Ages and stages: is that the same child I taught last year? The college student. (Pedagogy Saturday VI).

Judith Piercy, speaker

When thinking about teaching, a fundamental question is, "Who are these students anyway?" As a college administrator, each year the students entering my university are the same age (18-22), while I am a year older. Can I still relate to them? Perhaps it's prudent for me to take a moment and ask, "Who are the college students of 2002?"

Today's students are at the end of the Generation X era and at the beginning of the Millennial Era, according to authors Neil Howe and William Strauss (2000). Millennials are students born since 1982 and are characterized as being sheltered (product of child safety rules and security in schools), confident (high levels of trust and optimism), team-oriented (strong team instincts), achieving (higher school standards), conventional (believe that social rules can help) and pressured to excel. In general, students are born into smaller families with more parental education.

Another distinguishing feature of Millennials is that they come to college from a lifestyle that was highly scheduled. After-school sports, music lessons, dance, drama and so forth, keep high school students very busy with little unstructured time. In fact, their unstructured free time is significantly less than other generations. Once in college, these students are not used to determining their own schedule and often struggle with time management when coming to college. This may be why college freshmen waste so much time!

Millennials like math and science most, social studies and art least. They would rather do active things with others (like video games) then imaginative play on their own.

Studying the characteristics of Millennials helps educators understand how today's college generation may be different from previous ones. But how are they the same?

Human development has been actively researched during the past century, resulting in theories about predictable phases or stages of growth. Two particular theories address the development of college students, one being cognitive development and the other psycho-social development.

William Perry's "Cognitive Development Theory" (Perry 1984, 76-116) outlines the forms or structures that shape how people view their experience. These are described by "positions" that fall along a continuum of development where growth occurs in the transition from one position to another. Development is due to two opposing forces--the urge to progress versus the urge to conserve. Nine positions are found within the following four categories: Dualism, Multiplicity, Relativism and Commitment.

Dualistic thinkers (positions 1 and 2) view the world dichotomously with events being right or wrong, good or bad. They believe right answers exist for everything. Dualistic students view you, the instructor, as the absolute authority possessing the correct information by virtue of your position. While dualistic thinkers may be obedient, they are not developing independence of thought.

Positions 3 and 4 comprise Multiplicity, where knowledge expands from right and wrong to include the not yet known. Students in these positions begin to improve their analytical thinking skills and accept the concept that all views have some validity. The joy of teaching these students is found in their desire to be taught how to find the right answers. They move from learning how to learn to how to think.

Position 4 is the most critical of all positions because the transition from position 4 to 5 involves a "cognitive flip," where students begin to see themselves as legitimate authorities who can adapt ideas from other authority figures after reflection and critical examination. Position 5 is called Relativism. Teachers can stimulate student learning by asking students their interpretation of a musical piece, or their analysis of how to correct a problem.

The final set of positions (6 through 9) embraces Commitment and do not involve further cognitive development, rather ethical development. Here, one affirms what is one's own through self-affirmation, consideration of legitimate alternatives and the experience of doubt.

Cognitive development is not the only evolution occurring in college-aged students. Their psycho-social development is also making great strides. Arthur Chickering's theory of psycho-social development (1978) involves seven developmental vectors--achieving competence, managing emotions, becoming autonomous, establishing identity, developing freeing interpersonal relationships, clarifying purposes and developing integrity.

Each vector involves critical growth issues for students, but for the purpose of this summary, competence and autonomy will be highlighted.

Competence includes intellectual, physical and interpersonal areas of students' lives. So while your student may be striving for competence in an area of music, he or she is also attempting to be competent in other areas.

The vector of developing autonomy is a struggle seen so often by educators. First, there is emotional independence, where a young adult tries to be free of the need for Continual approval. Secondly, there is instrumental autonomy, which involves learning how to "take care of business." For many students, prior to college, their parents often orchestrated their lives and handled their affairs. Now students must learn to schedule their time, complete assignments, find practice time and pay bills. How often they wrestle with these! It's imperative for teachers to hold students accountable for their assignments and commitments because you are helping them learn this valuable life skill.

So while college-aged students change generationally, some development is constant and predictable. Teachers' understanding of the concept of Millennials or the cognitive and psycho-social theories of college student development can provide valuable insight. These concepts are not meant to pigeon-hole students, but rather to be a guide as you determine the most effective way to interact with and teach your college-aged student.

REFERENCES

Chickering, A. W. 1978. Education and Identity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Howe, Neil and William Strauss. 2000. Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. Vintage Books.

