1 by Patrick Troup
University of Minnesota
Preface
Student Development theories inform the work of student affairs professionals, teaching assistants, and professors. Having a basic understanding of such theories provides faculty and student affairs professionals with a common language to discuss how best to address the academic mission of the institution and to explore the rationales behind curricular and co-curricular design and implementation. Finally, these theories provide developmental hallmarks that can be translated into course or program goals and, thus, guide assessment efforts. The following review of select student development theories aims to provide professionals with a foundation from which to work with students in varying degrees of development.
Introduction
The college years are a time of significant growth and change for students as they confront new ideas and experiences that may challenge what they already know and believe. Faculty members who understand these changes can design courses and activities that meet students’ needs and support their continued development. The theories below are divided into three categories:
I. Diversity (e.g., racial and sexual identity developments, re-entry students),
II. Cognitive Development (e.g., Maslow, Chickering, and Perry), and
III. Psychosocial and Moral Development (e.g., Kohlberg).
Several of the theories presented here were developed more than three decades ago based on largely White, middle-class males attending highly selective colleges. As such, their ability to describe the experiences of women and racial and ethnic minorities has been challenged. Social and cultural shifts that have occurred since these theories were initially developed may also limit their ability to describe the experiences of even those students who resemble the original research subjects.
Still, the generalizations put into language through these theories are important frameworks for understanding the changes that students experience in college. The theories presented here are a starting point for understanding and relating to college students. They are largely descriptive, and it is important to acknowledge that they do not illuminate the realities of all —or perhaps even most—of the students on college campuses today. At the end of each theory or grouping, there is a section on putting theory into practice.
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This document may be printed, copied and distributed as part of individual professional development consultations, as well as classrooms, professional development and educational workshops focused on teaching and learning in higher education. All rights remain with the writer of the essay.
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I. DIVERSITY
A. Student Development for Persons of Color
William E. Cross Jr.
Nigrescence: The Negro-to-Black Conversion Experience
William Cross developed one of the first and most popular stage theories of racial identity development. Although this model is for AfricanAmerican’s, Cross contends that it is applicable for all people of color in America.
Stages of Nigrescence
1. Pre-Encounter Stage
In the first stage, individuals downplay the importance of race in their lives and focus more on their membership in other groups (e.g. religion, social class, sexual orientation). Some people in this stage consider race-based physical characteristics to play an insignificant role in their daily lives, while others see race only as a problem that is linked to issues of social discrimination, and even others have negative attitudes toward Blacks.
2. Encounter Stage
The second stage of the Nigrescence experience in which individuals encounter an experience that causes them to challenge their current feelings about themselves and their interpretation of the condition of Black people in America. The experience is often one in which individuals face a blatant racist event. However, there are other instances in which the experience is more positive. In any event, the Encounter experience is one that is so foreign to individuals' previous worldview regarding race that it forces them to rethink their attitudes about race.
3. Immersion-Emersion
In the third stage, individuals immerse themselves in Blackness and feel liberated from
Whiteness; they have positive feelings toward everything associated with Black people and a negative view of those things associated with White people. Despite this immersion into all things Black, individuals have not psychologically committed to a
Black identity.
4. Internalization
The fourth stage is described as a psychological change wherein individuals learn to balance their Blackness with the other demands of personhood (e.g. other group memberships).
5. Internalization-Commitment
The final stage of the Nigrescence model, in contrast to previous stages, this stage involves commitment to a plan of action, and individuals begin to live in accordance with the new self-image that they have developed.
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B. Identity Development for Majority Students
Janet Helms
Boston College Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture
Janet Helms has developed a theory of majority member cultural awareness that helps explain how the majority group, by virtue of its control of the economic and cultural dimensions of our society, directly and adversely affects minority groups - and itself indirectly.
Majority member cultural awareness proceeds through five stages beginning with the
contact stage, in which majority group members are aware of the existence of minority group members, but they do not perceive themselves as racial beings; they tend to assume that racial and cultural differences are unimportant.
