In the Pursuit of the Good Life Moral Development within Residential Colleges

CHRIS KIRK

PENN STATE UNIVERSITY

Warming Up: Pop Quiz!

p.excitem.com/s/presentation/poll?eId=8b1d894d1bea84b3b5ab00305e30ea1a42ae8ed22d5d8a7bb0ae653e98caf7ef

Presentation Roadmap

◦ What is moral development?

◦ What was moral education for the early colonial colleges? How has it changed since then?

◦ What challenges do RCs face fostering college students’ moral development?

◦ How are RCs positioned to foster moral development in students?

Moral development in contemporary higher education emphasizes moral reasoning ability

Moral Reasoning

Post-Conventional

Maintaining Norms

Personal Interests

However, only focusing on moral reasoning offers an incomplete picture of moral development

Moral action

Moral reason

The early colonial colleges’ form of moral education was character formation

◦ Constrained the habits and practices of students

◦ Guided by one moral identity and tradition

◦ Unity between curricular and co-curricular

◦ College experience was all aimed at moral education

◦ Increasing plurality of traditions and identities and decreasing hegemony of Christianity

◦ Rise of academic freedom & research ideal

◦ Assumption learning science would teach morality

◦ Emergence of student affairs

The arriv a l of the German un ivers ity model and the subs equent co lleg iate reforms trans fo rmed moral education in U.S . higher education .

The changes to moral education present many challenges for residential colleges

◦ Plurality of traditions and identities

◦ Substituting morale for morality

◦ Disconnect between curricular and co-curricular

◦ Implicit versus explicit

Discussion Questions

Thinking about these challenges, how have you seen these play out, if at

all, in your RC?

What other challenges has your RC faced or do you

anticipate facing in fostering moral development in

college students?

Residential colleges possess many advantages for moral development

◦ Community

◦ Narrow Mission

◦ Consistency

◦ Habits & Practices

Discussion Questions

These are some of the possible pathways through

which RCs may foster moral development. Did any of these resonate with your

experience?

What are some of the ways you have found to be

successful in promoting dialogue in your RC?

What goal(s) does your RC have for moral

development? How does your RC work towards those

goal(s)?

• King, P. M., & Mayhew, M. J. (2002). Moral judgement development in higher education: Insights from the defining issues test. J ournal of Moral E ducation, 31(3), 247–270.

• King, P. M., & Mayhew, M. J. (2005). Theory and research on the development of moral reasoning among college students. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 19, pp. 375–440).

• Lies, James M., Bock, T., Brandenberger, J., & Trozzolo, Thomas A. (2012). The effects of off-campus service learning on the moral reasoning of college students. J ournal of Moral E ducation, 41(2), 189–199.

• Mayhew, M. J., & King, P. (2008). How curricular content and pedagogical strategies affect moral reasoning development in college students. J ournal of Moral E ducation, 37(1), 17–40.

• Mayhew, M. J., Seifert, T. A., Pascarella, E. T., Nelson Laird, T. F., & Blaich, C. F. (2012). Going deep into mechanisms for moral reasoning growth: How deep learning approaches affect moral reasoning development for first-year students. Research in Higher E ducation; New York, 53(1), 26–46.

• Parker, E. (2017). Do non classroom interactions with faculty affect moral development among college students? College Student Affairs J ournal; Charlotte, 35(1), 3.

• Rest, J. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory . New York: Praeger.• Reuben, J. A. (1996). The making of the modern university: Intellectual transformation and the

marginalization of morality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.• Smith, C., Christoffersen, K., Davidson, H., & Herzog, P. S. (2011). Lost in trans ition: The dark side of

emerging adulthood. New York: Oxford University Press.

References