Student Development Theory II
Student Development Theory II was our final class with Dr. Daniel Newhart and took place into Spring Term of my first year. The second theory course focused more on cognitive and moral development of students and allowed us to learn theory and identify how we might apply that theory to particular student cases. Our midterm was framed as a series of scenarios where we had to pick which stage a student might be in and what kind of advice or action we could take to help move them along developmentally. I found this class to be a bittersweet end to my first year as it was the last class I’d have with all the same people that I had started the program with.Â
Kohlberg’s stages of moral development stick with me as a close and intertwined with Perry’s stages of cognitive development. When I talk to students in the future I will be focusing on how they are making decisions and less about the decisions they make, if their decisions are founded on authority and punishment or a sense of selflessness and giving, or beyond those two things to balance a commitment to self and a commitment to others. Check out this link to get an overview of Kohlberg’s thoughts and the stages of moral development. http://www.cs.umb.edu/~hdeblois/285L/Kohlberg'sMoralStages.htm











