Areas of Growth

Carson (1989) describes human metaphysics as constitutive physical, mental and spiritual
dimensions; and posits that a complete education will include a balance among each of these
three characteristics.

This Unit attempts to integrate the spiritual dimension of man by including faith development
as an integral aspect of student development targeting growth in the following life skills:

Empathy and Compassion,

 Humility,

 Tolerance of diversity and

 Service to humanity and stewardship of the natural habitat

Objectives
By the end of this Unit students should be able to:

 Demonstrate the virtues of empathy and compassion, especially to the

disadvantaged/vulnerable and the natural environment,

 Show elements of humility in the way they exercise authority and power,

Engage voluntarily in activities which are of service to humanity and

 Behave in a manner which shows tolerance to cultural, racial, tribal, gender and religious
diversity in their communities

Learning Outcomes
 Social harmony and integration across cultural and ethnic bounds,

 Tolerance of social and spiritual diversity,

 Peaceful co-existence among students irrespective of social and political backgrounds, and

 Discipline and self-restraint and less use of coercive enforcement of rules and regulations.

Theoretical Framework
Faith and moral development theories have been studied at depth by a number of authorities.
According to Fowler (1981:24), “Faith allows human beings to conceptualize what they call
the ‘ultimate environment’, the version of the world that individuals create in their minds that
shape the ways in which they understand and live in the real world.” In this unit, faith is
interrogated in the context of Parks’ Faith Development Theory. The theory focuses on
transition of adolescents to mature adults during the process of making-meaning of their
lives. Parks (2000) states that the faith experience in young adults (17-30 years) involves
making new discoveries that differ from previously held assumptions about the world and
subsequently altering their structures of faith and meaning. The theory is recommended by
other authorities for providing useful contribution to the literature on student development in
tertiary institutions.

Young adulthood is a critical point of life where faith develops. Adolescents probe
commitment, develop self-knowledge, self-discovery and choose their own path in the world.
Students may commit tentatively to multiple ways of knowing or making sense of their
experiences through the lenses of different belief systems. They cultivate ability to question
and develop their own truths. Individuals mingle with the world, participate in dialogues and
develop a new order in life. Parks (2000) argues that a flexible mentoring community,
nonjudgmental in its shared value, is very crucial when students make new choices. It needs
to foster students’ faith development. Students’ belief systems are fragile and vulnerable
during their stage of probing commitment but are healthy and full of promise when supported
by forms of community.

Faith development emerges in sequential stages, moving from a dualistic perspective where
students accept the belief system of their communities without question to an integrated
belief system that acknowledges multiple explanations. Young adults cope with diversity
during the self-discovery process such as economic changes, social vulnerability, among
others. They experience shipwrecks in their lives which also has influence on their belief
systems. Individuals begin taking responsibilities for themselves including their faith and
choices made as the young adults mature. It is the spiritual capacity of human life by which
individuals recognize the essence of life itself. Students develop self-discipline or self-
management skills when focusing on the connection between the structure, content of faith,
the role of distress and imagination. Watts (2003) comments that in as much as Parks’ theory
is widely used, it puts 22 too much emphasis on cognition hence it could not be effective
when working with other races as it ignores the role of ethnicity.

The theory identifies three forms of development in young adults as: Cognitive (Knowing),
Dependence and Community. As students develop, they have new ways of understanding
these forms of knowing which occur within four periods associated with development of
young adults.

Application of Themes to Student Development and Life

Skills
Students are supposed to understand and appreciate the four stages that adolescents undergo
during development thus:

a) Adolescent/Conventional

b) Young Adult

c) Tested Adult and

d) Mature Adult.

1. Adolescent/ Conventional

-Cognition: (Form of knowledge):

Adolescents are said to be authority bound. The adolescents place much trust in authorities.
In most cases they place trust in authorities they know, for example, parents, church
authorities and teachers, to mention a few. They also place trust on impersonal authorities; for
example, the social media, since they will be in transition to self-discovery and self-
assertiveness.

Students see lives in rigid terms and have little tolerance on ambiguity (Parks 2000).

As individuals progress through this stage they distinguish between right and wrong.

Note that reality has no form, thus suffers from unqualified relativism. All these happen due
to experiences in life. Some of these experiences can be challenging.

- Dependency:

Adolescents rely on authorities to determine how they should feel about events in their
worlds. This reliance is changed when the truth they have been taught is discovered to be
fallible or young adults examine changes in dependency on others, thus when they provide a
way to evaluate value of disturbance in faith development (Parks, 2000). Being dependent or
non-dependent, the adolescents remain authority based until the system is found faulty to
encourage exploration.

- Community:

Adolescents seek for familiarization and dependable networks of people, places, and
communities to explore themselves and their values. Communities are best needed to
challenge, support and influence the spiritual development of college students. The mentoring
community involves a peer group in which members challenge and support each other in the
process of making-meaning in the adolescents. Parks (2000) indicates that each community
environment brings different mentorship which enriches a young adult’s life.

2. Young Adult

Parks (2000), notes that adolescents develop self-trust, self-drive attitudes and begin to ask
questions regarding purpose, vocation and belonging as they mature. They question their
ability to make the world a better place. A sense of feeling “unsure” is said to infuse this
period in life.

Young Adults engage in short-term commitments to faith communities or beliefs whilst

balancing their own views with others. Mentors become very crucial as individuals develop
the “fragile inner dependence” to guide and reinforce their identities. They “diffuse into the
community," and build new relationships to form new ideas. Individuals develop a highest
power of naming one’s experiences in transit into a new self (Parks 2000).
References
Carson, V. B., & Koenig, H. G. 1989, Spiritual Dimensions of Nursing Practice.
Philadelphia,

PA: Saunders. Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. & Patton, L. D. R. K. A., 2010. Student
Development in College: Theory Research and Practice. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fowler, W. J., 1981. Stages of Faith, the Psychology of Human Development and the Quest
for Meaning. New York: Harper Collins.

Mozhgan, A., Parvash, J., Nadegholi, G. & Bahram, J., 2010. College Students Competencies
Development: A Model. International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education
(IJCDSE) , 1(3).

Parks, S. T., 2000. Big Questions Worthy Dreams: Monitoring Young Adults in their Search
for Meaning, Purpose and Faith. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.

Watt, S. K., 2003. Come to the River: Using Spirituality to Cope, Resist and Develop
Identity, s.l.: s.n.