The connection between sustained high-level critical and creative thought and positive disposition is explored in this paper. The purpose of the paper is three fold: (1) to present the main ideas behind a dispositional conception of thinking; (2) to discuss research on this topic; and (3) to demonstrate the relationship between high-level thinking…

Perry's theory of intellectual and ethical development of college students is briefly reviewed. This theory was based on work with Harvard University students, and addresses dualism, multiplicity, and relativism. In the first stage, a student sees the world in right-wrong, black-white terms, with no room in the thinking process for conditional or…

Perry's scheme of intellectual and ethical development was examined for sex differences with respect to content areas for which sex differences have elsewhere been suggested: occupational choice, interpersonal relationships, and sexual identity. In addition, the content area religion and ego development, as measured by Loevinger's sentence…

The Perry scheme of intellectual and ethical development has become widely used in a range of academic disciplines and such areas as career training and faculty consultation. However, current measurement techniques for the scheme, whether interview format or paper and pencil measures, do not adequately address issues related to assessing cognitive…

A year-long seminar for elementary teachers in analytic thinking for children (ATC) is offered at the School of Education at Texas Wesleyan College. ATC uses philosophy and logic to help children understand how they think and to improve their reasoning. Four guidelines are given: (1) Discuss the nature and function of authorities and arguments…

A study investigated the attitudes of teachers in graduate-level inservice education concerning multicultural education. Subjects were 55 students aged 20-55 in a graduate-level multicultural education class. Three surveys with open-ended questions elicited information about personal educational background (including gender factors influencing…

This paper reports research from four studies of how teachers come to learn professional knowledge based on theoretical frameworks of the developmental theories of Piaget (cognitive development), Kohlberg (moral development), Loevinger (ego development), and Hunt (conceptual development). Studies proceed on the assumption that a perspective of…