In this article, we analyse the ways school headteachers/principals (HT/Ps) at different stages of adult ego development (AED) make sense of and respond to the organisational complexity of their schools. The AED stage of 20 HT/Ps in England was assessed using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test. HT/Ps in the self-aware,…

The way school principals make sense of the context of their work shapes their actions. As in all adults, principals' sense-making capability is a function of the ego and can change over time. Adult ego development theory describes distinct, qualitatively different stages of sense-making ability. The research reported here assessed the adult ego…

School principals' interpretation of the context for their work has significant implications for their practice and for organisational theory educational settings. Principals' sense-making capability can change over time, as in all adults. Sense-making capability is grounded in adult ego development (AED) theory which describes eight distinct…

An assumption that immigrant and American-born adolescents experience similar, normal psychological development processes was examined through a two-part research study that: (1) gathered normative data on ego development, identity and moral reasoning; and (2) field-tested an experimental curriculum intended to stimulate development in these…

Adolescents from one inner-city, two suburban, and one private school were tested using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development. Both test-retest correlations and change scores supported the hypothesized sequence of ego development. Significant correlation between ego level and intelligence occurred in two schools.…

Investigates ego development in 32 lower-class and lower-middle class Black students at the sixth and twelfth grade levels. Ego development was measured by the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WU-SCT). (Author/SS)