Notes that Jenny Gilsdorf and Jone Rymer offer poignant stories about their personal and professional growth in two articles in this issue. Provides an integrating framework for exploring the linkages between the ideas put forth by Gilsdorf and Rymer. Uses a psychodynamics perspective to examine the connections among individual development, an…

Explores a link between the psychologically oriented identity status paradigm, and the sociologically oriented individualization theory. The primary link between these two approaches appears to be that the individualization process can be operationalized in terms of agency in identity formation. Concludes that identity statuses representing…

Examined the effects of variations in acculturation and gender on identity processes and outcomes in a sample of 357 students at a culturally diverse university. Results indicate that the processes underlying identity development are consistent across variations in acculturation and gender. Supplemental analyses revealed effects of acculturation…

Examines the literacy myth: the belief that literacy can solve complex personal and social problems. Explores links between "literacy for life" and Dewey's concept of growth. Makes the case for a pragmatic middle ground between structural-functional and radical-transformative interpretations of adult literacy education. Presents a case…

Draws from sociolinguistic perspective, human development, school learning, and language policy to discuss conflicting claims about second-language learning in school. Differentiates between cultural context within micro cultures and school content within global macro culture. Asserts that educators should ensure that learners have access to the…

Interviews with four adults over 65 in Learning in Retirement Institutes explored life events, their experience of retirement, and the impact of institute participation. Recurring themes were personal growth, self-esteem, contribution to society, and empowerment. (Contains 22 references.) (SK)

The authors have created the Illness Relationship Impact Inventory as one concrete way of examining each person's personal relationship with illness during their formative years. These early experiences texture the impact on one's experience of illness as an adult. Discussion questions and "next steps" commitment for positive improvement in that…

Describes a pilot mentoring program at the Health Libraries and Information Network (HeLIN) at the University of Oxford that was designed to increase understanding of mentoring for continuing professional and personal development; to investigate existing mentoring schemes; to incorporate a program for accreditation of mentors; and to evaluate the…

When imitated, toddlers were more likely to continue to act on an object; if continuing, repeat the same action on the object; generate games, especially imitation games, and look at their partner's face. These social influence processes are thought to operate naturally in peer interactions and contribute to the behavioral organization that…

Compared disabled (n=45) and nondisabled (n=45) undergraduates to determine how disabled compare to nondisabled in developmental tasks required of college students; whether academic performance can be predicted on basis of developmental skills; and whether age at onset of disability influences college student developmental skills. Found…

Gifted children's education should be based on the appreciation of intellectual, artistic, or psychomotor talent with the object of developing a balanced and mature adult. The focus should not be on specially and narrowly educating talented students to improve national competitiveness and economic growth. (SK)

This review of representative research in cooperative education related to student benefits finds that outcomes can be clustered in three categories: career development, career progress, and personal growth. Variables discussed explore co-op's relationship to each category. (58 references) (JOW)

Two studies investigated the maintenance of focused attention in the first five years of life. Findings revealed changes over age in the way children concentrate and sustain attention spontaneously during free play. Results point to possible developments underlying the increasing duration of focused attention. (RH)

A developmental approach to teaching about aging can help make students sensitive to the needs of the elderly. Such an approach emphasizes individual differences in the aging process and the uniqueness of personal experience, helps student experience physical changes of aging, and encourages attitude change through interaction. (SK)

Investigated development of altruism in children according to a theoretical perspective that integrated Piagetian micromodels accounting for change from preoperational to operational stages. Subjects were 90 children of 5-12 years of age. Older children were more likely to consider an altruistic act in terms of gain construction than cost…