Middle Childhood : School Is A Pre Society

Developmental Psychology is the study of human growth during childhood, and throughout an individual lifespan. During the development of an individual, Erick Erickson’s eight stages of life theory can be applied. Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory has eight stages and “unique development we go through life. At each stage, a unique level developmental task confronts Individuals with a crisis that must be resolved. According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point marked by both increased vulnerability and enhanced potential” (John W. Santrock). Erikson’s main focused was to see the development of n individual’s social and physical context and relationships with others during Erikson’s eight stages of life. The eight stages of life is: Trust versus mistrust (Infancy 1 year-olds), Autonomy versus shame and doubt (infancy 1 to 3 years-olds), Initiative versus guilt (early childhood 3 to 5 year-olds), Industry versus inferior (6 year-olds to puberty), Identity versus identity confusion (10 to 20 year-olds), Intimacy versus isolation (20 to 30 year olds), Generativity versus stagnation (40 to 50 year-olds), Integrity versus despair (60 and onwards). Each of this stages can be applied to any one’s life but depending on their experiences, challenges, and interactions will make impact their identities to be different from others. Although I have not fully experienced life I will be applying Erikson’s eight stages of life to my life.

The second theory examined is Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Each stage in Erikson’s theory involves a conflict/crisis that a person must work through to evolve their personality. Rosenthal (1981) explains that, “Each stage arises because a new dimension of social interaction

1. Chapter 8 “Middle Childhood: The Social World,” section “The Peer Group,” highlights the social factors among middle aged children, how they are aware of reality and conscious of others’ opinions, judgments, and accomplishments (Berger, 300). This chapter explains the culture of children, similar to actual ethical cultures, there are games, nursery rhymes, jokes, insults, and superstitions that are part of the peer society; in which the older children pass down these customs to the younger ones. This is one of the ways that communication between different age groups are formed, other ways are having actual conversations. Moreover, children will dress in ways that is accepted by their peers and have the sense of belonging to a group of friends;

Erik H. Erikson had eight stages of development that he used to identify personality and identity. These stages of development are Infancy—the challenge of trust{versus mistrust), Stage 2: Toddlerhood—the challenge of autonomy (versus doubt and shame), Stage 3: Preschool—the challenge of initiative (versus guilt), Stage 4: Preadolescence—the challenge of industriousness (versus inferiority), Stage 5: Adolescence—the challenge of gaining identity (versus confusion), Stage 6: Young adulthood—the challenge of intimacy (versus isolation), Stage 7: Middle adulthood—the challenge of making a difference (versus self-absorption), and Stage 8: Old age—the challenge of integrity (versus despair). Now that I've given you the stages of development I'm

For me, middle school was probably the most excruciating years of my life. I thought it was only me and everyone else had it easy and completely understood everything that was happening to their bodies and minds. In fact, I still have dreams about my middle school years like forgetting my locker combination or hiding in the bathroom stall because the most popular girls were gossiping about a friend of yours. The settings in these dreams are always my middle school; I find it amazing that thirty years after I attended school that I can remember vivid details about the layout, hallways, lockers, and teachers. The reason for this I believe is that for ALL students the middle school years are the most influential to shaping and becoming who a person is and who they wish to become. Middle schools are essential for the success of students because of the unique developmental stages of these students. For teachers, comprehension of young adolescent development is key to understanding the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and moral needs and interests of these students (Powell, 2015, p. 55) and also teachers need to develop a curriculum that is focused on developing students competence in all subject matter and using their knowledge and available resources to design, implement, and evaluate challenging, responsive curriculums that result in meaningful learning outcomes (Powell, 2015, p. 145). All students should feel that they are accepted for who he or she is as an

The first stage, Trust vs. Mistrust, happens from right when your born until you become one-year old. If a baby’s wants are met, liking changing a diaper, they will develop trust. The next stage, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, happens between the ages of two and three. Erikson believes that the infant’s parents have to have a supportive atmosphere in order for their child to develop autonomy. If the supportive atmosphere is not present, then the child will develop shame and doubt about their autonomy. The third stage, Initiative vs. Guilt, happens when the child is age four to five. This is the stage when a child discovers who they want to be. Initiative increases when the skill of accountability is developed.

