Section 2: Values and

Needs
How understanding the stages of
human development can lead to more
effective teaching

This section will introduce you to:

Cycles of development A model for
describing lifelong development which is
optimistic, creative and flexible.
You can use your learning from this
section to:
Design and implement effective
learning programmes
Recognise and respond to learners
needs at different stages.
The following exercise and the
explanatory text are based on material
 from Julie Hays workshops and writing,
and are used with permission.

Imagine you are on a course . . .

. . . About to combine with another one for a
three day residential experience. You are
expected to form groups of six made up of
three from your course and three from the
other course to work on a specific project
throughout the three days.
Your first task is to select from the
descriptions below three people to join your
group on the residential. They must be
suitable for your team- you will be responsible
for their success or otherwise.
You will be expected to justify your choices in
terms of how your chosen three are likely to
fit. Project instructions will be given to you on
arrival and after you have made your group
selection.
Chris likes a steady job, with steady pay to
make ends meet. Wants a line manager who
is friendly and helpful, and lets people know
clearly what is expected of them. Expects the
organization to provide good pay, hours and
working conditions.
Pat prefers an independent style of working
and is a rugged individualist. Can be
impulsive, restless and unwilling to work
within societys commonly accepted
limitations. Will challenge organizational
rules. Behaves independently.
Lee prefers to have specific job descriptions,
clearly laid down procedures and firm
supervision from a management, which
makes clear the required goals. Expects to
work hard and be promoted through being
efficient and loyal.
Kim takes the initiative, sets down goals and
wants recognition for achievement. Thrives on
competition and generally behaves
entrepreneurially. Sees personal income as a
measure of career success, and generated
income as important for the organization
worked for.
Andy prefers to work with other people
towards a common goal. Wants a very friendly
boss who fosters harmony. Expects a pleasant
work climate and an organization that is
concerned with needs of employees.
Interested in social and economic justice.
Terry regards goals as more important than
money and prestige. Wants work of own
choosing, with constant challenge. Likes a
manager who gives access to information and
leaves you to do a job your own way. Aims for
a balance between organizational and
individual needs.
Who did you choose?

Why?

Who did you deselect?

Why?
 Who do you feel is most similar to your
personality?

In what ways?
It is likely that you choose people from this
activity whom you recognize as similar to
yourself. We tend to value the people we
perceive as similar and with comparable
values to ourselves. It is well researched that
people employing staff will often clone
themselves. Often we feel most comfortable
with people who are in some way like us.
There is a place for all in any group- we need
to value all styles and types of people. When
we are responsible for developing others then
we need to give them the permission and
recognition they need in being the individuals
they are- and value them doing things
differently from us.

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.

Applications
Designing a Learning
Programme
Recruiting and selection
A persons individual cycle will progress in
relationship to events on a micro level (e.g.
starting a new course) within their cycle of
development at a moir macro level-related
to their personal life span. The amount of time
spent in any stage when re-cycling will be
unique to each individual according to their
personal life history. Below are some example
how stages of development might affect
recruitment and selection of staff or students.
When selecting staff to join your team,
or students to attend your programme, it
can be helpful to know what stage of
development at this macro level they are
currently processing, as well as any which
are currently issues for them. This will
enable you to pay attention to your group
mix, appropriateness of the individual for
 the work or course, and how you can best
interact with them.
For example, it is possible that women
coming forward for a Returners Course
are recycling Doing; whereas it may be
that a man put forward by the Job Centre
who has recently been made redundant
may need to recycle Being. What Cycle of
Development an individual is processing?
Are there any stages of development
an individual may be processing, which
are particularly appropriate or
inappropriate for your programme? For
example, people recycling Thinking stages
may be motivated to attend University
extension classes, whilst individuals
recycling Identity may be attracted to
personal growth courses, and those
recycling Skills may want vocational types
of programme.
Progression at the end of a course
might be as a response to these macro
stages; for example, the tutor might feel
disappointed that as especially competent
 student does not seem motivated to apply
their skills in any way but is content to lie
follow for a while. This may be a process
of integration for that learner who feels a
need to just be and not to hurry up and
get a job at this period in their life.
You Learning Programme Design
How do you welcome students to your
new course?
What ice-breaker can you use to
allow people to do something
successfully?
What can you give participants to
think about early in the programme in a
way that involves them and gives
permission to ask question and give
opinions?
What opportunity can you give to
participants to consider their identity in
relation to what they are learning?
Acquiring new skills involves practice
how do you build this into your
programme design?
 How do you encourage learners to
apply their learning wisely?
How can participants ne enabled to
adapt the learning to their own style?
It is not only the design of the overall
teaching programme which can usefully build
upon the Cycles of Development, but also the
design of any teaching/learning session-
however long or short.