Next is the disintegration stage, in which majority group members acknowledge that prejudice and discrimination exist. Guilt may emerge as racial and cultural differences become more apparent, and majority group members may either retreat to the contact stage or over identify with the minority.
In the reintegration stage , majority group members blame the victim (minority members) for creating their own problems. They denigrate minority groups and believe majority group members are victims of reverse discrimination.
In the fourth, the pseudoindependent stage, Helms believes majority group members accept minority group members at a conceptual level and become interested in understanding racial and cultural differences. Interactions will tend to be with minority group members who are perceived to be similar to oneself.
Finally, in the autonomy stage , majority group members become knowledgeable about racial and cultural similarities while accepting, respecting, and appreciating both minority and majority group members.
C. Student Development Theory and Sexual Orientation
Vivienne Cass
Homosexuality Identity Formation
Vivienne Cass published her six-stage model of homosexuality identity formation in
1979, providing one of the earliest models of its kind, focusing on the actual process by which an individual comes to acquire a homosexual orientation. Cass identifies six stages of homosexual identity formation that are differentiated on the basis of a person's perceptions of his or her own behavior and actions that arise as a consequence of this perception as a homosexual:
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1. Identity Confusion ("Who am I?") The first stage in which individuals realize that their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors can be defined as homosexual. They ask the question "Who am I?" and accept the possibility that they may be homosexual.
Confusion and turmoil characterize this stage as the individual lets go of identity as a heterosexual.
2. Identity Comparison ("Maybe this is just temporary," or "I am the only one in the world like this.") The second stage in which individuals become aware of the differences between their own perceptions of behavior and self and their perceptions of how others view that behavior and self. They feel alienation from all others and a sense of not belonging to society at large.
3. Identity Tolerance ("I probably am a homosexual") The third stage is, in which individuals seek out homosexuals and the homosexual subculture to counter feelings of isolation and alienation from others. They begin to tolerate, but not accept, a homosexual identity. By the end of this stage, the individual's self-image has increased to the point where he or she can say, "I am a homosexual."
4. Identity Acceptance (“Homosexuality is OK”) The fourth stage in which individuals continue to increase contacts with other homosexuals - contacts that validate and normalize homosexuality as an identity and way of life. They accept rather than tolerate a homosexual self-image.
5. Identity Pride ("These are my people") the fifth stage in which individuals tend to devalue the importance of heterosexual others more positively. They are proud to be homosexual and no longer conceal their homosexual identity.
6. Identity Synthesis (“I am Homosexual, and…”) The last stage in which individuals realize that the "them-and-us" attitude of stage five, in which all heterosexuals are viewed negatively and all homosexuals are viewed positively, no longer holds true.
Supportive heterosexuals are valued, and unsupportive heterosexuals are further devalued. The individual's personal and public sexual identities become synthesized into one identity, and the individual is able to integrate his or her homosexual identity with all other aspects of self.
D. Student Development Theory and the Adult Learner
Re-Entry Students return to school due to transitions taking place in life. These transitions can include having children, children leaving the home, retirement, divorce, marriage, and a desire to build on skills.
In assessing an adult learner’s needs at any point in this process, it is important for student development professionals to understand the Four S’s: self, situation, supports and strategies . Self refers to the adult learner’s role concepts and life outside the classroom. Situation defines the external elements underlying the adult learner’s self such as family life, finance, career past and educational history. Supports refer to the assets an adult learner could potentially bring to bear in solving a problem (note that the
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learner may not be aware of all of these). Strategies are the amalgamation of the self, situation and supports directed at an educational goal.
Additionally, Improving Higher Education Environments for Adults (Schlossberg, Lynch,
Chickering, 1989) details a suggested approach for serving re-entry students at institutions of higher education, who move through the following stages: moving in, moving through and moving on :
Moving In (What am I doing? Who will support me? Where do I fit in?) Institutions must think of the entry process as an educational experience. Re-entry students are looking for information and support while making the decision to return to school.
Moving Through (“Now that I’m here, what do I do? Who can answer my questions?”)
Once students are entrenched in the institution, their concerns and issues change.
Most re-entry students are dealing with a need to cope with competing demands for time and energy, a desire to master new personal, professional, and academic skills, and the need to belong.
Moving On (“I’m graduating. What do I do now?”) The situations individuals face as they prepare to leave school vary, but most students could benefit from general life planning for avocation, vocation, and family roles. Many need help with career plans, strategies for implementing career plans, assessment of professional strengths, job placement and reflective support. The institution through a re-entry student center could provide all of these services while considering the special needs of adult learners such as age discrimination and the need to incorporate former experience in career decisions.
Diversity
– Strategies for Working Effectively with Difference in the Classroom.
Recognize any biases or stereotypes you may hold.
Do you interact with students in ways that manifest double standards? For example, do you discourage women students from undertaking projects that require quantitative work? Do you undervalue comments made by speakers whose English is accented differently than your own? Do you assume that most African American, Chicano/Latino, or Native American students on your campus are enrolled under special admissions programs? Do you assume that most students of color are majoring in Ethnic Studies?
Treat each student as an individual, and respect each student for who they are.
Each of us has some characteristics in common with others of our gender, race, place of origin, and sociocultural group, but these are outweighed by the many differences among members of any group. We tend to recognize this point about groups we belong to
("Don't put me in the same category as all those other New Yorkers/Californians/
Texans you know") but sometimes fail to recognize it about others. However, any group label subsumes a wide variety of individuals-people of different social and economic backgrounds, historical and generational experience, and levels of consciousness. Try not to project your experiences with, feelings about, or expectations of an entire group onto any one student. Keep in mind, though, that group identity can be very important
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for some students. College may be their first opportunity to experience affirmation of their national, ethnic, racial, or cultural identity, and they feel both empowered and enhanced by joining monoethnic organizations or groups. (Source: Institute for the
Study of Social Change, 1991)
Change any language patterns/case examples that exclude/demean any groups:
 Use terms of equal weight when referring to parallel groups: men and women


 rather than men and ladies?
Use both he and she during lectures, discussions, and in writing, and encourage your students to do the same?
Recognize that your students may come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds?
Refrain from remarks that make assumptions about your students' experiences, such as, "Now, when your parents were in college . . . "?
 Refrain from remarks that make assumptions about the nature of your students' families, such as, "Are you going to visit your parents over spring break?"
 Avoid comments about students' social activities that tacitly assume that all students are heterosexual?
 Try to draw case studies, examples, and anecdotes from a variety of cultural and social contexts?
Do your best to be sensitive to terminology relative to identity group/self naming.
Terminology changes over time, as ethnic and cultural groups continue to define their identity, their history, and their relationship to the dominant culture. In the 1960s, for example, negroes gave way to blacks and Afro-Americans. In the 1990s, the term
African American gained general acceptance. Most Americans of Mexican ancestry prefer Chicano or Latino or Mexican American to Hispanic, hearing in the last the echo of Spanish colonialism. Most Asian Americans are offended by the term Oriental, which connotes British imperialism; and many individuals want to be identified not by a continent but by the nationality of their ancestors-for example, Thai American or
Japanese American. In California, students whose forebears are from those regions currently prefer Pacific Islander and South Asian. To find out what terms are used and accepted on your campus, you could raise the question with your students, consult the listing of campus-wide student groups, or speak with your faculty affirmative action officer.
Get a sense of how students feel about the cultural climate in your classroom.
Let students know that you want to hear from them if any aspect of the course is making them uncomfortable. During the term, invite them to write you a note (signed or unsigned) or ask on mid-semester course evaluation forms one or more of the following questions (adapted from Cones, Janha, and Noonan, 1983):
 Does the course instructor treat students equally and evenhandedly?
 How comfortable do you feel participating in this class? What makes it easy or difficult for you?
 In what ways, if any, does your ethnicity, race, or gender affect your interactions with the teacher in this class? With fellow students?
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Become more informed about other groups history and culture.
Avoid offending out of ignorance. Strive for some measure of "cultural competence" (Institute for the Study of
Social Change, 1991): know what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior and speech in cultures different from your own. Broder and Chism (1992) provide a reading list, organized by ethnic groups, on multicultural teaching in colleges and universities.
Beyond professional books and articles, read fiction or nonfiction works by authors from different ethnic groups. Attend lectures, and take courses in Ethnic Studies or Women's
Studies. Attend campus-wide activities celebrating diversity or events important to various ethnic and cultural groups. If you are unfamiliar with your own culture, you may want to learn more about its history as well.
Convey the same level of respect and confidence in the abilities of all your students.
Research studies show that many instructors unconsciously base their expectations of student performance on such factors as gender, language proficiency, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, prior achievement, and appearance (Green, 1989). Research has also shown that an instructor's expectations can become self-fulfilling prophecies: students who sense that more is expected of them tend to outperform students who believe that less is expected of them - regardless of the students' actual abilities (Green,
1989; Pemberton, 1988). Tell all your students that you expect them to work hard in class, that you want them to be challenged by the material, and that you hold high standards for their academic achievement. And then practice what you have said: expect your students to work hard, be challenged, and achieve high standards.
(Sources: Green, 1989; Pemberton, 1988)
Don't try to "protect" any group of students.
Don't refrain from criticizing the performance of individual students in your class on account of their ethnicity or gender. If you attempt to favor or protect a given group of students by demanding less of them, you are likely to produce the opposite effect: such treatment undermines students' self-esteem and their view of their abilities and competence (Hall and Sandier, 1982). For example, one faculty member mistakenly believed she was being considerate to the students of color in her class by giving them extra time to complete assignments. She failed to realize that this action would cause hurt feelings on all sides: the students she was hoping to help felt patronized, and the rest of the class resented the preferential treatment.
Be equitable in how you acknowledge students' good work.
Let students know that their work is meritorious and praise their accomplishments. But be sure to recognize the achievements of all students. For example, one African-American student complained about her professor repeatedly singling out her papers as exemplary, although other students in the class were also doing well. The professor's lavish public praise, though well intended, made this student feel both uncomfortable and anxious about maintaining her high level of achievement.
Recognize that diversity is complex.
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II. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Theories related to cognitive development examine changes in the ways students view the world or make sense of their experiences. Cognitive theories are not only concerned with how students “structure values, beliefs, and assumptions” (Chickering & Reisser,
1993, p. 2) but also examine the acquisition of a host of problem-solving and analytical skills.
A. Abraham Maslow: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Students share other needs common to all people. Abraham Maslow (1954) places human needs into a hierarchy of needs. Usually this theory is presented in a pyramid form and is labeled from the bottom up as follows:
1. Physiological needs.
These are the basic needs for sustaining human life itself, such as food, water, warmth, shelter, and sleep. Until these needs are satisfied to the degree necessary to maintain life, other needs will not motivate people.
2. Security, or safety needs.
These are the needs to be free of physical danger and the fear of loss of a job, property, food or shelter.
3. Affiliation, or acceptance, needs.
Since people are social beings, they need to belong, to be accepted by others.
4. Self Esteem.
According to Maslow, once people begin to satisfy their need to belong, they tend to want to be held in esteem both by themselves and by others.
This kind of need produces such satisfactions as power, prestige, status, and self-confidence.
5. Self-actualization.
Maslow regards this as the highest need in his hierarchy.
It is the desire to become what one is capable of becoming-to maximize one's potential and to accomplish something.
