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Student Development Theory Final: Utilizing Theory for Practice

Garrison Thomas

ELPS 433: Student Development in Higher Education

Loyola University Chicago

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Student Development Theory Final: Utilizing Theory for Practice

Student Development Theory is one of those courses that professionals in the Higher

Education and Student Affairs field would be able to utilize in their everyday practice. It serves

as a framework in regard to how professionals are interacting with their students and the support

mechanisms that they are putting into place to help facilitate growth and development of their

students throughout their collegiate experience. Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye (2016), describes

the college students as, individuals who engage in postsecondary learning experiences, typically

those taking place in formal settings such as colleges, universities and other higher education

institutions and development as the process of becoming increasingly complex (p. 5). Through

the guidance of theory, it gives professionals the ability to see each student as an individual and

how they must be treated as such when interacting with them.

Jones and Abes (2011) states that theory in student affairs practice is a useful tool that

answers the question “Why?” (as cited in Patton, Renn, Guido & Quaye, 2016, p. 5). Using

theory, as a professional in the field, you are able to predict the outcomes. The theoretical

framework helps us shape programs and generates innovation by implementing new things when

working with students. Although it is a great framework, it is important for us as the

professionals to fill in the gaps when implementing theory into practice. In higher education

institutions, you will see that student development theory is being used to support the mission

statement of those institutions while also shaping a positive experience for students holistically.

In this final reflection, I will provide you with my thoughts on which student development

theories that I believe show up in my day to day work as a Graduate Assistant in Sorority and

Fraternity Life, in the Office of Student Activities and Greek Affairs (SAGA) at Loyola

University Chicago (LUC). I will do so by defining and explaining how I make sense of theories
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as they relate to my practice as well as, give you my philosophy on how professionals in the field

can apply student development theory into their practice.

Self-Authorship

Being able to define who you are as an individual is a major step in one’s developmental

process. Theorist have done research work in Self- Authorship that highlights the distinct steps

that indicate how individuals tackle the journey of being authors of their own story. The work of

self-authorship was first highlighted by Robert Kegan who focused on “the evolution of

consciousness, the personal unfolding of ways of organizing experience that are not simply

replaced as we grow but subsumed into more complex systems of mind” (Patton et. al, 2016).

However, it is Magolda’s theory on self-authorship that we see being practiced in the profession

of student affairs today, as her approach is more comprehensive and applicable to the students

that professionals are working with on a daily basis. “Self-authorship, or the internal capacity to

define one’s beliefs, identity, and social relations, has emerged in the past 15 years as a

developmental capacity that helps meet the challenges of adult life” (Magolda, 2008, p. 269).

Magolda (2008) states that Self-authorship evolves when the challenge to become self-authoring

is present and is accompanied by sufficient support to help an individual make the shift to

internal meaning-making (p.271). Her work for Self- Authorship is defined and supported by

four phases: Following formulas, Crossroads, Becoming the Author of One’s Life and Internal

Foundation. These four phases are associated with cognitive, intrapersonal and interpersonal

dimensions as they help shape “the journey toward self-authorship involving movement from

external to internal self-definition” (Patton et. al, 2016, p. 366).

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Phase 1: Following Formulas

During this phase, “young adults follow the plans laid out for them by external authorities

about what they should think and how they should accomplish their work” (Patton et. al, 2016,

p.366). The students that you would most widely notice in this phase of their developmental

process are first-year students who are transitioning from high school to college. You may also

see this with students who are battling through an identity crisis. A lot of the times, we as

individuals struggle with how we express ourselves because we seek validation from others by

allowing them to identify who we are. It is during this phase that student affairs professions are

reaching these students at such a vulnerable time period of their lives. As professionals, this

would give us the opportunity to provide our students with exploratory resources, so that they are

able to explore their options during this developmental phase. This is the beginning of

formulating a positive rapport with your students.

Phase 2: Crossroads

During this phase, “individuals begin to discover that the plans they have followed do not

necessarily work too well and that they need to establish new plans that better suit their needs

and interests” (Patton et. al, 2016, p. 367). This can be a very difficult phase for students to

endure alone. As students are beginning to think through what it means to define themselves as

individuals, it could lead to some crisis (a cry out for help) or general unhappiness. This is when

a continuous assessment of students is critical. Having the awareness of which developmental

stage they are in, will allow us the opportunity to adequately give them the support that they need

through advising and educational development. It is important that we are providing them with

moments to engage in deep personal reflection as they are building autonomy for themselves.
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Phase 3: Becoming the Author of One’s Life

I would consider this as a challenging and/or crucial time period of an individual’s

developmental process. “This phase is characterized by the ability to choose one’s beliefs and

stand up from them in the face of conflicting external viewpoints” (Patton et. al, 2016, p. 367).

