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Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years: A Scheme
Since its original publication in 1970, this landmark book byWilliam Perry has remained the cornerstone of much of the studentdevelopment research that followed. Using research conducted withHarvard undergraduates over a fifteen-year period, Perry derived anAnduring framework for characterizing student development--a schemeso accurate that it still informs and advances investigations intostudent development across gAnders and cultures.
Drawing from firsthand accounts, Perry traces a path from students'adolescence into adulthood. His nine-stage model describes thesteps that move students from a simplistic, categorical view ofknowledge to a more complex, contextual view of the world and ofthemselves. Throughout this journey of cognitive development, Perryreveals that the most significant changes occur in forms in whichpeople perceive their world rather than in the particulars of theirattitudes and concerns. He shows ultimately that the nature ofintellectual development is such that we should pay as muchattention to the processes we use as to the content.
In a new introduction to this classic work, Lee Knefelkamp--a closecolleague of Perry's and a leading expert on college studentdevelopment--evaluates the book's place in the literature of highereducation. Knefelkamp explains how the Perry scheme has shapedcurrent thinking about student development and discusses the mostsignificant research that has since evolved from Perry'sgroundbreaking effort.
Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Yearsis a work that every current and future student servicesprofessional must have in their library.
Drawing from firsthand accounts, Perry traces a path from students'adolescence into adulthood. His nine-stage model describes thesteps that move students from a simplistic, categorical view ofknowledge to a more complex, contextual view of the world and ofthemselves. Throughout this journey of cognitive development, Perryreveals that the most significant changes occur in forms in whichpeople perceive their world rather than in the particulars of theirattitudes and concerns. He shows ultimately that the nature ofintellectual development is such that we should pay as muchattention to the processes we use as to the content.
In a new introduction to this classic work, Lee Knefelkamp--a closecolleague of Perry's and a leading expert on college studentdevelopment--evaluates the book's place in the literature of highereducation. Knefelkamp explains how the Perry scheme has shapedcurrent thinking about student development and discusses the mostsignificant research that has since evolved from Perry'sgroundbreaking effort.
Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Yearsis a work that every current and future student servicesprofessional must have in their library.
336 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 15, 2012
This is a very well known book in higher ed circles and so I won't repeat what others have probably said about it being an important, foundational book that everyone in the field should read. I didn't give it five stars due to the occasionally tortured prose that is so unfortunately typical of academic books but conceptually it's five stars. The critique section is free of the normal examinations of their assumptions, especially the much-mentioned relative lack of women in the study, but...I don't hold the authors accountable for producing a book of its time (early 60s). College students were predominantly male then and the later advancements in critical theory that have shifted the paradigm hadn't happened when this was published. It's still a highly valuable work.
On a personal note, I read it during the current (2012) presidential primary season and I've found it coloring my view of this process, from interviews with voters, candidate speeches, and so on. It's fascinating to try to gauge their cognitive development based on their statements or at least the stage they are attempting to curry favor with (hint: lots and lots of Position 1: Basic Duality).
On a personal note, I read it during the current (2012) presidential primary season and I've found it coloring my view of this process, from interviews with voters, candidate speeches, and so on. It's fascinating to try to gauge their cognitive development based on their statements or at least the stage they are attempting to curry favor with (hint: lots and lots of Position 1: Basic Duality).
December 15, 2015
This book is lovely in its own special sense. It's more like a really long anecdote on a theory, than just constant straight out giving you the basic ideas. I mean these are difficult epistemological concepts that they are trying to get you to understand. And throwing you with more abstract terminology certainly isn't going to help. So it's lovely in that it brings to you in such a disjointed but coherent way all at once. It's about giving you ideas so that you can "feel" for what the theory is about instead of just trying to tell you what the theory is about.
June 20, 2008
Written by the Grandfather of epistemic belief research - William Perry (who incidentally taught ENGLISH at Harvard). Great new foreword by one of his students. Covers the 9 positions of post-Piagetian intellectual development. Springboard for SO many great researchers in higher ed and ed psych.
February 8, 2008
dry read...interesting theory
February 8, 2008
Very useful information for my advising role as college faculty.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews