Cultivating Reflective Practitioners through the Study of Human Development: a Transformative Graduate Program in Elementary Education at West Chester University

The article expands on a presentation given by the author at an international symposium held at the University of Silesia from May 10-13, 2005, entitled Innovation in Higher Education: A Global Perspective. Perspectives on transformational processes in Higher Education vary widely even after forty years of exploration by psychologists, educators, sociologists, and neuroscientists. West Chester University of Pennsylvania’s Plan of Excellence includes five essential transformations in which is embedded the new Elementary Education Masters Degree Program in Applied Studies in Teaching and Learning. An essential catalyst for transformation is the experience of personal authenticity. As a goal of teacher development, authenticity paradoxically leads to heightened individuation as well as social connectedness and integration. Highlighted in this area of study are components of a six-area framework of Human Development as a formative study for personal, social, cultural, and global transformation. Future implications for questioning and enriching teacher development are explored.

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