As the readings so often portrayed, the transition into middle schooling can be quite the rough event for students. Despite this, I was quite surprised to find that in a study conducted by Waxman and Huang (1998) of the three education groups—elementary, middle and high school—middle schoolers were actually identified as harbouring the most negative classroom perception. This semester’s Education readings have repeatedly shown that the more independent structure of middle schooling can overwhelm students who are transitioning from their tight-knit elementary classes. Compound these school structure changes with the onset of puberty and it quickly becomes clear that there are challenges to be had in educating the middle school student. (Tilleczek, 2010 p. 5) After participating in this semester’s Education topic, however, I have to come to the conclusion that an effective educator can thoroughly minimise the risks associated with middle school students through the development of holistic teacher—student relationships.

As my dad’s shiny, grey, car pulled up to the enormous building with a halt, I unbuckled my seatbelt with a jab. “Bye,” I groaned as he mocked, “Good luck!” Well that helped I thought. I walked up to the big, rusty, opened doors with the vice principal there to greet me. This was going to be a long year…

Erik Erikson’s specialty is in the field of ego psychology. As an ego psychologist, his theory on ego identity is renown as the best-known theory of psychosocial development. Erikson’s theory defines ego identity as “the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction which is inclusive of all beliefs, ideals, and values that help shape and guide a person’s behavior” (Cherry, n.d., p. 1).

According to Erik Erikson’s theory of psycho-social stages, development is an ongoing process that happens across the lifespan. This theory believes that growth can be described and divided into age groups including: infancy, toddler, preschooler, elementary schooler, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood. In addition, Erikson outlines healthy or socially acceptable behaviors at each of the stages of development. More importantly, Erikson believed that each stage involved a crisis which is, “…marked by a conflict between two opposing personality traits or basic attitudes, one of which is ego ‘synotonic’ and the other, ego ‘dystonic.’” (Robbins, Chatterjee & Carter, p. 209). The theory also states that a balance between

Eagle (1997) argues that Erik Erikson’s main contributions include having stages beyond the oedipal stage and the incorporation of culture into development. Erikson extended his stages beyond childhood, which implies that developmental changes occur throughout the lifespan (Eagle, 1997). From this idea, Eagle (1997) discusses the meaning and implications of the generativity versus stagnation stage of development. Eagle (1997) concludes that stagnation is a form of adaptation when there is an absence of generativity. In regards to culture, Erikson argues that ego identity is both individually-based as well as society-based (Eagle, 1997). This concept leads to a greater cultural inclusivity than what had been focused

Over time psychologist have found more ways to further the study if humans’ behavior and metal processes. Erikson, a psychologist of the twentieth century came up with a theory of how humans’ developmental stages throughout a life span. His theory consisted of eight stages. The first stage is trust vs. mistrust and this occurs from birth to 1 year of age. The next stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt and occurs from the age 1 to 3. Then there is initiative vs. guilt this will last from age 3 to 6. The fourth stage is industry vs. inferiority and this occurs from age 6 to puberty. Next is the stage of identity vs. role confusion this

In order to understand the role of other people and experiences in relation to the development of our students’ identity and personality, we must take into account Erik Erikson’s theory on psychosocial development. Erikson’s theory explores the influence of characteristics such as cognitive ability, emotions and habits, on the formation of individuality and uniqueness at key stages in our lives; whilst highlighting the emergence of self, search for identity, individual’s relationships with others, and the role of culture throughout life.

By middle school students lives become busy and cluttered with what they feel is important like friends, sports, video games, computers, and television. These students feel like they don’t have time to do anything else, let alone notice their world and the natural beauty around them. Living in rural Iowa, students have many opportunities to see the beauty of nature, however because it is easy to access they spend very little to no time experiencing it. Gradle (2008) states, “The more a person stands still and looks, the more they will see… Much hinges on the quality of attention we bring to what we see” (p. 9-10). By embracing the idea that if students are given the chance to just look and experience without worrying about other issues they

In entering adolescence, people heavily contemplate their ego identity. In the early 1900s, theorist Erik Erikson believed in eight stages of ego development from birth to death. For the purpose of this paper I have