Developing And Assessing Personal And Social Responsibility In College

In 2007, wanting to expand higher education’s civic engagement conversation, the Association of American Colleges and Universities launched the Core Commitments Initiative. That initiative focused attention on personal and social responsibility as outcomes of a college education, with the understanding that such a focus would return American higher education to its historical purpose of preparing active and engaged citizens. Expanding the conversation this way leaves room for behavioral measures, like voting or hours spent in community service, but also opens our understanding of citizenship to include issues of civic identity, civic attitudes, personal integrity, and ethics. This volume explores the research and practice related to the development of personal and social responsibility in college, drawing data directly from institutions that were part of the Core Commitments Initiative and providing instructive examples of good practice at both the programmatic and institutional levels. This volume is the 164th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Higher Education. Addressed to presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other higher education decision makers on all kinds of campuses, it provides timely information and authoritative advice about major issues and administrative problems confronting every institution.

Noting that much is known about teaching and learning personal and social responsibility but little is incorporated into the K-12 curriculum, this book is intended for parents and educators as a guide to helping children develop personal and social responsibility, especially as it relates to behavior in school. Part 1 of the book consists of five chapters: (1) "Making Responsibility Education a Priority at Home and School"; (2) "Teaching Responsibility"; (3) "Exploring the Meaning of Personal and Social Responsibility"; (4) "Setting Goals for Learning To Be Responsible"; and (5) "Parents and Schools: Co-Partners in Teaching Responsibility." Part 2 consists of one chapter that provides examples of model practices in teaching personal and social responsibility, while the single chapter that makes up part 3 describes 16 exemplary programs, resources, and references for parents, schools and the community. Six appendixes contain a sample teaching unit from the Character Education Institute, a sample responsibility lesson from the Home School Institute, a description of a responsible student from a high school department, a letter from a teacher to parents on course responsibility, a sample parent-student handbook, and a list of responsibility-oriented elementary school behavioral expectations. (MDM)

Performance-Based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education, Second Edition, breaks down the complex topic of assessments and shows you how to develop assessments that will help you and your students work together to enhance the instructional process in physical education. The authors describe the various types of performance-based assessments and show how to integrate assessments into fitness education and physical education, using numerous models that can be adapted to your own situation. The authors provide a wealth of tools for assessing students according to local, state, and NASPE standards while helping students reach their goals. The text is supported by a Web site that includes a test package, a presentation package with PowerPoint slides, an instructor guide, and a CD-ROM that includes additional forms and assessments.

Moral sensitivity affects whether and how we see others, note moral concerns, respond with delicacy, and navigate complex social interactions. Scholars from a variety of fields explore the concept of moral sensitivity and how it develops, beginning with a natural moral capacity for sensitivity towards others that is shaped in a variety of ways through relationships, forms of teaching, and social institutions. Each of these influences alters the capacity as well as one’s responses in complex ways. The concept of moral sensitivity deepens as progressive chapters demonstrate its increasing complexity through development within individuals, over time, as they mature, and as their relationships and social contexts expand. The chapters integrate research from philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, literature, education, and media and technology studies, with key chapters by Darcia Narváez, Nancy E. Snow, Michael S. Pritchard, and Stephen J. Thoma and a Foreword by Owen Flanagan. It is the only comprehensive presentation of interdisciplinary work on moral sensitivity that integrates a theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical analysis. This highly interdisciplinary approach provides a new way of thinking about the relationship of individuals to society and moral sensitivity as a social phenomenon, extending current research in ethics, moral psychology, and psychology toward situated, embodied, and contextual analyses.

This edited volume analyzes cases of higher education programs engaging with sustainable development. Offering cases from across the globe that focus on the role of universities in promoting societal transformations and building sustainable futures, the volume specifically discusses how higher education institutions can educate for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As critical spaces for research, development, and innovation, higher education institutions are fundamental change agents for societal transformations. Their role in disseminating sustainability through different paths is undeniable, and it is worth discussing the dimensions that surround the concept of sustainability within universities. Considering the role of policy, curriculum, practice, teaching, research, and development paths in universities, this book looks at the contributions of higher education sector to our vision of sustainable development. This publication offers readers a chance to look at different higher education institutions’ engagement with sustainable development through political, managerial, curricular and practical steps.

This edition presents practical, field-tested ideas for teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) through physical activity in schools and other settings. Includes guidance in teaching affective and social moral goals, an in-depth look into teaching character development and values, and a method for helping students develop personal and social responsibility.

On behalf of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), researchers at the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education surveyed 23,000 undergraduate students and 9,000 campus professionals (faculty, academic administrators, and student affairs staff) at 23 institutions participating in the Templeton Foundation-supported initiative, "Core Commitments: Educating Students for Personal and Social Responsibility." Data from the initial administration of the "Personal and Social Responsibility Institutional Inventory" (PSRII) in Fall 2007 assessed the campus environment along five dimensions of personal and social responsibility: (1) Striving for excellence; (2) Cultivating personal and academic integrity; (3) Contributing to a larger community; (4) Taking seriously the perspectives of others; and (5) Developing competence in ethical and moral reasoning. Reported findings include: (1) Across all categories, students and campus professionals strongly agree that personal and social responsibility should be a major focus of a college education; (2) Across all groups surveyed, far fewer individuals agreed that personal and social responsibility was currently a major focus on their campus; there is a significant gap between what they perceive "should be" and what "is;" and (3) Across all groups, significant numbers, although not a majority, of students and professionals think that students leave college having become stronger across various dimensions of personal and social responsibility during college. List of Core Commitments Consortium members and Background Material are appended. (Contains 4 figures.) [Report prepared under direction of Eric L. Dey.].

Numerous studies have chronicled students lack of trust in large social institutions, declining interest in politics, and decreasing civic skills. This book is a comprehensive guide to developing high-quality civic engagement experiences for college students. The book defines civic engagement and explains why it is central to a college education. It describes the state of the art of education for civic engagement and provides guidelines for designing programs that encourage desired learning outcomes. In addition, the book guides leaders in organizing their institutions to create a campus-wide culture of civic engagement.

Students become new and different people through the course of their education. When students earn the right to say, “I am a college graduate,” that new status becomes a part of who they are. The authors in this volume—scholars from a range of fields—offer methods that staff and faculty can use to explore the process through which students develop new personal, civic, and professional identities. The research and ideas in this volume can assist in designing approaches to encourage student growth, and to help us understand what it means to attend and become a graduate of a college or university. This is the 166th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Higher Education. Addressed to presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other higher education decision makers on all kinds of campuses, it provides timely information and authoritative advice about major issues and administrative problems confronting every institution.