Mead's four-phase framework groups high school students by readiness, protection needs, and responsibility rather than age alone¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

In her 1960 essay on the high school of the future, Mead proposed four phases of learners. Phase I students need continuous contact with a familiar place or person for learning; Phase II students are ready to learn group-taught skills of higher civilization; Phase III students grow so unevenly that they require protection in some sectors of life for growth in others; Phase IV students are mature, need minimal protection, and can carry major economic, political, and ethical responsibilities. The report presents this as Mead's framework for new concepts of the period when the young take part in society at differing rates of learning, maturation, and responsibility.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Planning the high school of the future around learner phases rather than a single fixed stage of schooling

Constraints¶

• The report notes Phase III unevenness is characteristic of most, but not all, adolescents

Target Learners¶

• adolescents in secondary education

Target Learning Objectives¶

• matching schooling to differing rates of learning, maturation, and responsibility

Claims¶

Related Theories¶

• Mead's taxonomy of post-figurative, co-figurative, and pre-figurative cultures explains how accelerating change reverses the direction of learning

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Monroe, Suzanne S. (1992). Margaret Mead: Anthropological Perspective on Educational Change. ERIC Document ED 356 168. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED356168