Developmental Cycles

Overview

The developmental cycles provide a sequence of learning essential competencies in the development of cultural competence and critical consciousness. There are two stages in the that are divided into competencies.

Stage 1

All individuals begin in Stage 1, which has three competencies. Each represents a low-level awareness of how social identities and inequality operate in general in society. It is important for learners to master each competency in order. Otherwise, learners might experience confusion, threat, and other negative emotions that drive them out of the learning process. Some grasp these competencies as adolescents whereas others may come to understand them in adulthood, for example through diversity courses in college.

Stage 2

In Stage 2, learners can move in any direction and between the two cycles. The outer circle represents knowledge specific to a particular social identity; learners can have differing levels of knowledge for different groups. The inner circle represents traditional conceptualizations of critical consciousness. We argue that greater knowledge facilitates more effective critical action.

The competencies in Stage 2 build throughout an individuals’ life, although certain experiences might cause one to slow or stop their development. One never stops learning more about how to be an effective activist.

Moving through the Cycles

Movement through the cycles is driven by motivation and emotion. Motivation can be entirely extrinsic (i.e., driven by external rewards) or intrinsic (i.e., driven by personal interest), or a combination of both (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Learners can have multiple goals and values at the same time. Learning is also driven by activating emotions like empathy, hope, and righteous anger (Boekaerts & Pekrun, 2016; Hardiman et al., 2007). Negative emotions can occur when learning about identities, diversity, and equity, and if not appropriately managed, these negative emotions can lead to disengagement from the learning process.

Publications and Presentations

Byrd, C. M. (2021). Cycles of development in learning about identities, diversity, and equity. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000389
(PDF)

Byrd, C.M. (2020). Teaching about Identities, Diversity, and Equity. Poster presented at NC State Teaching and Learning Symposium (PDF)