Teaching Elder: Erik H. Erickson

A renowned child psychoanalyst, Erik H. Erikson (1902-1994) is perhaps best known for his work on developmental theory ("Childhood and Society," 1950) and his studies of the lives of Martin Luther ("Young Man Luther," 1958) and Gandhi ("Gandhi's Truth", 1969). Twice he found himself intensely engaged in the role of teacher--once as a young artist who had been called by a friend to help in the progressive school formed for the children of Sigmund and Anna Freud's patients in Vienna (1927-1932), and years later (1960-1970) as a tenured professor at Harvard. This essay describes Erickson's teaching experience in both settings and suggests some of the reasons he was honored by Harvard in 1980 as a "humane teacher." Implications from Erikson's educational practice are drawn that demonstrate how Erikson moved beyond the rote memorization and authoritarian educational practice he experienced as a youth. The essay suggests Erikson's teaching stance at Harvard fits the author's theological tradition's use of the term "teaching elder."