Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years; A Scheme

by William G. Perry Jr.

Since its original publication in 1970, this landmark book by William Perry has remained the cornerstone of much of the student development research that followed. Using research conducted with Harvard undergraduates over a fifteen-year period, Perry derived an Anduring framework for characterizing student development--a scheme so accurate that it still informs and advances investigations into student development across gAnders and cultures.Drawing from firsthand accounts, Perry traces a path from students' adolescence into adulthood. His nine-stage model describes the steps that move students from a simplistic, categorical view of knowledge to a more complex, contextual view of the world and of themselves. Throughout this journey of cognitive development, Perry reveals that the most significant changes occur in forms in which people perceive their world rather than in the particulars of their attitudes and concerns. He shows ultimately that the nature of intellectual development is such that we should pay as much attention to the processes we use as to the content.In a new introduction to this classic work, Lee Knefelkamp--a close colleague of Perry's and a leading expert on college student development--evaluates the book's place in the literature of higher education. Knefelkamp explains how the Perry scheme has shaped current thinking about student development and discusses the most significant research that has since evolved from Perry's groundbreaking effort.Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years is a work that every current and future student services professional must have in their library.

Genres: Education, Philosophy, Sociology, Academic, Psychology, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 1998

Reviews

[Teresa Raetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well known book in higher ed circles and so I won't repeat what others have probably said about it being an important, foundational book that everyone in the field should read. I didn't give it five stars due to the occasionally tortured prose that is so unfortunately typical of academic books but conceptually it's five stars. The critique section is free of the normal examinations of their assumptions, especially the much-mentioned relative lack of women in the study, but...I don't hold the authors accountable for producing a book of its time (early 60s). College students were predominantly male then and the later advancements in critical theory that have shifted the paradigm hadn't happened when this was published. It's still a highly valuable work.

On a personal note, I read it during the current (2012) presidential primary season and I've found it coloring my view of this process, from interviews with voters, candidate speeches, and so on. It's fascinating to try to gauge their cognitive development based on their statements or at least the stage they are attempting to curry favor with (hint: lots and lots of Position 1: Basic Duality).

[Songrui Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is lovely in its own special sense. It's more like a really long anecdote on a theory, than just constant straight out giving you the basic ideas. I mean these are difficult epistemological concepts that they are trying to get you to understand. And throwing you with more abstract terminology certainly isn't going to help. So it's lovely in that it brings to you in such a disjointed but coherent way all at once. It's about giving you ideas so that you can "feel" for what the theory is about instead of just trying to tell you what the theory is about.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by the Grandfather of epistemic belief research - William Perry (who incidentally taught ENGLISH at Harvard). Great new foreword by one of his students. Covers the 9 positions of post-Piagetian intellectual development. Springboard for SO many great researchers in higher ed and ed psych.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

dry read...interesting theory

[Reuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful information for my advising role as college faculty.