In addition, most traditional college-aged students are at a stage in their development characterized by a reaching out for new values, ideas, motivations, and purposes.
B. Arthur W. Chickering: Education & Identity – Seven Vectors of Student Development
Chickering (1969) emphasized the importance of developing interpersonal competence
– the ability to work cooperatively and productively with others-and of recognizing and accepting interdependence as an essential reality of living. According to Chickering, students pr ogress through seven developmental vectors. “They are called vectors of development because each seems to have direction and magnitude-even thought the direction may be expressed more appropriately by a spiral or by steps than by a straight line ” (Chickering, p.8). Students may be making significant progress on one vector but significantly lacking in another. Taking in concert all seven vectors presents a snapshot to the advisor on the student’s current state of being. Considering many of the vectors require in-depth conversation or a series of conversations to build trust between the advisor and the student, individuals working with students should be cautioned against rushing into a developmental assessment after only one meeting.
The Seven Vectors
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1. Achieving Competence a. Intellectually (The “Thinking Me”) – The development of critical thinking and an intellectual curiosity, evidenced to some extent in the above average drive to learn independently, outside of the formal classroom. b. Physically and man ually (The “Physical Me”) – The development of the ability to handle one’s self in physical and manual activities and the recognition of the roles that these activities play in the release of emotion and energy. c. Interpersonally
(The “Aware Me”) – The development of the ability to be a part of a cooperative effort, understand the motives and concerns of others.
2. Managing Emotions (How do I feel?) is reflected by an increasing awareness, integration and healthy control of the feelings that one experiences during the growth period, particularly sexual and aggressive feelings.
3. Becoming Autonomous (Myself and an Independent Person) is evidenced in the growth of self-sufficiency, less need for approval of others (peers, friends and family), and finally, the recognition of interdependence (role of self in the larger community/society/campus).
4. Establishing Identity (Who Am I?) involves clarifying one’s concepts concerning: the body, appearance, and sex identification roles and behaviors. The process also involves knowing the kind of person one wants to be and obtaining a sense of balance and perspective of the self in relation to others.
5. Freeing Interpersonal Relationships (Myself and Others) is evidenced by increasing: tolerance of a wider range of people; capacity to respond to people in their own right rather than stereotypes; and a shift in the nature of relationships toward greater trust, independence and individuality.
6. Clarifying Purpose
– (Where Am I Going?) is the clarification of vocational plans and inspirations; putting recreational interests into perspective; and the making of decisions concerning lifestyle. The process is typified by: evidence of deep involvement in a major interest; increasing ability to accept advice and criticism; and interest in practical, concrete achievement.
7. Developing Integrity – (What do I value?) is the development of a personally valid set of beliefs and values that provide a guide to behavior and emotions. Behavior is affected by the context of the situation, dominant interests, occupational plans, and lifestyle considerations, i.e. acting in accordance to values and priorities .
Putting Chickering’s Theory into Practice
Specific classroom suggestions for implementing Chickering’s theory as teaching and learning practice can be found at http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html
, and http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/center/Teaching_and_Learning_Tips/College_St udent_Development_Theories_and_Application/CollegeStudentDevelopment.htm
.
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C. William Perry: Scheme of Intellectual and Ethical Development
Perry (1970, 1981) has developed a model that holds much explanatory power in suggesting how students make sense out of the information, theories, experiences, and opinions that confront them in college classrooms. The descriptions below summarize many of the differences in student thinking.
Dualism ("All things are right or wrong, black or white.")

Knowledge is seen as existing absolutely.
 Student’s minimal right for opinion is a “receptacle” for truth.

Little capacity for dealing with conflicts and truth.
Multiplicity ("Everyone is right…no one is wrong.")

Recognize there are multiple perspectives to problems

Unable to evaluate each perspective adequately.
 No criteria to merit one’s own opinion.
Relativism ("Well, everyone has his/her own opinion and could be equally right.")

