Erik Erikson'S Theory of Psychosocial Development: Classroom Application Initiative vs. Guilt

ERIK ERIKSON'S THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Our personality traits come in opposites. We think of ourselves as

optimistic or pessimistic, independent or dependent, emotional or
unemotional, adventurous or cautious, leader or follower, aggressive
or passive. Many of these are inborn temperament traits, but other
characteristics, such as feeling either competent or inferior, appear to
be learned, based on the challenges and support we receive in growing
up. The man who did a great deal to explore this concept is Erik
Erikson. Although he was influenced by Freud, he believed that the ego
exists from birth and that behavior is not totally defensive.
He organized life into eight stages that extend from birth to
death. Since adulthood covers a span of many years, Erikson divided
the stages of adulthood into the experiences of young adults, middle
aged adults and older adults. While the actual ages may vary
considerably from one stage to another, the ages seem to be
appropriate for the majority of people. I pick one of the stages and
explain how it is applied to some classroom practices.
Classroom Application
Initiative vs. Guilt
Give children the opportunity to make choices and act upon those
choices. Because the crisis of initiative vs. guilt determines whether a
child learns to plan activities on her own or comes to associate self-
directed behavior with punishment, she must have the opportunity to
make decisions. Provide a portion of the day when children can choose
their own activities. Have a classroom library where children can pick
their own books during reading time. This allows children the
opportunity to learn how to make decisions for themselves.
Break instruction and activities down into small steps. This
makes it easier for children to succeed and encourages them to take
risks. Without this framework, children may become frustrated by
activities and sense that they are doomed to complete them poorly.
Ensure that any competitive games or activities have well-
balanced teams. If children consistently lose at math games, they may
believe they are bad at math. Conversely, even a struggling student
may feel confident in her mathematical abilities if her team performs
well overall.
Accept mistakes that result from students attempting activities
on their own. If a student damages something or makes a serious
error, show him how to fix, clean or redo it instead of simply punishing
him. This will make students feel more confident in their abilities to
attempt activities on their own.
SIGMUND FREUD’S THEORY OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
Freud actually gave the idea about "inner conflicts" that can
affect one's behavior. Some psychologists, like Erik Erikson adapted
this idea but changed this from less sexual to more social in nature.
The conflicts or crises are important in a sense that they must be
solved in order to successfully and normally proceed to the next level
of our development, and to avoid fixation or maladjustment.
For instance, our pupils/students may be categorized into Phallic,
Latency or Genital stage of psychosexual development. Our role as
teachers therefore, is to assist our pupils/students solve or go through
their inner conflicts on these stages. We can actually help if we give
them ample attention in their certain needs.
For example, play is an outlet among children where their sexual
drive is being directed in the Latency Stage. If this will be suppressed,
their will be a possibility for the child to fixate, or will continue to play
even inappropriate for his/her age as an adult in the future.
Among the pubescent/adolescent students, let teachers be more
responsible in discussing about topics regarding sexuality. They must
be more sensitive and careful because they know that on this stage,
our students are going through a lot of crises and confusion. Let
teachers teach them to be sexually responsible by explaining to them
the sexual changes they are going through, and the consequences of
their actions. Let us teach them to be more critical and reflective to
clarify their inner issues. Let us not forget to offer our hands if they
need our advice or to collaborate with their parents. This is the so-
called sex education.
As my conclusion, the application of Freud ideas to teaching and
learning is that it gives us an explanation of some of our
pupils/students' behavior that are manifested inside the classroom.
However, the specific application of this theory in the teaching-learning
process is not yet fully studied or experimented compared to other
theories. What I presented here are just some of the aspects in which
this theory can be applied. As teachers, the decision is still on the
teachers how they will use this knowledge to assist their students. If
they can add more of the applications.
LEV VYGOTSKY SCAFFOLDING
Psychologist Lev Vygotsky developed a theory of cognitive
development which focused on the role of culture in the development
of higher mental functions. Several concepts arose from that theory
that are important to classroom learning. This lesson will focus on the
concept of scaffolding, how it is applied in classroom.
Scaffolding is directly related to zone of proximal development in
that it is the support mechanism that helps a learner successfully
perform a task within his or her ZPD. Typically, this process is
completed by a more competent individual supporting the learning of a
less competent individual. So, for example, there could be a teacher
assisting a student, or a higher-level peer assisting a younger peer.
To understand this concept better, let's think about how
scaffolding is used in the construction of a home. The scaffold is an
external structure that provides support for the workers until the
house itself is strong enough to support them. As the home gains
stability, the scaffold becomes less necessary and is gradually
removed.
In mathematical problem solving the teacher must first solve the
problem for the learners to observe and analyze how to solve it. Giving
clues on how to solve an equation is an example of scaffolding.
Scaffolding is applied similarly in the classroom. First, the teacher
should provide clues about how to proceed through the problem. As
the child becomes capable of solving the problem without support, the
teacher gradually removes these clues. This process is referred to as
fading.
SAMPLES OF REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES
Fixed Ratio (FR) Reinforcement Schedule
 A child is offered a reward after they earn five A’s on her
homework assignments. After her fifth A on a homework
assignment, she gets to pick out a new toy.
 After a student answers 3 questions, they get a compliment from
a teacher.
 Receiving a good grade for reading 3 number of chapters of the
book.
Fixed Interval (FI) Reinforcement Schedule
 Every minute the teacher gives the student an encouragement.
Every minute there’s a repeat of this reinforcement.
 A course where there are exams every three weeks, studying
right before the exam and then stopping until the next exam.
 Doing a job and receiving a paycheck every last day of the
month.
Variable Ratio (VR) Reinforcement Schedule
 Teacher gives candy to student who offers correct answers but
after varying amount of responses.
 Selling Girl Scout cookies door to door.
 The classic of winning the jackpot on the slot machine after a
changing number of times playing it.
Variable Interval (VI) Reinforcement Schedule
 Teacher gives candy every couple of minutes, but the time
between reinforcement is always changing.
 A parent attending to the cries of a child. Parents will not
typically attend to the child each time it cries, but will leave he or
she to fuss for a period before attending.
 Checking your phone for text messages – you do not know when
you will be rewarded with a message, but continue to check until
you do.

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ERIK ERIKSON'S THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Our personality traits come in opposites. We think of ourselves as

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