Stages Teaching/ Learning Activity

Being Warm up
Doing Focuser- reflective activity sharing
experience/brainstorming
Input/Theory/Concepts/models/demonst
Thinking
rations/rationale/
How to . . .
Identity
Applying thinking to own work and life
experience
Skills/Stru
cture
Practice
Integratio
Consolidating learning through projects,
n
applications
and summaries

Group Development
Consider how one of your learning group
comes into Being. Recall the early stages of
exploring each other/you the tutor/the
environment/the programme: Doing. As
people feel more secure they begin Thinking
about the curriculum task, exchanging
opinions with each other, and perhaps
criticizing and challenging you, the tutor. As
they get to know each other, and you and
your programme more, individual and small
group Identities emerge-playful, swots, etc
and possibly you are less inhibited at playing
into their expectations of you or your
expectations of yourself. As the group settles
more in the learning task and begins to
accomplish their own learning it becomes
more Skillful as do you in managing the
dynamic of the group and the curriculum.
This commitment may seem to occasionally
disrupt or regress during the Integration
phase, well into the course. For example, the
most unlikely people are suddenly absent or
are heard to make rebellious remarks; the
class clown produces an excellent piece of
work; the challenging sub-group at the back
scatter, sit elsewhere, and are warm and
friendly; a happy looking participant arrives
distraught with news of a sudden divorce.
Any end of term holidays may make a change
in the groups development and in the next
term the group may appear to rapidly
recycle; needing to come together ahead to
assessment, worrying, about whether they
will succeed, and gradually setting down to
develop skills.
How can your programme design best build
upon the likely development of the group as a
whole? What will you need to allow for? What
will you structure in?
Consider how this map of group
development fits with other models- for
example Tuckmans : forming, storming,
norming, performing and mourning.
Creating Teams, Sub-Groups, and Pairs
One consideration arising from Cycles of
Development could be: how can any pair or
group be harmonious? It is likely that if left to
their own devices, people will gravitate to
people like themselves.
Referring to the exercise at the beginning of
this section, how would you group the six
people going on the residential? Would it be
important to keep any of them apart?
Jot your ideas here:

Generally a mixture of individuals currently

topping up in each of six aspects of the
cycles of development will provide the most
effective group, in the sense of being able to
range both widely and in depth. However,
care needs to be taken to construct task and
leadership- otherwise conflict over differences
may occur. Therefore it is important to value
all members of the group overtly, highlighting
the strengths of each, for example those who
are:
 Harmonizing, carrying out task
Acting, risk taking, getting on
with it
Thinking, analysis
Shaping, direction
Practically skilled
Pulling it all together, finishing
off.
This list identified some of the individuals
recycling a particular stage of development in
their life. Note how it matches some of the
team roles identified by Belbin (1981/2000),
each of which contributes to a teams
effectiveness. His list includes, for instance,
team worker (being), shaper (identity), and
completer-finisher (integration).

Responding to Learners Needs

Making Helpful Interventions
Cast your minds eye and ear back over the
residential group members. What could you
do and say to each to encourage them to
develop, grow, move on?

Chris (Being)
Pat(Doing)
Lee(Thinking)
Kim(Identity)
Andy(Skills)
Terry(Integration)
Reflect upon your own learners.
What gives you a sense that an
individual is stuck?
Can you intuitively guess which
stage of development this sense of being
stuck relates to?
What could you say and do
constructively to encourage this learner to
move?

