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head: WEEK ONE ASSIGNMENT

Week One Assignment
Eriksons Psycho-Social Stages
SPD 604
Dario Workman
National University

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Abstract

I have observed many examples of Eriksons Stages of Development in both

my personal and professional life. In my personal life, I believe that I am currently

in stage VII, or the generativity vs. self-absorption stage. I believe that my students
are in stage V, or the identity vs. role confusion stage. There are many conflicts
between my stage and that of my students due to age differences and goals aligned
with our stages. In my opinion, understanding these stages can assist me being a
more effective teacher.

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SPD 604 Week One Assignment 1.3
Eriksons Psycho-Social Stages
Upon examining Eriksons Psychosocial Stages of Development I have
discovered several crises that have coincided with struggles in my own personal life.
Furthermore, I have concluded that my current stage of development is Stage VII, or the
Generativity Vs. Self-Absorption stage. According to our text, this stage usually occurs
during middle adulthood when people begin raising their own children. A crisis occurs
during this stage if an individual is unable to find interest in establishing and guiding the
next generation (Slavin, 2015, pg. 51). Furthermore, if this person is unable to resolve
this crisis through generativity, then a sense of stagnation and interpersonal
impoverishment will develop and result in self-absorption or self-indulgence (Slavin,
pg. 51).
However, as the text notes, not all people experience Eriksons stages to the
same degree or at the same time (Slavin, pg. 51). According to Erikson, stage VIII,
integrity vs. despair, occurs during late adulthood. However, I have struggled with this
stage of development for some time. Particularly, the portion of this stage in which I find
the greatest struggle is the concept of struggling with ones own mortality, or the finality
of death as the text denotes. I am not in my late adulthood, although the text does not
clearly state at what age this stage is. Despite this, I believe that this stage of
development is reserved for an individual who has looked back over their lifetime,
implying that this stage might usually occur later in life.

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In my classroom, I believe that this developmental stage would create a desire to

impart knowledge to my students in a way that would attempt to guide them in a caring,
fatherly way, as opposed to simply viewing education as a job to meet my financial
needs. While it is very true that teaching is my job, I believe that resolving this
developmental crisis by guiding the students in a purposeful way is beneficial to both my
development, as well as the students in which I am guiding.
Currently, I teach 7th grade English stage, which, according to Erikson, exists
within stage V, or the Identity vs. role confusion stage. This stage is very important to
adolescent development as creates the need to question and redefine the psychosocial
identity established during the earlier stages (Slavin, pg. 50). This stage appears to be a
difficult one to teach as it contains students who are beginning to move from the goal of
attaining the acceptance of authority figures and to the goal of acceptance from their own
peers. I believe this is why most teachers who I have spoken with regarding middle
school relate to me that it is a very difficult age to teach.
Some disconnects that I observe in my classroom are the differences between my
struggle with resolving the crisis of self-absorption and the students crisis of identity
confusion. For example, while I am attempting to guide the students and give them
direction, while trying to motivate them and keep them focused on the material, the
students are trying to reestablish his or her personal identities while maintaining the
acceptance of peer groups. This creates a severe disconnect because both of our crises
begin to conflict with one another. My developmental stage creates a desire to connect
with the students and provide essential knowledge for success but the students are
rebelling against authority by trying to impress their peers while at the same time trying

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to figure out what future goals to have. My stage comes at a time when I have seen many
consequences and have gained invaluable experience, yet the students do not yet
understand what the consequences of their actions would be. Additionally, the students
do not have, for the most part, a reliable frame of reference to draw their decisions from,
especially during a time when they are restructuring major elements of their personal
identities.
I believe that understanding Eriksons stages of development will give me a better
understanding of my students. While these stages are theoretical, I believe that they are
grounded in reliable research and can greatly benefit the impact that I can have as an
educator. Knowing what developmental stage in which my students exist can allow me
to better create individualized lesson plans that will meet their needs. By understanding
the disconnections and conflicts that may arise from the differences between my own
developmental stage and that of my class can assist me in diffusing various complications
while maintaining effective instruction and classroom management.

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Resources
Slavin, R. E. (2015). Social, moral and emotional development. In Educational
psychology (11th ed., pp. 48 - 67). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.