This paper examines resiliency and how it can be fostered through experiential programs. Resiliency is defined as the capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and develop social competence despite exposure to severe stress. A summary of research findings concerning resiliency presents the characteristics of…

Using a four-year (1970-74) pedagogical developmental project (Brovst, Denmark), discusses crucial concepts/aspects of educational change (construction of knowledge, meaning of harvested experiences, relationship between aims and strategies). Discusses teaching strategies: negative stipulation (changing relation between children and reality)…

Examined developmental trajectories toward violence over middle childhood and children's response to a universal school-based preventive intervention. Found that three growth patterns--positive linear, late acceleration, and gradual deceleration--characterized the children's trajectories, and these trajectories varied meaningfully by child…

Studied the impact of life experience on women's cognitive and ethical development. Considered the structure and historical and social factors of such development, and the importance of higher education in attaining high positions on W.G. Perry's developmental scale. Factors found to affect women's positions on the scale were attitudes toward…

Reviews the literature concerning homosexual identity development. Discusses at-risk issues (suicide, human immunodeficiency virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome infection, school problems) and developmental difficulties for gay and lesbian youth (sensitization, identity confusion, identity assumption, commitment). Proposes developmental…

A study of 276 women aged 35-64 re-entering higher education used the life-event framework to focus on stresses of university life, coping methods, and adaptations to school demands. Subgroup (women with young families and mature families) experiences were compared. Each had different motives, strains, and coping methods. Program options are…

Reviews developmental models for understanding adolescence as they might be applied to emerging sexuality and the challenges and risks that may be associated with different sexual orientations and identities. Models have been identified as: cumulative events or simultaneous change, accentuation, or trajectory models. Models have been useful in…

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques were used to explore interactions among individual and contextual variables and their effects on initial self-esteem levels and changes in these levels across the three years of middle school in a large, diverse sample (N=1804 students attending 23 schools). Interactions among race, social class,…

Four models are discussed with which to view students, educational goals, and learning environments. Each of the four theories emphasizes a unique aspect of the total development process. Piaget's model describes the development of structures and processes which characterize mature logical thinking. Perry provides a closer look at students'…

Considered are the developmental and prognostic implications of early peer relations. Evidence concerning peer difficulties as risk factors is reviewed along with research dealing with family relations and peer relations in social development. In preference to a stepping-stone model of the development of social deviance, a conjunctive feedback…

Similarities and differences between Erik H. Erikson's and Jean Piaget's theories concerning social development and the process of identification are explored in this report. The first part of the report is a synthesis of Erikson's concept of the developmental processes of personal growth and societal development. The second part integrates…

This document focuses on the theme that rapid social and technological changes add urgency to continuing education in all fields, particularly in the field of mental health. For the purposes of this conference, continuing education was defined to include postgraduate education, staff development, inservice training, and adult education. For these…

Various simulations designed for adult learning experiences are described. A simulation is defined as "an operating model that displays processes over time and thus may develop dynamically." It is stated that this definition implies that the teacher can design a simulation that he can manage and then can increase its complexity. One simulation…

The expanding needs of children today demand effective prevention and treatment programs. Some model programs that address these needs are described here. Schools are now being called upon to serve a population with a tremendous multiplicity of physical, social, emotional, and academic problems in an atmosphere of public dissatisfaction with…

Based on extensive research with children and young adults, this book examines adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-motivational patterns and shows how these patterns originate in people's self theories; their consequences for one's achievement, social relationships, and emotional well-being; their consequences for society; and the experiences that…