Learning through teaching

Student affairs in an incredible field. There are so many opportunities available to try something new or to work on a passion and I feel very lucky to have learned in time that this can be a career. One of the opportunities I have been granted due to my assistantship is to help teach the RA class, a 4000 level psyc class taken by people who want to be considered for hire as resident assistants. I was lucky enough to teach this class twice as an undergraduate as well, making this experience familiar and also new.
One of the subjects breeched in this class is student development theory. Our class is on Tuesdays and Thursdays and we (Claiborne is the other grad student teaching with our lead instructor in this section) have been lucky enough to have theory days fall on Thursdays, the morning after we discuss theory at a higher level. It has been enlightening to see at what level students can absorb what information and even when we see something we say go straight over the heads of our 28 mostly freshmen students, it reinforces our understanding of what we have learned. I know that I will always remember Kohlberg a little better than I otherwise would have because of time spent on this theory in different environments. In a way, this situation could be viewed through the lens of some of our more recent theories, but I'll have to get back to you on that after we try and fail to have those make sense to our students...

Rudy

As a Hoosier, I grew up with the story of Rudy, the story of the kid whose big heart made up for his small stature. Rudy isn't just an inspirational story about how a small kid can play football for his dream team, Rudy is a great lens through which to examine integrative theories.
Just as ecology suggests that HESA professionals adapt to fit the environment of their students, prioritizing differently in order to best serve different populations, Rudy changed his priorities to fit the most desirable outcome - being a football player at Notre Dame.
As a child watching television with his family, Rudy exhibited behaviors that suggest he was in Baxter-Magolda's Phase 1. After he expressed interest in playing football and was laughed at by his family, he visibly deflated. in not pressing the issue, he could be seen as following the path laid out for him by his authority figures. He doesn't give up on his dream, though, and when he is presented with a Notre Dame jacket, this seems to fit with Phase 2. He doesn't let someone else dictate all of his actions and begins to pursue his old dream. When Rudy actively seeks out admission to Notre Dame and tries to become the assistant to the groundskeeper, he is exhibiting behaviors from Phase 3. He is choosing Notre Dame football over all external conflicting viewpoints. This is his dream and no one can take it away from him. As Rudy grows up and is exposed to different environments, he adapts his behaviors for the best chance of achieving his desired outcome. This has nothing to do with his race or gender, though he would have had a much harder time playing college football as a woman of any race, but rather to do with his environment.

Integrative Theories

It s hard, sometimes, to see how your students fit into different stages of developmental theories. What is really going on in their heads? What, exactly, is shaping their worldview. What piece of their identity is at the forefront in this moment to help me classify them? Reading about integrative theories, things started to fall into place more. Our identity isn't just made up of our race, gender, upbringing, etc. We are a product of our experiences. That's part of why people call it the college experience, right? It makes perfect sense that the experiences and environment of college would have an impact on college students and their later development. I know that I am a different person than when I entered college in August of 2005...