Perry W. G., Jr. 1984. "Cognitive and Ethical Growth: The Making of Meaning," The Modern American College, ed. by A Chickering & Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Judith Piercy is director of university judiciaries at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

Bret P. Smith, Commentator

Judith Piercy's session applied an interpretive strategy no doubt familiar to authors of historical fiction or biography: She simultaneously considered the processes of maturation (a developmental approach) and the influences of the historical period (a contextual approach) to help teachers of college students gain insight into "who these students are." The present cohort, born from 1982-2002 and following on the heels of Generation X, recently have been dubbed "Millennials." For more on this bunch, we were referred to the book Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by Neil Howe and William Strauss (Vintage Books, 2000).

This is a sensible approach, since any individual's experience represents the intersection of the pattern of a human life span with a certain chunk of historical time. One can infer quite a lot about a person by knowing when he was born, and, therefore, what sorts of external influences he was subject to at various times of life. What seems to be relevant about these Millennials? In general, the verdict tends toward the positive. These are the "Baby on Board" kids, the product of smaller families; they have been treated as special, somewhat sheltered. They are confident, team-oriented, achieving and conventional. They are used to having their time highly structured (remember the Soccer Moms), which may turn out to be a disadvantage when the freedoms of college arrive.

As for the developmental segment, Piercy primarily referred to the stage theories of A. W. Chickering (who described seven "developmental vectors") and W. G. Perry, Jr. (who described nine "positions" of cognitive and ethical development). These schemes document the unfolding refinement of individual views about the nature of knowledge, authority, one's role in society, interpersonal relationships and the meaning of individual commitment. From ages 18 through 22, a salient issue appears to be the transition from rigidly dualistic thinking, externally imposed, to a more relativistic, personal framework. These changes perhaps mirror a desirable process of increasing musical independence.

It is tempting to take the notion of a monolithic Millennial generation, cross it with a stage theory and generalize about how these students view the world and how teachers might interact with them. To be sure, there is much to be gained from this approach. It clearly improves upon complete ignorance of the "life and times" of a person with whom one is involved in an important relationship, like the teacher-student relationship. However, it is important to remember we also are dealing with unique individuals, and there are other lenses through which to view the causes of patterns of human action. As Aldous Huxley pointed out in Themes and Variations, "In every historical period human beings of every kind are born and make use of their native gifts within a cultural environment which they may find favourable or unfavourable." (Chatto & Windus 1950, 34).

Happily enough, some of these lenses were part of other sessions, representing an assortment of powerful ideas to help the teacher. For example, insights from personality psychology, particularly the Myers-Briggs system, formed the basis of Keith Golay's presentations. My own area of interest, motivation, also emerged as a theme of some discussion. Even if one knows all about a student's generational characteristics and personality type, there still may be cognitive beliefs affecting that student's learning activity. Many aspects of instructional and home context can affect students' beliefs--beliefs that in turn influence student interest, persistence, achievement and satisfaction in the pursuit of musical growth.

In short, the reality of human experience is devilishly messy for the theorist. In spite of all efforts to be exhaustive in a system, one seems forced to leave out the important. This need not be a source of disappointment, however, as long as we recognize the limitations of any particular approach and use its strengths to truly help students. Piercy provided a valuable introduction and summary of how some recent developmental and generational insights can be fruitfully applied by college music teachers to the here-and-now.

Bret P. Smith is assistant professor of string music education at the University of Maryland. He holds a B.A. and a B.M. in systematic musicology from the University of Washington, and an M.M. and a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Michigan.

Rachel Fritz, student commentator

Judith Piercy's lecture on the college student was a singular experience for me. As I heard a college administrator talk about the traits and behaviors shared by my fellow students and me, it was an interesting mental exercise for me to go back through my college experiences and find prime examples of myself as a student acting out mentioned traits. What was very useful to me was information concerning how we, as teachers, can handle these students and help them through this transitional period. The underlying message was to stay centered.

College students typically are going through many changes when they arrive at a college or university. For many students it will be their first time away from home. They have many more financial responsibilities: rent, groceries, car payments, plus the ever-present school bill. They also have the task of trying to balance school with work and, hopefully, a social life. There is so much to do and take care of that knowing where to start is overwhelming. As teachers of these students, we are perhaps among the few people besides their peers who see them regularly. Our job becomes more complex as we watch students on a daily basis and attempt to help them adjust to their new lives. The best way for us to do this is to remain stable and focused.

As teachers of these students, we need to make sure we are not chasing after them, but instead helping them to create their own focused center. In our teaching, we must make sure we are not swept up by their emotions, but instead present an example of control. They will continue to have highs and lows because of the constant flow of new stimuli they are receiving.

This was a very thought-provoking and interesting presentation for me to attend. It offered teachers understanding and guidance for addressing the college student.

Rachel Fritz graduated in May 2002 with an M.M. in piano pedagogy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and will begin a doctorate in the near future. She has a private piano studio in Lincoln.