In order to move on, an individual needs a

sense of completion of the development task
which is the current sticking point for them.
There are two types of intervention the tutor
can make:
Firstly, the previous developmental stage is
likely to be an area of strength for the learner,
and to feel comfortable. Reinforce this
strength.
Bobby was a course participant who seemed
unsure about her own identity, constantly
changing jobs and considering numerous
higher education qualifications. Bobby was
highly articulate and enjoyed intellectual
discussion. The first step was to respect and
reinforce the healthy thinking function.
Secondly, to move on from the developmental
stage where someone is stuck, interventions
can be made which affirm the individuals
development at that stage. This is done
through affirmations.
Bobby I notice youre using your excellent
capacities to think to explore who you want to
be- Its fine for you to use this course to try
out different roles- Do chat to the other
students to find out how their career paths
have worked for them and see if any would
suit you. I notice youve got lots of ideas
about your future. Youve got good thinking
skills to separate fantasies from possible
realities I like how you come across.
How can you affirm and
respond to these needs within your
educational context?
What sort of words could you
use?
Here are some suggestions for responses to
adult learners at different stages.
STAGES DEVELOPME RESPONSES
NTAL NEEDS TO
INDIVIDUAL
ADULT
LEARNERS
BEING Deciding to Youre doing
be, to live, To fine
0-6 months
callout, to It really is OK
Stage 1 have needs to ask me
met, To trust,
 To expect to anytime-you
have needs have my full
met permission to
interrupt. Its
healthy to day
dream,
contemplate,
reflect every
few minutes:
Research
shows it helps
learning
DOING To trust others I like the way
6-18 months To learn that it you ask
awkward
is safe and
Stage 2
wonderful to question
explore Youre
excellent at
To trust
creative ideas
senses
and lateral
To be creative thinking
and active
Lets build on
To get support your creative
 for these input
needs Ill support you
in thinking
through your
ideas and
providing a
rationale by
pointing out
some key
references
THINKING To think for You have
self worked out the
18m-3 years
detail well
To solve
Stage 4
problems You will be
able to apply
To express
your excellent
and handle
thinking skills
feelings,
to solving this
especially
problem
anger
What do you
To begin
think about
separation
these?
 How did you
feel about
these
thoughts?
IDENTITY To assert own You can work
identity out what
3-6 years
happens as a
Acquire
Stage 4 result
information
about body, I like the way
sex, role, you put
world, yourself here
Socialize Youve begun
Learn to work out
consequences what to do
with
Separate
fantasy from information
very well
reality
SKILLFULNESS To learn skills( Trial and error
& and not to be is the best way
STRUCUTURE perfect) to truly learn
6-12 years Learn from This test is for
mistakes and you to get a
Stage 5
be adequate sense of how
you are doing,
Test abilities
against others It is not going
to define you
Test ideas and and your
values capabilities
beyond
What can you
families
do differently
to do even
better?
INTEGRATION To achieve I believe that
clearer you can tell
12-18 years
separation me accurately
Stage 6 from family how you are
doing
To develop
independence Tell me what
you think/how
To integrate
 sexuality into youre doing
identity Youve
synthesized
the
information/ide
as brilliantly

Affirmations
Affirmations are the most important messages
to be conveyed by the person in charge
(however its more effective to do so directly).
Current thinking underlines the impact of
affirmations see for example the writing of
Louise hay (1988). Saying an affirmation
aloud, repeatedly, regardless of whether you
believe what youre saying, is thought to send
messages to the brain to enable behaviors to
confirm with the affirmation. So the
affirmation needs to be phrased positively,
clearly and in straightforward language.
Below are some affirmations. Read them
through and add your own:
Its Ok to explore and
experiment
You can do things and get
support at the same time
You can be curious and intuitive
You can get attention or
approval and still act the way you really
feel
You can think before you make
it your way
You can be interested in
everything
You can do it your way
Its Ok to disagree

Which stage and developmental task

do each relate to?
Add any you perceive are missing
 Add alternative phrasing which suits
you and the context in which you are
working
You are likely to be interacting with individuals
who are re-cycling particular age phrases.
How can communicate the affirmation
through your actions without directly using
words?
How can you use your own words?
Which development tasks are you
currently recycling?
What affirmations do you need?
Who form?

Further activities
Reviewing your learning
Skim back over this section so far to consider
the potential impact of this model of cycles of
development on how you work with:
Your participating learners
Your training/teaching programme and
sessions
 Yourself
The sponsoring/employing
organization( which you may also be able
to identify as being in a particular stage of
development)

The Training Cycle

The model can be applied to all five areas of
the Learning and Development Standards for
trainer competence. Of these, four needs
analysis, design and planning,
implementation and evaluation make up the
systematic training cycle. The fifth area,
assessment of individual learning, relates to
all stages of the cycle, as diagrammed in
figure 2.2 below:
 Needs
Analysis

Assessm
Evaluati
on
ent of Design
Learning

Delivery/I
mplemen
tation

This section has applied the cycles of

development model to needs and design; in
Section 11 we will be looking at it in relation
to assessment and evaluation. The rest of this
book offer ways of delivering effective
teaching and can be read in the light of your
learning from this section.
The following two pages ask you questions to
stimulate you into realizing some of what
youve gained from learning about this
particular model, and to identifying your own
areas for further development.

Your own teaching situation

Think about:
How it relates to the cycles of
development?
What can be the positive
outcomes of allowing people to choose
partners and small groups themselves?
And the problems?
What affirmations and
permissions are ideally communicated at
the beginning of your course? How do you
get these messages across?
Perhaps the overall most
effective permission is the permission to
have hung-ups! Clashes amongst
learners may well be because one
individual judges another. What
behaviours can you adopt to clearly
 communicate that all are welcome in your
learning situation- and all are capable of
learning?
Given your understanding of
developmental tasks and recycling, if you
are involved in recruitment and selection
to your learning programme, what could
you be alert to?
Who might you consider
excluding from the programme and why?
How can this be accurately
reflected in any publicity?

Your teaching programme

Review a current teaching programme you are
involved in:
Stages Observable Design and planning
Specific
Behavior in Stretagies
Tutor
The group
Interventions
Being
Doing
Thinking
Identity
Skillfulness
Integration
Recycling