Early Childhood Stages

Human beings develop themselves in the same way. People have to follow some stages when they are growing up. Since a child is born he starts to learn things. In this two first weeks of classes we were studying about some theories of children development that some psychologists develops in order to understand the process that children follow in the early childhood.

We were talking about the theories of these four men:

• Lev Vygotsky

• Jean Piaget

• Lawrence Kohlberg

• Erick Erickson

Some psychologists agreed in their theories, but they also add some other aspects In order to demonstrate their points of view.

The work of Lev Vygotsky (1934) has become the foundation of much research and theory in cognitive development over the past several decades, particularly of what has become known as Social Development Theory.

Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning"

Piaget's notion that children’s development must necessarily precede their learning, Vygotsky argued, "Learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function". In other words for Vygotsky social learning tends to precede development.

Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality

• Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished they must have done wrong.

• Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. At this stage children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints.

Level 2 - Conventional morality

• Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships. The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others. Therefore, answers are related to the approval of others.

• Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order. The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society so judgments concern obeying rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.

Level 3 - Post-conventional morality

• Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. The child/individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals.  The issues are not always clear cut. For example, in Heinz’s dilemma the protection of life is more important than breaking the law against stealing.

• Stage 6. Universal Principles. People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. E.g. human rights, justice and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage.

Erikson was an ego psychologist. He emphasized the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take place within the ego itself, whereas Freud emphasized the conflict between the id and the superego.

According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future.

Erikson extends on Freudian thoughts by focusing on the adaptive and creative characteristic of the ego, and expanding the notion of the stages of personality development to include the entire lifespan.

In my personal opinion the study of the stages that we follow while we are growing up are really interesting and they will be useful for us as teachers and for parents too. We could determine the most properly way for teaching if we know about our students. I think that even when our parents did not know about these stages when we were children they did a great job taking care of us and helping us in our learning. There is the possibility that they use wrong methods in order to teach us something, but see us, we were not affected for those “wrong” strategies.