Erikson

I enjoyed learning about the theories of Montessori, Freud and Erikson.  For this post, my thoughts gravitated to Erikson and his eight stages of human development.  His concept that stages continue through life makes sense to me.   As an older returning student, life and perspectives are ever changing.  The one question that I have, though, are these stages linear? It seems to me like these stages start parallel one might be in multiple stages at the same time.  Thoughts?? 

Contemplating Erikson’s theory stages, the first one I would focus on would be stage one-Trust vs Mistrust.  It’s an interesting time because your baby brand new.  It is exciting yet exhausting.  The child relies on parents for EVERYTHING, and yet the new parents at times feel helpless, not knowing what to do when the baby keeps crying.  They don’t want their child be the one who cries every time you put him/her down or cries when you walk out of a room, but they don’t want to neglect them either to the point of ‘passing out’ from crying so much because what if there is something else wrong.  To compound this issue, most children these days are brought to day care facilities around 3 months, when moms have to return to work. The child remains there  for about 9 hours a day.  According to Erikson’s theory, the child needs to have consistent and reliable care to develop trust.  For new parents, I would tell them if daycare is what you decide, visit the daycare and make sure they align with your values of raising children.  Don’t just jump to one because they have an opening or your friend recommends it.  Unfortunately, the daycare providers are with the child than parents in a lot of cases.  Make sure there is an open door policy so you can check in any time. and job allows it, take the time to check in on your child every so often.  If the right daycare is picked, you are laying a great foundation of trust for the child.  

The second stage I find important is stage five, Identity and Role Confusion.  This is from ages 12-18ish.  This stage is where the individual starts to question, “Who am I?”   In this stage, children expand on things they know, or experiment with new things.    They start to set goals, figure out where they want their life to go.  Some become leaders, and some become followers.  My suggestion to parents and teachers is be encouraging and expose them to new things.  Make suggestions on things they might enjoy like a certain sport or an art class.  Keep them safe, but give them latitude to explore.  If they make a poor choice, help them through it, don’t fix it for them.