Surveys of employers continually highlight the need for better communication skills among recent college graduates. Yet, writing instruction in higher education serves far more than a transactional purpose. Writing facilitates learning, helps students gain skills in analysis and synthesis, and supports a range of other personal and intellectual…

Contributors to this special issue have been asked to provide self-portraits of their intellectual lives and to consider the development of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia (PESA) as an organisation. The author approaches this task by keeping the autobiographical details to a minimum and focusing more on the prospects for…

Describes Robert Kegan's theory of meaning-making--how individuals make sense of knowledge, experience, relationships, and the self. Applies the theory to college students and how their understanding of their experience, themselves, and their relationships with others mediates learning. Draws implications for the design of college curricular…

Student development philosophy, based solely on the behavioral sciences and a romantic humanistic philosophy, is not adequate for meeting human needs in contemporary society. The concepts of holism, humanism, pragmatism, and individualism are all part of this student development philosophy but have been distorted. The literature on student…

Describes evolution and structure of the four-year leadership curriculum at Southwestern College (Kansas), whose model promotes personal development, interpersonal growth, and service leadership through class work, field trips, conferences, and practical experience. Students work on projects throughout the program as teams, mentored in the early…

Our higher education system does not nurture the inner lives of students or help them acquire the self-understanding that is the basis for a satisfying life, nor does it provide the safe and nurturing environment people need in order to grow. What is needed is a more holistic way of conceiving education, one that accepts the importance of…

An investigation conducted at Suffolk University as a basis for developing a course in career and life planning is described, and the course units that were produced are outlined. The literature survey investigated: the historical development of career and life planning from Frank Parson (1909) to the present; kindergarten to adult programs; and…

Student perspectives on learning was investigated at Alverno College. Attention was directed to how students understand and justify learning outcomes, and how they understand liberal learning as relevant to performance in personal and professional roles. The competency-based curriculum at Alverno College defines competencies as developmental,…

The role of values clarification and self-concept development, which are important issues in liberal and humane education, are identified, and it is suggested that the use of film in a class can emphasize values processing and clarification. Film is a medium that can clearly illustrate conflicts and problems in human relationships and the complex…

Alumnae of Alverno College were studied to determine how they were learning to learn at work, how they describe lifelong learning, and what factors promote transfer of learning to professional performance and careering after college. Interviews were conducted with 32 alumnae, and questionnaires were administered to 56 alumnae and 63 seniors.…

The Six Performance Characteristics rating, An Alverno College assessment technique used in the outcome-centered liberal arts curriculum, is discussed. The technique provides a means for faculty to judge students in a systematic way over time on developmental characteristics that apply to their performance across disciplines and across competence…

This collection of 22 essays examines the use of records of achievement (student profiles or portfolios) in higher and vocational education in the United Kingdom. They include: (1) "Records of Achievement: Background, Definitions, and Uses" (Alison Assiter and Eileen Shaw); (2) "Profiling in Higher Education" (Alison Assiter…