Cycles of

Development
Pamela Levin has identified seven stages in the human
developmental process, which recur in cycles throughout our lives.

In addition to cycles corresponding to different ages we also

experience shorter sequences triggered by specific events,

for example

getting a new job or

starting out on an educational course;

these can be represented in a diagram format.

In each stage of the initial cycle we have

certain developmental tasks to complete-
yet few of us achieve these in a way which
fully meets our developmental needs.
Rather, we may be rushed though a stage or linger too long, or
experience a traumatic event. As we recycle in later life we have
more opportunities for completion and growth- and we may
experience the same problems that occurred to us before, and
repeat the same strategies that were less than totally successful
originally, or we may respond to encouragement to do things
differently.
Ages and
Stages
Being
In the first few months of life we need to experience just being in
the world. This requires a situation where we feel secure, wanted,
loved-and without having to do anything or be any
particular way. This is our major task in our first 6 months.

If our original situation cannot provide this atmosphere,

then we need to rework this stage later in our lives. Unlike
we do, we may have problems centered around our belief in
our right to exist.

Chris is an example of someone who does not have enough

permission to be. As a result, Chris is low profile, friendly, work
hard, and wants to be told what to do. Consequently when you
interact with Chris you need to affirm existence- how can you
communicate this?

We may top up on the developmental tasks associated with this

stage in our life. For example, when we choose a holiday with lots of
opportunity to lie on the beach or by the pool with no demands to
do anything in particular, we replay Being.

When starting a new job or a new course it is important that this

stage is not rushed through or overlooked to be welcomed and to
be given enough time to just be in the new environment is
important for everyone, and especially so for some.

In designing learning programmes choice of the ice breaker is

crucial to allow for people who need time to just be there, either
because, like Chris, being is a key stage for them, or simply
because they are experiencing this stage at the beginning of a new
venture.

Doing
From the age of 6 to 18 months we want to be doing things.
We explore objects with hands, eyes and mouth and begin to move
around. It is vital that our care-giver is there to return to, and that
we have the freedom to be on our own.

If we were thwarted at this stage by the inconsistent

presence of our caretaker or by overprotection then later in
our lives we may be perpetual explorers.

We may recycle this developmental stage perhaps

by frequently changing homes,

jobs,

courses and so on, and

by choosing activity and adventure holidays.

Pat is an example of a person who did not originally learn how

to crawl from her caretaker without cutting herself off. Pat has
become adept at challenging. Consequently that there is
 someone for Pat, you come back to who is interested in Pats
doing without interfering. How could you communicate this?

When we recycle this stage shortly after starting a new course or a

new job, we need to be able to explore the new surroundings on our
own- not to be shown around by someone else. On learning
programmes you can choose an initial icebreaker to include both
the being and doing aspects.

Thinking
We start to reason things out and make decisions for ourselves
between about eighteen months and three years and object
strongly if adults attempt to impose their choices on us.

If we are not allowed to develop our thinking skills we find it hard to

form our own opinions later in life. This is often expressed as I
dont know.

Lee is an example of someone who has not been given enough

permission to think in childhood. As a result Lee wants
procedures in order to avoid having to think. How could you
communicate to Lee permission to think?

If new in a job or on a course, then at this stage it is important to be

invented to give views, and for people to listen without putting each
other down.
Identity
From the age of three to six years many aspects of identity are
explored- gender, style, role, clothes and props and so on. This is
the age when small children begin to say When I grow up Im
going to be a..

Without appropriate support at this age we may grow up unsure of

our role in life, or with rigid views that limit out potential
development. Redundancy or retirement may reactivate uncertainty
about identity to an extreme extent. Adults recycling this stage
may buy a different type of car or re-style their hair or make an
unexpected career change.

Kim epitomizes a person for whom career success has come to

mean identity. When interacting with Kim how can you affirm
the person behind the career?

While still fairly new to a course or a job, yet after the ice is broken,
it is important that people have permission and opportunity to
decide for themselves what kind of person they want to be in their
new role. In groups this may be a stormy period especially if there
are many implicit messages from the tutor or the institution of This
is how you ought to be.
Skills
From about the age of six we spend about six years acquiring the
skills we need to get by in the world.

We observe how adults behave and copy whatever fits with the
identity we have chosen.

We also incorporate a whole range of opinions and values in order

to perceive the world in a structured way.

To the extent to which we fail to acquire significant skills or values,

we will limit ourselves as adults.

Andy is an example of someone who has issues around skills-

and as a result has chosen to focus on people and harmony
because of not having sufficient other hard skills. How could
you give Andy clear permission to go off and learn other types
of skills?
Integration
At about the age of twelve we go through the cycle again and a
twice the pace.

For example adolescents may at different periods sleep much of the

time, explore drugs, sex and music, become deeply involved in
philosophical questions, worry about their identity in terms of
sexuality, appearance, future job, then become very concerned
about gaining qualifications and swing from adult-style behavior to
child-like phases. By about eighteen they will have integrated all
these faces into a whole.

Failure to achieve this integration will leave us somewhat

fragmented, as if somehow we have not quite finished growing up .
As adults recycling this stage, we might talk of behaving like a
teenager again!

Terry is an example of someone who has difficulty in pulling it

all together. How could you give Terry recognition as a whole
person- and permission to go back to any stage desired?

Within teaching programmes , this phase involves going over the

curriculum again, perhaps in ,more depth and with different angles,
and creating the climate to apply all the learning.

If you teaching 16-19 year-olds, then you will be working directly

with people grappling with the developmental tasks of this phase- a
characteristic feature may be their unpredictability!
Summary
Levins theory derives from empirical research. She reports that,
having developed her model, she then read the developmental
psychologists for the first time. Clearly her work compatible with
some of the leading writers in the field, such as Piaget and Erikson,
whilst providing additional illumination.

This is an essentially optimistic theory, valuing growth and

development. Eric Berne named the human urge to grow physis.
Levins model suggests that we are not wholly determined by our
past but can and to reshape ourselves in the present. This has
implications for teachers, and the care we need to take in all of our
interventions.

In the next few pages we will first look at implications for the whole
group by applying the model to several aspects of course design:
recruiting participants, pairs; then we will consider implications for
individuals- how best to enable students by using interventions
appropriate to their current stage. In Section 11 we will also use this
model to explore:

Responding to change as an individual

Managing change within organizations
Creating endings and letting go
Advising learners on where next in their career and lifelong
learning
Providing appropriate strokes for individuals.