They have been a myriad of theorists that have developed theories on cognitive learning stages and human development. Among those theorists have been Erik Erikson, Abraham Maslow, and Jean Piaget. Each of these theorists have had an imperative impact on the way we view cognitive development and physical growth. Some of them focused more on how we interact with others and develop through relationships with individuals as we progress through life. While others, focused on cognitive development that is innately inherited through birth giving us a foundation of which to build upon. Erik Erikson, for example, based his theories on eight stages of development which encompass an individual’s human’s development and life-cycle. Erikson believed that within the span of an individual’s lifetime, “individuals advance through a series of 8 developmental stages, each characterized by a unique psychological issue. The degree of resolution of each stage forms the characteristics of individual personality and impacts the degree of resolution of later stages” (Sacco 140). This correlates to Hawaiian culture because Native Hawaiians often experience a variety of health and social issues that unlike how we deal social concerns. Many believe this is related and derived from social trauma and historic trauma they experienced after being forced to conform to a different culture.
Abraham Maslow derived a “hierarchy of needs” that depict that humans must develop and maintain certain necessities to motivate them through their course in life. Maslow utilized the terms: “physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem, self-actualization, and self-transcendence to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through” (Creative Commons 1). Abraham Maslow attested that these essential aspects and concepts were pertinent in our successful motivation towards leading a happy and healthy life. He studied extraordinary geniuses, like Einstein, for example, instead of those with mental illness to come up with his theories. Hawaiians, like us, have their own stages that they must overcome to motivate them to go on progressing through life. Some of those stages are: disclosure of self, seeing the world through a global lens, loss and grief, taking pride in historical Hawaiian Events, dealing with every day challenges and struggles, and practices for healing.
Jean Piaget was a theorist who researched and studied the aspect of intellectual development. Piaget believed that for successful intellectual development to take place “there is a direct continuation of inborn biological development. That is the child is born biologically equipped to make a variety of motor responses, which provide them with the framework for the thought processes that follow” (Simatwa, 366). This depicts that we are affected by our heredity but not confined completely by it. We can utilize what we are born with to help shape our future in a more positive way. In connection to Hawaiian culture, Hawaiians may have been innate born with certain characteristics but once they are born they experience the nature of living in two very diverse and distinctive worlds looking to maintain a living that is healthy for them and their children. In Hawaiian culture, they also utilize the processes of assessment, development,
and implementing strategies to better the curriculum in their native schools. They developed this framework that could be conformed to fit with various regions and tribes to enable their communities the ability to meet and exceed their own needs. This enables to have their own form of developmental categories based on their health and cultural needs.
Works Cited
Commons, Creative. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Research OMICS Group. OMICS GROUP
INTERNATIONAL, 2014. Web. 11 Aug. 2016.
Sacco, Rob G. "Re-Envisaging the Eight Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson: The Fibonacci
Life-Chart Method (FLCM)." Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology
JEDP 3.1 (2013): 140-46. Web. 11 Aug. 2016.
Simatwa, Enose M. "Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development and Its Implication for
Instructional Management at Presecondary School Level." Educational Research and
Reviews 5.7 (2010): 366-71. Web.
