Human Development is a complex and gradual process. It is a process that takes into consideration the external world as well as the physical and mental aspects of the human person. In essence as humans develop from childhood to adulthood, these ‘worlds’ come into play and contribute greatly in determining their tapping into full potentials (Tudge 63). Eriksson’s and Piaget’s works on the stages of development have acted as eye openers in different fields that focus on human development, education being one of them. Brief discussions of these developmental stages, narrowing down to a specific stage and relating it with education applicability are the main focal points of this document.

Eriksson’s Stages of Development

To start with, Erik Eriksson was greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud who explores human development using the id, the ego and superego concepts in his work. Eriksson however differs with Freud and expresses that the ego exists from childbirth and that human behavior is not totally defensive. According to him, development incorporates body interactions that is, genetic biological functioning; the mind which is majorly psychological and; cultural influences (Bliss 25).

Eriksson organized the stages of development into eight extending from birth to death which is a unique classification as other theorists mostly focus only on childhood. His main premises are that the world enlarges both in size and complexity as one goes along and that failure accumulates over time. These stages are divided into infancy, early childhood, play age, school age, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood (Bliss 75).

At infancy, also known as the Oral Sensory Stage, emphasis is on visual contact and touch as well as the mother’s positive and loving care. Trust is built at this stage where one develops confidence in the future or mistrust in cases where frustration is eminent which further culminates into suicidal incidences. Drive and hope are the basic strengths in this stage (Tudge 48). The significant relationship is with the maternal parent or constant care giver. Early childhood then follows, a period ranging from 18 months to 3 years where one masters skills such as walking, talking and feeding. Self esteem and self autonomy which determine self control, courage and will, are developed to a large extent at this stage. Doubt and shame as well as low self esteem are also evident and parents form the main significant relationships in this stage (Tudge 92).

The play age, 3 to 5 years takes over from early childhood and initiative or guilt as ego outcomes are a common scenario at this stage. One takes initiative of creating playing environments through copying adult activities such as driving or playing out roles. Guilt develops in the case where oedipal struggle fails to be resolved through social role identification. The basic family is the main significant relationship. The school age of 6 to 12 years incorporates industry and inferiority through the discovery of new skills that further influence method and competency. The significant relationship enlarges to the school and neighborhood (Bliss 58).

At the adolescent stage of 12 to 18 years, devotion and fidelity become the main strengths. This is driven by ego identity to fit in as well as attempting to discover one’s appearance to others. Role confusion steps in where this is not achieved positively. Intimacy and solidarity are the positive outcomes of young adulthood, a stage ranging from 18 to 35 years with love and affiliation being the basic strengths as individuals seek mutual relationships and start families. Isolation occurs as a defense mechanism where intimacy is at a distant. Furthermore, friends and partners are the significant relations.

As Barnett 128 explains, middle and late adulthood are concerned with generativity and integrity respectively as positive ego outcomes, which culminate further into production care and wisdom as significant relationship broaden into the larger world of workplace, community and mankind.

Piaget’s Stages of Development

The classification stages of development by Piaget are categorized into four that is, Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operations and Formal operations. First of all, the sensorimotor stage covers the period from birth to 2 years where the infant interacts with the environment to build a basic understanding of him or herself and reality. This understanding takes the form of assimilation, where information is organized and absorbed into existing representation, and accommodation, whereby if an object cannot be assimilated, the scheme is modified to include the object. The sensory and motor systems are the main drivers in this developmental stage for purposes of discovery and coordination (Tudge 46).

The preoperational stage captures the ages from 2 to 4 years where the child is unable to conceptualize abstractly and therefore physical situations are included in the conceptualization process. Important features are then used to classify objects. The child at this stage is unable to differentiate similar objects and sees them as identical. In addition, egocentrism and self centeredness are a common occurrence at this stage. From 7 to 11 years which is the Concrete operations stage, accommodation increases with the accumulation of physical experiences. Here, physical experiences are explained through the creation of logical structures that are easily conceptualized (Tudge 52).

At the last stage of Formal operations, one is able to make rational judgments without the use of concrete objects as their thinking is similar to adults hence capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning. This age stems from 11 to 15 years (Gannon 13).

The Formal Operational Stage and its relationship to education

From Piaget’s Cognitive Development, the formal operational stage develops from around 11years old where one is able to consider a variety of combinations in relation to the whole problem and reason out from a hypothetical perspective (Barnett 34). The main characteristics at this stage involve abstract thinking; idealistic thinking where one is able to think of practical mechanisms to come up with solutions and; logical thinking where they can deduce plans to solve problems and systematically test the availed solutions, also known as hypothetical- deductive reasoning. This stage is fundamental in education in various ways.

As students are able to think from diverse perspective, Barnett 38 discloses that, the function of the teacher would be to facilitate each student’s way of perceiving, understanding and constructing new knowledge through scaffolding to help them transform. At this stage also it is important to note that, qualitative approach in education is promoted whereby, students are able to utilize both extensively and intensively their intellectual and mental capacities to actively develop and construct meaning and their own personal understanding of what is being learnt.

Practical approaches are embedded in educational curricula to capture the hypothesis- deductive reasoning of students at this age range. Such include the use of science laboratories where students are able to deduce conclusive visible facts from practical applications. Their problem solving skills are also evident in the complex mathematical questions tackled at their level of education (Gannon 74).

In addition, the education system provides a wide array of choices for students. Several subjects are taught to students and they are then allowed to make choices of subjects they deem fit to undertake. At this level, students are able to make choices based on personal research and their confidence and attitudes towards the available options.

Furthermore, students originate from different backgrounds with different perceptions towards life’s opportunities and misgivings as well as to others. At this stage, individuals are caught with the need to find a sense of identity and belonging which would adequately be covered by the neutrality of the education systems as well promote personality development through leadership which is essentially covered in education (Gannon 128).

As a teacher therefore, I would promote group work activities where students get an opportunity to interact with one another and therefore obtain a sense of belonging and identity with the rest of the group hence a student is able to find their niche.

Secondly, with emphasis from Barnett’s perspective I would encourage an interactive process with the students whereby I would ask questions, let them brainstorm and work out solutions then evaluate these solutions and correct where they have gone wrong (40).

Thirdly, I would take into account the quiet students and give them an opportunity to express themselves either through answering questions, acting as leaders of their groups or asking questions.

Fourthly, in order to ensure full participation and collective responsibility, I would ensure the thumb rule of not leaving the classroom unless students ask questions.

Lastly, I would promote the use of practical application based on different topics to ensure that students utilize their deductive thinking for example through laboratory experiences (Gannon 130).

Works Cited

Barnett, Kevin. Supercomplexity Teaching. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002.

Bliss, John and Grace,Osborn. Stages of Human Development: theorists’ views. London: Routledge, 2005.

Gannon, Lewis. Effective Training for Teachers. New York: Sage, 1996.

Tudge, David. A Child’s Moral Reasoning. New York: Plume, 1999.