Knowledge is relative & contextual and is not connected to “rightness” or truth.
 Detachment and objective examination of one’s own values and thoughts.
 Knowledge and truth are relative to one’s experience.
Commitment to Relativism ("Some ideas are more right that others. One has to look carefully at the claim, supporting evidence, and other factors.")

Students accept responsibility of a pluralistic world and through acts of commitment establish their identity.
 Commitment is based upon life’s goals and choices.
Implications of the Perry Model for Classroom Instruction
The Perry Model offers college teachers a lens to clarify the diversity of backgrounds and dispositions that students bring to a topic. The model also suggests that many of the expectations for student understanding of sophisticated concepts and principles are beyond many students' levels of cognitive development. Understanding the Perry Model sheds some light on student perspectives that are different from the college teacher's expectations. For example, in class sessions dualistic students tend to respond negatively and question the credibility of a professor who fails to respond immediately with a firm answer. They are perplexed when arguments elicit a variety of valid interpretations. If told that a number of responses to an assignment might be appropriate and correct, they are disturbed by the idea of multiple answers. Some might even voice the opinion that there should be only one right answer and all others should be incorrect.
The notion of "right answers" carries over to evaluation of students. Dualistic and multiplistic students have difficulty when, during discussions of exam results, a
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professor responds: "Yes, that answer could also be considered correct," or "Let me think about that for a minute." The multiplistic student might always wonder "Why can't mine be right, too?" while the dualist is thinking--"If he doesn't know it dead cold, he's not much of an expert!"
III. Psychosocial and Moral Development
Psychosocial and moral theories of development typically focus on how individuals relate to themselves and others. These theories examine changes in feelings, beliefs, and values over time and developmental processes related to identity, vocational goals, life purpose, and relationships (Chickering & Reisser, 1993; Polkosnik & Winston,
1989).
A. Lawrence Kohlberg: Theory of Moral Development and Cognitive Stages
According to Kohlberg, an individual progresses through a stage process consisting of three levels; each level is comprised of two stages for a total of six stages. The primary concern at each stage is with the principle of justice. Kohlberg distinguishes between a
“rule,” which proscribes action, and a “principle,” which affords “a guide for choosing among behaviors.” An individual progressing through each of the stages uses a different set of principles and a new sense of justice.
The progression from Stage One to Stage Six (which very few people actually reach) is best described as a steady movement outward from the self. Picture a student standing in front of a crowded lecture hall. She begins alone in front of the class with Stage One and takes steps forward until she reaches Stage Three, where she is sitting among other learners. If she keeps moving from her initial spot, at Stage Five she’ll eventually leave the lecture hall and be standing out on campus, a part of the whole university.
The details of Kohlberg’s Six Stages are as follows:
Level A: Preconventional/Egocentric
Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment
Right is literal obedience to rules/authority in order to avoid reprobation.
Purely egocentric: the actor does not consider the interests of others and is focused only on him/herself and the physical consequences of choices. Authority ’s perspective is confused with the actor’s own.
Stage 2: Individualism and Moral Reciprocity
Right is serving one’s own needs and making fair deals in terms of concrete exchange.
Egocentric with an individualistic perspective: the actor separates his own interests and points of view from those of authorities and others while still retaining a belief in their preeminence. At this point, the actor becomes aware that everybody has individual interests and that these often conflict; right comes to be understood as utterly relative.
“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
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Level B. Conventional/Sociocentric
Stage 3: Mutual Interpersonal Expectations, Relationships and Conformity
Right is playing a good (nice) role, being concerned about other people and following rules and expectations. Microsocial : the actor is aware of his/her relationships to other immediately connected individuals. A sense of shared feelings, agreements and expectations take primacy over individual interests. Visible adherence to the social code (and the reward/approval attached to it) becomes a primary impetus in decisionmaking. The “good boy” mentality.
