Educational Psychology / Unit 3 EDP 0244 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Erikson's Eight Crises
The idea
Erikson described psychosocial development as eight crises across the lifespan, each resolved toward a strength or a difficulty: trust versus mistrust in infancy; autonomy versus shame; initiative versus guilt in early childhood; industry versus inferiority in the school years; identity versus role confusion in adolescence; then intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and integrity versus despair in adulthood. Each crisis is shaped by the relationships of its period.
In practice
Worked example: a fourth grader who compares every project with classmates' and says he is bad at everything is struggling with industry versus inferiority.
Where people slip
Classroom parallels follow each crisis. Real choices support autonomy and initiative; realistic goals, support and tolerance of imperfect work support industry; diverse role models and tolerance of changing plans support identity.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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