Students are starting to align their beliefs and values with themselves. With this, they want to

live out those beliefs which can be difficult at times. In the process of all of this, some of those

relationships that were previously developed may become non-existent due to potential opposing

viewpoints. Working in a role in departments such as Student Activities, Multicultural Affairs,

and Housing and Residence Life, professionals have a great opportunity to provide intentional

programming to allow for individuals to foster relationships with other individuals who share

similar identities and/ or interest as them. This will also give them the opportunity to provide

educational programming to enhance the knowledge of others.

Phase 4: Internal Foundation

“Young adults who successfully negotiate this stage are grounded—in their self-

determined belief system, in their sense of who they are, and in the mutuality of their

relationships” (Patton et. al, 2016, p. 368). In this stage, individuals are solidified in the way that

they would like to express themselves around others. Finding yourself can be life changing. “For

some individuals, this leads to the new directions in their careers; for others, changes are made in

their personal lives” (Patton et. al, 2016, p. 368). In this phase, professionals should feel a sense

of satisfaction as they helped guide someone into a place of being that makes sense to them in

their life.
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Putting Self- Authorship to Practice

As educators, we have the ability to advise students in the individuals that they would

like to be. It is important that we reiterate to students the importance of taking time to themselves

and reflecting. Allotting them moments of reflection gives them the time necessary to define who

they are, without prescribing to them the plans in details. Having plans laid out for them hinders

their learning experience and their will to explore themselves. It is important that we reassure our

students that it is okay to make mistakes, this gives them the chance to thrive in their own

relationships and trust in themselves that they are making the right decisions.

Social Identity Concepts

As cited by Patton et al. (2016), the American Council on Education (1937) states that

“identity development theories help practitioners understand how students go about discovering

their abilities, aptitude, and objectives’ while assisting them to achieve their maximum

effectiveness” (p. 72). Student affairs professionals can utilize the social change model when

building a curriculum for student leaders. Using the social change model will allow student

leaders to view things differently in the sense of how they see themselves as leaders in their

perspective communities. It would also have them become aware of their different identities and

positionalities that they hold, and how that shows up in the different spaces that they occupy. It is

important that we pay attention to students who are struggling agency and/or resiliency, to be

able to help them foster skills to be able to own themselves in different spaces and how that

shows up in their role as student leaders.

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a development theory that covers the intersections of race, gender,

class, sexual orientation, nationality, and others that locate power and privilege in some
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categories at the expense of members of other categories (Patton et al, 2016, p. 74). Working in a

department like Student Activities and Greek Affairs, professionals have the day to day

interactions with students who have overlapping identities. There are many students that identify

with various identities involved in student clubs, organizations and social fraternities and

sororities that align with those identities. At Loyola, many of my students are involved in more

than one organization that highlights and supports their identity (i.e. women who are members of

female-based social sororities but also partake in Latin American Student Organization).

Supporting Students with Salient Identities

In offices such as the one that I currently hold employment in, we have the ability to

support involved students who saliently identify with more than one of their social identities in

multiple of ways. As a student involvement office, we can assist students in establishing

organizations that are relevant to the support that they need. The creation of organizations that

support sexual and gender or racial identities can provide affinity spaces for students. Having

that environment that feels like a safe space helps individuals develop within their identity

expression and understand who they are. This will give them the opportunity to collaborate and

formulate relationships with other students who may hold those same salient identities. With this,

students will be able to exchange dialogue with one another about important current events and

utilize one another’s strengths to develop ways to spread awareness to other students about issues

that are important to them. Not only is it important that we help students create these

organizations, but it is also important that we are reaching out to our colleagues on campus who

may also share the same identities as these student groups for support and/or assist in advising

the established student organizations (Jones & Abes, 2013). Representation matters, especially

for the students who possess marginalized identities at particular institutions.