Stage 4. The Stage of Social System and Conscience Maintenance
Right is doing one
’s duty in society, upholding the social order and maintaining the welfare of the larger group. Macrosocial : the societal differentiated from the interpersonal. The actor takes the viewpoint of the system, which defines roles and rules. He or she considers individual relations in terms of place in the system.
Stage 4.5 - Level B/C. Transitional Level
Choice is personal and subjective, based on emotions. Conscience is seen as arbitrary and relative, as are ideas such as
“duty” and “morally right.” The perspective is that of an individual standing outside of his own society and considering himself as an individual making decisions without a generalized commitment or contract with society.
One can pick and choose obligations, which are defined by particular societies, but one has no principles for such choice.
Level C. Postconventional/Ontocentric
Stage 5: Social Contract
Right is upholding the basic rights, values and legal contracts of a society, even when they conflict with the concrete rules and laws of the group. Pre-societal: awareness of values and rights that existed prior to social attachments and contracts. The actor integrates perspectives by formal mechanisms of agreement, contract, objective impartiality and due process. He or she considers the moral point of view and the legal point of view, recognizes they conflict, and finds it difficult to integrate them.
Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles
Right is guided by universal ethical principles that all humanity should follow.
Post-societal: identification with the moral point of view from which social arrangements derive or on which they are grounded. The perspective is that of any rational individual recognizing the nature of morality or the basic moral premise of respect for other persons as ends not means.
Psychosocial and Moral Development – Basics for Classroom Practice
Educators play a role in urging students to the next level of moral cognitive development. As did Piaget, Kohlberg believed that transition from stage to stage was driven primarily by social interaction, especially interaction with authority figures or those on higher stages.
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Development is not merely the result of gaining more knowledge, but rather consists of a sequence of qualitative changes in the way an individual thinks. Within any stage of development, thought is organized according to the constraints of that stage. An individual then interacts with the environment according to their basic understandings of the environment. However, the student will at some point encounter information that does not fit into their worldview, forcing the student to adjust their view to accommodate this new information. This process is called equilibration, and it is through equilibration that development occurs. Early moral development approaches to education, therefore, sought to force students to ponder contradiction inherent to their present level of moral reasoning.
The most common tool for doing this is to present a “moral dilemma” to students and require them to determine and justify what course the actor in the dilemma should take.
Through discussion, students should then be forced to face the contradictions present in any course of action not based on principles of justice or fairness.
There is also a need to offer experiences for students to operate as moral agents within a community. To meet this, Kohlberg and his colleagues developed the just community schools approach towards promoting moral development. The basic premise of these schools is to enhance students’ moral development by offering them the chance to participate in a democratic community. Here, democracy refers to more than simply casting a vote. It entails full participation of community members in arriving at consensual rather than “majority rules” decision-making.
Practical tactics teachers can use that will help their students move toward more complex, principled ethical reasoning:
 Have students discuss controversial moral dilemmas. Identify disciplinary issues with moral content
—that relate to moral values. Develop cases, problems, or scenarios that involve these values for students to discuss.
 Have students play the roles of and explain the reasoning used by others to resolve moral dilemmas.
 Allow students to discover how various cultural groups reason about moral
 issues.
All courses, even in disciplines such as mathematics or statistics that on their surface may appear to lack obviously moral content, offer rich opportunities for helping students develop their skill in moral reasoning. Every course can become a learning community where values of mutual respect, sensitivity to others' needs, and cooperation are emphasized and discussed.
 Ensure all students have ample out-of-class contact with faculty members.
 In addition to high involvement tactics, directly teach Kohlberg's model of six stages of reasoning as one would teach other, disciplinary concepts.
Resources
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About the Writer : Patrick Troup is director of the Multicultural Centers for Academic
Excellence at the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities, worked to establish and now to maintain the new SMART Commons (Science, Math And Writing & Research Tutors), and participated in the undergraduate services strategic planning task force.
P. Troup, page 15