends with Anna Freud who helped him study psychoanalysis. Erikson supported and was influenced by many of Sigmund Freud’s ideas. Freud had a theory on development, he called it the 5 stages of psychosexual development, this is one of the theories that Erikson

Erikson was a psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud. Although influenced by Freud there are some differences in there developmental stages. Erikson believed that development in an individual was molded by society, culture, and environment. While Freud’s belief was that development is in some way is influenced by the fixation of sexual interest of different areas of the body. The stages in Erikson’s development theory outline how important social experiences can shape us. While Freud’s theory is mainly based on ones sexuality. Additionally the other significant difference between Erikson’s and Freud’s theories is the outcome of a particular stage. Erikson believed that the outcome of a certain stage was not permanent and that it could be changed later on in life. While Freud presumed that if an individual became fixated on a stage problems associated with that stage would be carried on through life.

In “Preface to Cultural Literacy” by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., he claims that old theories is not transmitted engought basic knowledge information to young children. First Hirsch points out that it is not teacher or students fault that students did not get enough information about society, but the fault of curriculums, practices, and theories that are not helping students gain the background information that will help students learn about the society. Another time Hirsch reports that Jean Jacques Rousseau theory is wrong about young children that they should not receive an information about society before they understand it. Last, Hirsch believes that history of all the theories in the past is not giving us enough background information that will

Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell,

Being regarded as father of progressive education, John Dewey’s most valuable contribution lied in the promotion of practical approach to education. His progressive education method underlined the importance of experience in learning, which was contradictory to the earlier days’ traditional authoritarian and rote learning educational approach. John Dewey believed in democracy in education, suggesting a learn process by participating and doing. His educational approach also put an emphasis on the development of relevant and practical life skills for students.

The education of children has existed since the beginning of time as parents have taught and molded their children into the young adults they desired them to be. Initial training of children was not in a formal setting, although history would see numerous settings, purposes, and methodological changes. Philosophies of education have also changed through the years as various voices have seemed to grasp the purpose of educating the next generation, thus laying out objectives to reach those goals of teaching children.

Erik Erickson`s view of influence leaned more towards the ego. This to say; that he believed that the society and culture which a person lives plays a large role in development. In this situation Erikson`s stages of development the fourth stage would be prominent; Industry vs inferiority. This stage is when children are beginning to learn things in school like reading, writing and mathematics. At this point in a child`s life friends and their social status begin to mean much more to them than previously and sometimes overcomes what they should start to be responsible for.

Erik Erikson is the most influential person in the field of psychology. He was born on June 15th, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany and died on May 12th, 1994 in Massachusetts, Boston. He is known for his theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from early infancy to adulthood. Each of these stages, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis that influences personality based on their positive or negative outcomes. However, every human being enters certain stages to reach the full potential of development. In addition to Erikson, he was influenced by Sigmund Freud, who was a psychoanalysis, developed the structural models of personality, and psychosexual stages. Erikson extends on Freudian thoughts

John Dewey is one of many who impacted education greatly. I believe John Dewey made such a big impacted on education because of his different beliefs with how students learned. His revolutionary ideas during his life, that remain fundamentally important to modern schooling today. Dewey had a new philosophy and ideas on how students learn and how teachers should teach. He believed that people learn by doing, and learn from a hands on approach. He also thought for this to be able to happen, students had to interact with their environment to better adapt and learn. Dewey also thought that teachers and students must learn together, which was a very interesting concept to me because I think people, even adults should always be learning. I think John Dewey says it best when he says “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”

Erikson’s main contribution to psychology was his developmental theory. He developed eight psychosocial stages of development and believed that each stage presents

"Erikson's main contribution was to bridge the gap between the theories of psychoanalysis on the problems of human development, which emphasize private emotions, and the broader social influences that bear upon the individual. He was a strong proponent of the concept that social environment plays a major role in the development of personality. Going beyond the of a child's early life, Erikson concentrated on broader issues of peer culture, school environment, and cultural values and ideals. This led him to study the period of adolescence, in which he documented the interaction of a person's inner feelings and impulses with the world that surrounds the person."

Education has been ever developing since the inception of the first schools. The early theorists believed that children were mini adults. Children were treated the same as their adult counterparts. They were given jobs at early ages, and dressed the same as their parents. This belief, that children were just little adults, was called Preformationism. Though this may seem like an antiquated idea, aspects of Preformationism are still scene in today’s society. “We often lapse into the same thinking today, as when we expect young children to sit still for hour, or when we assume that their thinking is the same as ours” (Crain 5). Clearly there was the need for new theories, which would better explain child development and education. This is where Locke and Rousseau come in.

Erik Erikson believe that childhood is very important in personality development. He created a theory of psychosocial development that covers an entire life. I believe that Erik Erikson did a great job on creating these stages.

Erik Erikson is known for his psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from infancy to adulthood. Psychologist Erik Erikson, is a major contributor to developmental psychology, who proposed a comprehensive theory of the ways that individuals develop their identity, a sense of who they are, and society's influence on that development. Erikson stated that people go through crisis at each stage of their lives. The stages each had a developmental task to be mastered. As an individual resolved these various crises an individual would have a better harmony with their social environment that they live in. If an individual could not successfully resolve a crisis, they would be” out of step”, and the individual would have a greater difficulty in their dealing with a crisis in the future. Erikson did however recognize that an individual can develop through a stage negatively and still go on with their life. Erikson stated that each of the psychological stages have a basic conflict and important event leading to growth. The theory was developed from his hundreds of clinical observations in children.