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Challenge & Support

As student affairs professionals, it is important for us to recognize that each student is

different in their own way. With that being said, students are learning, growing, transitioning and

experiencing different aspects of life at different levels. It is our duty to support students as they

navigate through the multitude of challenges that they may encounter throughout their college

experience. A theory that can assist student affairs professionals in adequately handling things

when working with students is the Challenge and Support Theory by Nevitt Sandford. As

students begin to understand themselves, their personalities and how it shapes their individual

identities; differentiation and interrogation occurs (Sanford, 1962). As cited by Patton et. al

(2016), Sanford (1967) states that,

Challenges occur in situations for which the individual does not have the skills,

knowledge, or attitude to cope (for example, academic, social, psychological) and that,

supports are buffers in the environment that help the student meet challenges to be

successful. (pg. 35)

Support will look different for each student as they will work through the challenges in a way

that they feel is suitable for them. The amount of support that a student feels from faculty and

staff at a given institution can factor into that institution's retention rates. Patton et. al (2016)

says,

If the university environment fails to provide the kind of support this diverse student

population needs, or if students do not experience the supports available, then the

challenges posed by coursework, family, peers, work, and so forth may be too great,

leading to a host of negative outcomes including, at the extreme, leaving higher

education. (p. 36)

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As we are completing our planning for the next academic year during the summer months, I

think it is important for us to take a look back and ask ourselves important questions such as;

Have I made resources readily available for students to utilize? Am I allotting myself time on my

schedule to have intentional and meaningful interactions with students? Is the programming that

I am implementing valuable to connecting students to the university? Am I fostering community

building? These are the things that we should be taking into consideration when are advising our

students.

Theory to Practice

One of the things that I have learned in this class and appreciated is that although the

theories were developed long ago, you are still are able to utilize them in a way where you can

manipulate them to shape the individual student experience. Applying student development

theory to practice can be difficult at times. That is because no one theory is going to fix a specific

student’s situation. It is important for us to realize that as practitioners, we are able to utilize the

knowledge of multiple theories to our advantage to develop an experience that would be

beneficial to each individual students’ development. Patton et. al (2016) states that,

The primary goal of knowing and using student development theories is, ultimately, to

provide the necessary scaffolding for students as they move through higher education.

This scaffolding supports students’ development and provides them with opportunities to

learn and grow. (p.383)

Before we are able to help students see themselves, it is important that we have a full

understanding of who we are as individuals. “Understanding one’s own story provides a firm

foundation not only for learning developmental theory but also for professional practice that

reflects maturity and self- knowledge” (Patton et. al, 2016, pp. 386- 386). We should utilize
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student theory to provide insight to intercultural development amongst our students. Part of being

an educator is being an innovator, the student population is forever involving, therefore, we

should use student development theory to our advantage when generating research and engaging

in new knowledge (Patton et. al, 2016). “Student development theories are individually and

collectively useful in student affairs practice, assessment and scholarship” (Patton et. al, 2016, p.

53). Efficient practitioners should be able to use theories to help guide their assessment practice

of effective developmental practices for the student population that they are working with. To be

successful in your role as a sought-out advisor for students, being a good listener is important.

Student development theory should be used as a guide to motivate students to reflect on, share

and live out their individual stories.

Conclusion

As educators, we have the ability and responsibility to impact students in a multitude of

ways. It is important that we are confident in our knowledge to practice efficiently and support

the students that we would have interactions with. Although student development theory is used

as a conceptual framework, it is also important for us as educators to have the understanding that

these theories can be used loosely. Each of these theories will not accommodate each student

need in a one size fits all manner but there are pieces of each theory that we are able to connect

to each student specific need. As Higher Education and Student Affairs professionals, we should

challenge ourselves in generating new practices that are shaped around each individual student’s

experience. It is beneficial for professionals to keep up to date with the current literature. Every

day students are evolving, and new studies are being released in regard to different identities that

students hold and how that plays a factor in their student experience. Being able to go back and

rely on the theories makes it easier for you to adequately advise students in different situations.
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Everything that we do in the student affairs profession is about the student experience, so we

must be flexible in our advising/ supervisory style to adequately give students the experience that

they are looking for at that given time.

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References

Jones, S., & Abes, E. (2013). Intersectionality. In Jones, R., & Abes, E. (Eds.), Identity

development of college students: Advancing frameworks for multiple dimensions of

identity (pp. 9-16). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Magolda, B.M. (2008). Three elements of self authorship. Journal of College Student

Development, 49 (4), 269-284. doi: 10.1353/csd.0.0016

Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido, F. M., & Quaye, S. (2016). Student development in college:

Theory, research, and practice, 3rd Edition. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons

Sanford, N. (1962). Developmental status of the entering freshmen. In N. Sanford (Ed.), The

American college student (pp. 253- 282). New York: Wiley.