Why Is It Important to Know Our Students pt.2 - Social Emotional

Continuing from the last post about students' development, now let's talk about Social-Emotional Development. I think most of us already know Erick Erickson theory, which divides our life into several stages. In this posting, I will discuss only school ages, which is stage 2-5.

Psychosocial Stage 2 - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (18 mo – 3 yrs)
Psychosocial Conflict: Autonomy versus shame and doubt
Major Question: "Can I do things myself or am I reliant on the help of others?"
Basic Virtue: Will
Important Event(s): Toilet training

Focused on children developing a greater sense of personal control. They are starting to perform basic actions on their own and making simple decisions about what they prefer. 

Psychosocial Stage 3 - Initiative vs. Guilt (3-5 yrs)

Psychosocial Conflict: Initiative versus Guilt

Major Question: “Am I good or bad?”

Basic Virtue: Purpose

Important Event(s): Exploration, Play

Takes place during the preschool years. At this point in psychosocial development, children begin to assert their power and control over the world through directing play and other social interactions.

Classroom Practice : 

1. Allow children to make choices and act upon those choices: 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.
2. Break instruction and activities down into small steps. This makes it easier for children to succeed and encourages them to take risks. 
3. 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.
4. 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.

Psychosocial Stage 4 - Industry vs. Inferiority (6-17 yrs)

Psychosocial Conflict: Industry versus Inferiority

Major Question: "How can I be good?"

Basic Virtue: Competence

Important Event(s): School

Classroom Practice : 

1. Allow students the opportunity to set realistic goals. Have them create academic and personal goals for each quarter and revisit those goals every few weeks to monitor their own progress. Break down each assignment into parts so the students can learn how to set time management goals. 
2. Assign jobs to the students. Let them stack chairs, feed class pets, hand out and collect papers, take attendance sheets to the office and so on. Rotate these jobs regularly so all students have a chance to participate. This will give the students a sense of accomplishment.
3. Teach children study skills. Explain how to budget time and keep notebooks, binders and folders organized. 
4. Provide regular feedback to students, particularly those who seem discouraged. Praise them for what they are doing right and give constructive criticism of what they are doing wrong. If your school has a program such as Student of the Month, choose students who have academic or behavioral issues but are making strong efforts at improvement as well as high achievers. \

Psychosocial Stage 5 - Identity vs. Confusion (12-18 yrs)

Psychosocial Conflict: Identity Versus Confusion

Major Question: "Who am I?"

Basic Virtue: Fidelity

Important Event(s): Social Relationships

Classroom Practice :

1. Provide a variety of positive role models for students. Provide models of exemplary work so students know what an excellent project looks like and can compare their own work to the model. This will show them how to incorporate academic success into their identities, essentially providing role models for their work instead of their career goals.
2. Provide opportunities for students to bring their own interests into projects and assessments, as they may feel these interests are vital parts of their identities. Allow students to choose between a variety of final projects -- skits, essays, art projects, music compositions, etc. -- so they can either choose a project that appeals to their interests or explore new aspects of their identities.
3. Criticize behaviors rather than making personal condemnations of the students themselves. 
4. Explain the long-term consequences of misbehavior or poor performance so students will know how it affects themselves and others. This may encourage them to adopt a more responsible identity.
5. Encourage and support student interests. Attend school plays, concerts, and games to affirm students' identities as actors, musicians, and athletes.

I know it is not easy, and it is hard to remember all these theoretical things, but let us try our best to always remember that our kids are still in growing mode, so let us see from the way students see, talk in the way they talk and teach in the way they learn.