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Student Development Theory Fareed Y. Shalhout October 5, 2014 Western Michigan University Introduction Jane, a senior at Western Michigan University, is a unique student that I chose to interview. Her parents divorced at a young age leaving her mother working two jobs while raising her and her two sisters. She also has two-step brothers who are incarcerated because of drug trafficking. She has little contact with her stepbrothers because she does not want negative energy in her life. Jane, had the odds against her growing up, however, she did not want to be a product her of environment. She graduated top of her high school class, earning the Medallion Scholarship to Western Michigan University. The Medallion Scholarship is the highest merit-based scholarship offered at the University, and is among the largest merit-based scholarship programs in American higher education (Western Michigan University, 2014). Her scholarship covers $12,500 per year for tuition and having this scholarship requires her to be a part of the Lee Honors College. Jane will be graduating with her B.A, in English and Spanish on May 2, 2014. Her path from when she began as a freshman in college to now has drastically changed because of the different challenges she has faced throughout her four years at Western Michigan University. Jane knew she was destined to make a difference in the world, destined for greatness, and destined to succeed. Three theories on student development that I will discuss in this evaluation will be: Chickering & Reisser’s Seven Vectors of Student Development, Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development, and Gilligan’s Theory of Women’s Moral Development. Chickering & Reisser’s Seven Vectors of Student DevelopmentAccording to Student Development in College, Chickering & Reisser, 1993, present a comprehensive picture of psychosocial development during college years. For each vector, Chickering and Reisser provided examples of students’ own words (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn, 2010, p. 67). As discussed in class, Chickering and Reisser do not believe that development happens in stages, that is why they created the Seven Vectors. Although not rigidly sequential and not intended to be stages, vectors do build on each other, leading to greater complexity, stability, and integration as the issues related to each one are addressed (Evans, et al., 2010a). After introductions were done during the interview, I asked Jane what was her biggest fear entering college and she said, “not doing well in my classes and not maintaining friendships and relationships” (Personal Communication, September 25, 2014). Managing emotions is the second vector in Chickering’s theory. In this vector, students develop the ability to recognize and accept emotions, as well as to approximately express and control them (Evans, et al., 2010a). As mentioned during class discussion, one must be aware of their emotions in order to progressively act upon them. After answering the question, Jane confessed that she is a very sensitive person and takes everything to heart. She went on to say that she would feel guilty if she did not connect with her friends on a daily bases and would lead to anxiety. This ties into managing emotions because now as a senior, she has accepted that ‘everyone has their own life and I am completely fine with maintaining my friendships over coffee once a month rather than constantly texting someone’ (Personal Communication, September 25, 2014). Moving through autonomy toward interdependence is the next stage that relates to Jane. This aspect of development results in increased emotional independence, which is defined as ‘freedom from continual and pressing needs for reassurance, affection, or approval from others’ (Evans, et al., 2010a). This relates to Jane because during her freshman and sophomore years she was dependent on her mother and having a male figure in her life. Jane shares that having a boyfriend was something she always needed in her life because she felt as if she was lonely if she was single. Jane, who considers her mother her best friend, has become more independent and does not need her mother to help her make decisions for her life. She shared that she would always call her mom to help her decide what is best for her life, and one day during her sophomore year of college she realized that she does not need to constantly ask for approval, rather she learned that her mom will always support whatever decision she feels is best for herself. In regards to having a relationship, Jane is happy being single and finds it liberating. She said that she would not have been able to be happy her freshman year if she was single, rather she would be upset and lonely (Personal Communication, September 25, 2014). Overall, Chickering and Reisser’s theory truly related to the progression of Jane’s development. Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development‘Forms’ of intellectual and ethical development are the structures that shape how people view their experiences. Perry’s (1968) scheme begins with simplistic forms in which the individual interprets the world in ‘unqualified polar terms of absolute right-wrong, good-bad’ and concludes with complex forms through which the individual seeks to affirm personal commitments ‘in a world of contingent knowledge and relation values’ (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn, 2010, p. 85). In this case, Jane acquires the trait of relativism, which is recognition of the need to support opinions. During the interview, Jane mentioned that during her freshman year she felt as if she was not challenged enough in the classroom and that when she spoke in class she had to defend her opinion because her classmates were not well versed on the topics. When asked if her political views changed during college, she yelled out “Yes! So much, I can’t believe I was not aware of things four years ago” (Personal Communication, September 25, 2014). When discussing politics, she felt the need to always support and defend her opinion and beliefs. This connects directly with Perry’s theory of relativism and how “All opinions no longer appear equally valid. Relativistic thinkers acknowledge that some opinions are of little value, yet reasonable people can also legitimately disagree on some matters” (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn, 2010b). Gilligan’s Theory of Moral DevelopmentIn 1982, Carol Gilligan published her seminal work, In a Different Value, in which she presented her research findings about the moral development of women and disputed the previous models of human growth that did not fit women’s experience (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn, 2010, p. 111). The two themes that Gilligan focuses on are care and justice. Gilligan demonstrated that women identify care and responsibility as their moral compass. As mentioned, Jane constantly needed a boyfriend in her life to satisfy her level of happiness. Level 3 of Gilligan’s theory states, the individual raises nonviolence, a moral mandate to avoid hurt, to the overriding principle that governs moral judgment and action (Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, and Renn, 2010c). This relates to Jane’s personal life because she recognized the needs and wants she desires in a relationship rather than always trying to make her partner happy. Instead of giving up what makes her happy, she found a balance between the both. When asked if her sexual orientation changed throughout her years in college, she hesitated and said no because of a few reasons. One of the reasons is that she felt because so many males have hurt her emotionally in relationships, she wondered if a female would do the same (Personal Communication, September 25, 2014). However, she has never been a relationship with the same sex. During the interview, I stated in Kohlberg’s theory he said women are ‘underdeveloped.’ This triggered a new light of conversation where I found out that Jane refers to herself as a feminist. She believes that women should have the right to make decision based on what is best for them and not for anyone else. I asked her if she takes that advice into account in her own personal relationships and she said that four years ago she did not, however, as senior she definitely does take it into account. ConclusionOverall, this student interview piece really helped me understand the theories on a deeper level. I was able to have more of an insight on Jane’s life because of the three theories that I used. Overall, Jane has developed as a female, a daughter, a student, a sister, and as a leader on campus throughout her years at Western Michigan University. She said that she has made progress with accepting that relationships do not solve all problems and is fine with being single. Each theory is capable of defending and support itself within context, which I find very intriguing. I have found that the reason why Jane has been able to develop throughout college was because of the student services that were provided to her through the University such as, counseling, student success center, writing center, and the Honors College. As a future student affairs practitioner, every student develops at a different rate and it is my duty to be able to guide them through the process. As Jane mentioned, her academic advisor was not a huge factor in her development as much as her own personal challenges, however, this helped me realize that I want to be an active person within my field to help better students.ReferencesChickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993). The seven vectors: An overview. In Education and identity (2nd ed., pp. 43-52). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010a). Chickering’s theory of identity development. In Student development in college: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 67-69). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010b). Perry's Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development. In Student development in college: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 82-98) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010c). Moral Development Theory. In Student development in college: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed., pp. 99-118) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Western Michigan University. (2014, January 1).Retrieved October 6, 2014, from Fall 2015 Freshman Scholarships (Freshman Scholarships) What would you tell your freshman self?What is one thing you would change about yourself your freshman year?What was your biggest fear of college? Has your political views changed since your freshman year?What was your upbringing like? Has your sexual orientation changed throughout college?What were your academic and personal goals?Do you feel challenged in the classroom? Do you feel your advisors helped you develop throughout college? Have your friends changed since freshman year? Relationships? ................
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