Theories of student learning and development are particularly important in leadership education because they make prescriptions about how people can adopt increasingly complex ways of being, knowing, and doing--essential forms of development for leadership learning. Increasingly, there is a call for leadership educators to adopt interdisciplinary…

Student affairs professionals traditionally struggle with how to bring the proper balance to their work. Their work takes place in a variety of settings--some informal, some structured. In each of these settings, they may find opportunity to serve as moral mentors. The authors describe the moral mentor as a professional practicing in the field of…

The Common Ground Multicultural Dialogue program in the Department of Resident Life at the University of Maryland is an innovative peer education program designed to teach skills for engagement through exploration of contemporary multicultural societal dilemmas. The Common Ground Dialogue Program was launched in 2000 to provide undergraduate…

Summarizes William Perry's intellectual scheme and places it in the context of the 1990's. Perry's scheme of cognitive development, though more than thirty years old, is still being used by practitioners today to enhance practice in and out of the classroom. It laid a foundation for new research to extend, challenge, and build onto the scheme.…

Describes Belenky, Clinchy, Goldberger, and Tarule's research on cognitive development of women. This research represents a bridge and a connection between the formal research on cognitive development and the more anecdotal treatises on issues of teaching, learning, and the knowledge inherent in the role of mother and maternal thinking.…

King and Kitchener's model delineates seven consistent patterns that describe how people approach complex issues and defend what they believe. A wide variety of interactions with students can be used to foster reflective thinking in college students. Student affairs professionals' challenge is to stimulate students to ask more complex questions…

This chapter explores the dynamics of generational cohort differences and their potential influence on the understandings, emphases, and applications of student development theory.

Baxter Magolda's model emphasizes the importance of the patterns of knowing used by students, and how important those patterns are to the creation of learning environments that empower students both in and out of the classroom. This model can help student affairs educators create these kinds of learning environments. (Author/MKA)

Synthesizes six theories of cognitive development in college students, provides a method for intentional informal assessment, and presents information on applying cognitive development theory in practice. Warns that cognitive development alone will not fully illuminate or adequately explain the developmental journey of college students as their…

Provides an overview of the research linking cognitive development in college students to interpersonal, cultural, and emotional factors. Interpersonal and cultural influences appear to be external; they can be positive or negative. Affective states, or emotions, are internal factors that can either enhance or inhibit cognitive development.…

Kegan's theory consists of five orders of consciousness that represent principles of mental organization affecting the way we think, feel, and relate to ourselves and others. Key concepts and strategies with substantial promise for student affairs practice include coaching, holding environments, and bridge building. (Author/MKA)

This chapter sets a context for the use of student development theory in student affairs work, summarizes several prominent theories, and offers examples of how the entertainment media can be used to facilitate understanding of these theories by both graduate and undergraduate students.