[Xmca-l] Re: Development of adults

[Andy Blunden]

While I have slept, Alfredo, xmca has been flooded with
suggestions for books on "life-span development". What a
great community.

"The difference between the absolute and the relative is
relative. There is always an absolute within the relative
and the absolute is always relative."

Childhood: no infant is born speaking a language. 2 or 3 or
4 or 5 or 6 years later every normally developing child
speaks the language of their community (subject to
qualifications about hearing impairment). Once the passage
through childhood is complete (whether that is deemed to
take 11 years or 25 years) and they are full participants in
the life of their community.

Vygotsky said in respect to one of these transitions: "Facts
show that in other conditions of rearing, the crisis occurs
differently. In children who go from nursery school to
kindergarten, the crisis occurs differently than it does in
children who go into kindergarten from the family. However,
this crisis occurs in all normally proceeding child
development. ..."

Nowadays, we are more conscious of the diversity of cultural
development, and would probably formulate this idea somewhat
more broadly than did the founder of Cultural Psychology -
we do not all end up in exactly the same place, living in
different cultures. But by definition all children complete
their apprenticeship and become full citizens of their
community. The new born in every country of the world is
qualitatively psychologically different from the adult citizen.

Adult societies offer only one role I can think of which is
in any way comparable to the stages of child development:
retirement, or becoming an Elder or a grandparent or
Emeritus. But these are vague, ill-defined roles, I think
hardly comparable to, for example, "school-age." Adults of
course go on developing, and we do tend to have very
generalised expectations about people according to their
stage in life, but these are so variable across social class
and cultural difference, I think the subject cannot be
addressed in the same way as child development.

Andy

------------------------------------------------------------
Andy Blunden
http://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm
On 17/11/2017 12:42 AM, Alfredo Jornet Gil wrote:
> Andy, would that view imply that adult development is grounded on development of/in the disciplines (or whatever one may mean by 'roles provided by the culture'), while childhood development is not? Or, what is that other "developmental pathway" in childhood that is not "progression through the various roles provided by the culture"? 
>
> Thanks, 
> Alfredo
> ________________________________________
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>
> Sent: 16 November 2017 14:29
> To: xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Development of adults
>
> Ulvi, this is a difficult question, once a person has
> reached adulthood, there is no "developmental pathway" other
> than progression through the various roles provided by the
> culture in which they live, only a few of which have a
> "developmental" connotation. We don't have "Elders" nowadays.
>
> Books on "moral development" may be of some use. Leontyev's
> "Activity, Consciousness and Personality" has some value as
> well as some limitations. Of course, I will recommend
> Vasilyuk's book. Other than that you have to read about
> development in specific lines - political, professional, or
> whatever, and read as many biographies and autobiographies
> as you can.
>
> :) Maybe I'm missing something. But I don't think there's a
> simple answer here.
>
> Andy
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Andy Blunden
> http://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm
> On 17/11/2017 12:17 AM, Ulvi İçil wrote:
>> Can anyone propose one or two good books on develeopment beyond adolescence
>> please, a similar one to mike's development of children?
>> Thanks.
>> Ulvi
>>
>>
>