Baxter Magolda’s Theory of Self Authorship Written by Anita Kiteau

Overview of Theory

Marcia Baxter Magolda began her study of this theory when she identified an important gap of gender in the existing work of Perry and Belenky. She saw the need to address gender in the study and to involve both men and women together. Magolda originally began her study in 1992 on the epistemological development of 101 Miami University students. She conducted an exclusive study on epistemological development and her work evolved over the last twenty years with an in-depth study of thirty nine students out of the 101 original participants.

Baxter Magolda identified three dimensions which answer the three simple questions that the individual questions during his or her journey toward self-authorship. These questions are: how do I know, who am I, and how do I want to construct relationships with others. The three dimensions of self-authorship are: a) epistemological which assists the individual to answer the “how do I know” part, b) intrapersonal where the individual finds answer to the question of “who am I” and lastly c) interpersonal, the individual comes to a strong sense of self and is able to master the “how do I want to construct relationships with others.” These dimensions are intertwined according to the experiences of the individual.



The Intersection of all circles is "Inner Voice"



There are four phases of self-authorship discovered by Baxter Magolda.  These are following formulas, crossroads, becoming the author of one’s life, and internal foundation. These phases are not linear however fundamentally, when the individual becomes the author of self, he or she is moving away from following external formulas to developing their inner voices and makes meaning of life based on their internal foundation. She concluded that participants were not identified as reaching self-authorship, however they left college with an initial awareness of self-authorship and continue to make meaning in their lives as they develop their inner voices. Baxter Magolda later introduced the Learning Partnership Model (LPM) with Patricia King to foster self-authorship development. The LPM creates environments between individuals and authorities that effectively promote self-authorship.

Use in Higher Education

Baxter Magolda argued that self authorship needs to be the basis for advance learning outcomes in college in order to effectively prepare students for this century. Self-authorship is being applied in college through interaction among students and educators and includes giving constructive instruction that allow for self reflection, clear interpretations of self beliefs, and active involvement in meaningful activities. Student Affairs develop self-authorship within resident halls, academic advising, career advising and professional student affairs staff. Self-authorship is critically reflected on the diverse population of students and their different experiences.

Annotated Bibliography Entry

Walczak, K.K. (2008). Utilizing self-authorship to understand the college admission process. Journal of College Admission, (198), 31-35

The author draws from the student development theories of self-authorship and orders of consciousness to understand first year, traditional-aged college students. This includes how they understand entry into college through the admission process before they actually develop self-authorship in college. The author examines the development of students as they approach the admission process in the following stages: following external formulas/durable categories, the crossroads/cross-categorical thinking and becoming author of own life/self-authorship. Students do not have a viewpoint of self at first and rely upon others such as authorities (parents and admissions personnel) to tell them exactly what to do. Secondly, students begin to constructively make sense of differences and build their own viewpoints but still do not understand how others’ views influence theirs. Lastly, students are able to separate their viewpoints from others and act upon their own ideas and beliefs. The study concludes with implications that admission counselors and authorities should facilitate the developmental transition of where a student is and where college personnel expect them to be.

References

Magolda, M.B. (2004).  Making their own way.  Sterling, VA:  Stylus.

Magolda, M.B. (2010). The interweaving of epistemological, intrapersonal, and interpersonal development in the evolution of self-authorship. In M.B. Magolda, E.F. Creamer and P.S. Meszaros (Eds.), Development and Assessment of Self-Authorship (pp. 25-43). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F., Patton, L.D., & Renn, K.A. (2010). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice. 2^nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Walczak, K.K. (2008). Utilizing self-authorship to understand the college admission process. Journal of College Admission, (198), 31-35.

Student Development Theory In Practice

Over the first four weeks of the term, our class has been able to understand student development theories in practice through agencies and practitioners at the University of Utah as well as colleagues across the U.S.  Here are some highlights.

Tony Gonzales, the Director of the First Scholars Program, shared with us information on his program that is focused on engaging first generation students to facilitate accomplishing their academic goals.  The First Scholars Program provides 20 students with a scholarship that covers tuition, room, and board for their first year as well as continued financial resources beyond their first year if they meet renewal criteria.  In addition, Tony serves as an academic advisor for these students to facilitate their success.  He shared some initial experiences he has had with these students as well as his use of Astin’s I-E-O Model and Theory of Involvement as well as Tinto’s later theories on retention.

Dr. Gwen Fears, Director of Orientation and Leadership, discussed the components of her department that focus on orienting new students, connecting to parents, and facilitating student leadership.  She explained her model of program development, which involves theory, best practice, and listening to the student experience.  These three components result in programming that is holistic in facilitating student development.  For orientation, she has drawn on Kolb’s Learning Theory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Chickering’s Seven Vectors, Holland’s Theory of Vocation Choice, and Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development. 

As the class discussed Chickering’s Seven Vectors, we reflected on the Professional Development Seminar from Nichols College in Dudley, MA.  This seminar teaches professional skills to college students through a number of courses that are offered to students during the entire college degree.  The Seven Vectors are used to organize the content by year.  For example, Developing Competence, in the First Year course focuses on time management and introduces the personal portfolio.  By the senior year, students are using their portfolios, developing resumes, and engaging in a senior project.  Nichols has identified areas of competency for students based on academic year of their degree progression.

Recently, the class focused on the Theory of Self-Authorship by Marcia Baxter Magolda.  An example from colleagues at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT demonstrated how academic advisors could use this theory to facilitate development of self-authorship by students.  In her presentation at the 2010 National Academic Advising Conference, Gale Larson explained that conversations that encourage a student to reflect on his/her experiences through dialogue with an advisor will build self-authorship.  This technique is important for students as they make decisions on majors, careers, and extra-curricular activities.

Examples of applying theory to practice through guest speakers and materials from higher education colleagues are contributing to a deeper understanding of college student development.  And, here’s a photo of our group that includes Dr. Fears.