Running Head: Praxis Paper 1

Praxis Paper: Perry’s Theory and Helping Students

Vanessa R. Beckham
Northern Illinois University
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Praxis Paper: Perry’s Theory and Helping Students

Helping students is a job skill that I have practiced since the beginning of my

professional career. In many cases, helping has felt like a natural trait that made me a

“viable candidate” for any student affairs position. Although I have been successful in

using my natural traits to assist students so far, learning about student development

theories have helped with achieving student’s goals and assessing problems. A student

who has first studied student development theory and applied it to practice can more

easily identify how their skill is shaped based on these theories. Oppositely, a student

like me who has first practiced in helping roles for years, and then learned about theory,

has to reflect on their own helping styles and which theory is matched. Perry’s Theory of

Intellectual and Ethical Development best matches my helping style while assisting

students.

Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development theorizes college students

going through four stages of mental and moral development. The first stage, dualism is

the belief that every problem is solvable, that students are to learn the right answers,

and that one must obey authorities.  The second stage known as multiplicity are two

types of problems: solvable, and also problems that the answer is not yet known. In this

stage, students also put trust in their own inner voice. Relativism is the third stage in

which all solutions to problems must have a reason, and be viewed within a specific

context. The basis for this stage is that every issue must be evaluated because

everything is contextual. The final stage, commitment, is the stage where there is an

acceptance of uncertainty as part of life. Students use both personal experience and

evidence learned from outside sources to arrive at conclusions (Student Development

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Theory, n.d.) The four stages, dualism, multiplicity, relativism, and lastly commitment

are then further divided into nine positions.

The first position, basic duality, iterates a student seeing the world

dichotomously. Every solution is either good or bad, right or wrong, black or white.

Authorities always have correct answers. Multiplicity prelegitimate is the second

position. In this position, the student starts to see there may be other answers, facts

might not always tell the truth, and authority is not always correct. Third, multiplicity

legitimate but subordinate, describes the student knowing there are other answers. In

the fourth, multiplicity coordinate, the student knows and understands there are multiple

answers and ways to view situations. The student in relativism subordinate knows and

understands there are multiple answers and ways to view situations. In this phase of the

fourth position, a student starts to think about supporting those opinions. Relativism, the

fifth position, is when a student looks at each viewpoint or answer and sees what makes

the most sense or what the right answer is for them. In the sixth position, commitment

foreseen, making a commitment or trusting in the opinions of others or the viewpoints

they feel are correct for them is the process the student explores while the seventh

through ninth positions, titled evolving commitments revisit those commitments and

make changes when necessary (Student Development Theory, 2011.)

When reflecting on my own use of the three phases of helping, Perry’s theory is

what best describes my theoretical approach to understanding where a student is in

their own developmental process. When establishing rapport with students and

exploring the dilemma, I listen for key words that allow me to understand which of the

four stage of Perry’s Theory the student is in. If a student expects a right or wrong
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answer from me about college decisions, I understand that about this subject, the

student is in dualism. At other times the same student can be in the third stage,

relativism, when wanting to talk about their relationship. They use phrases like, “I just

need you to understand the situation to give insight on it.” In this phase, the student

desires to talk through their issue more collaboratively to come to a reasonable

explanation. When establishing rapport, Reynolds (2009) mentions creating a safe and

supportive environment so that helper-initiated and student-initiated helping interactions

that can be central to the student’s well-being take place. To better assist the student

and making my environment safe, I can more easily identify which stage and position

the student is in.

Gaining insight into the dilemma and focusing is really where I question and

clarify to understand the student’s position within Perry’s Theory. At this point in the

student’s helping conversation, I have established rapport and placed the student in a

perceived stage. Now, through clarification, I can better understand which position in the

perceived stage the student is in. For students who are nearing the end of a stage and

ready to enter a new one, clarification questions can help them, “make different choices,

engage in new, more functional behaviors, and obtain an increased sense of

responsibility and control,” (Reynolds 2009) ultimately moving them into the new phase.

Many of the student conversations I had led to a “Take Action” step, the third

phrase in helping students. In this phase, helpers, “assist students in setting effective

goals and developing a feasible plan (Reynolds 2009.) Depending on which stage and

position the student is in depends on how I assist the student in taking action. My

programs seniors are the group of students who more commonly have to come to
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phase three in one conversation. By the time a student is a senior, based on program

requirements, and social development, that student will be at stage four when

discussing college and high school graduation. For most, they have committed to a

school, but are uncertain of a definite answer when talking about why they chose the

school. As a helper who did not understand student development theory, this student

uncertainty when understanding why they chose a school was frustrating. Now, being

able to accurately identify stages, helps me know the student is correctly moving

through levels of development according to Perry. Although Perry’s theory is the model I

most identify with when helping students. There are limitations to using it.

Over the years scholars have explored Perry’s theory in relation to today’s

student. The biggest limitation is Perry’s student subjects. All white male students were

surveyed and concluded from to create Perry’s theory (Hall, 2013)

When reviewing and using his theory, scholars have noted that this theory is still

accurate given the student subjects tested. For my program, white males make-up a

small percentage of our program participants.  Another limitation that my program has

when using Perry’s theory, and most student development theories, is that research is

strictly done on college students, typically age 18 to 23. My program works with high

school students. In order for me to put Perry’s theory into accurate practice, I have to

consider the age of the students Perry researched, and restructure it to fit the typical

age of high school students. In doing this, I often wonder if our program stunts

development of typical high school students with the expectation that they will develop

on a college aged model. Thinking about assisting all of our students has led myself,

and staff to use more than one student development theory, because of other life
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factors that contribute to student development outside of students who are only male,

only white, and only in college.

Addressing these limitations can be challenging, especially with no model that

follows my program’s demographic. More accurately than just Perry, our staff also

identifies stages of students using other developmental theories, such as critical race

theory, and Schlossberg’s Transition Theory. By using multiple theories, I can more

surely help the student by placing them exactly in the stage or phase they are in across

many spectrums. With Perry’s theory being the result of college students researched,

an issue with most student development theories, my high school students would be

best served if there were theories of development on high school students in college

prep programs, International Baccalaureate programs, and all advanced placement

school schedules. Having theories that address the age group of our participant

demographic would allow me to help the student move toward the ‘Taking Action’ step

in the three phases of helping.

When working with students, Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical

Development is what I most use to help identify students in their development. By

identifying this, I can more accurately assist the student using the three phases of

helping. Although Perry’s theory has limitations, mainly the age, gender, and race, of his

researched students, Perry’s theory allows a student to be at different stages and

positions depending on the dilemma they are discussing ( Hall, 2013.) This positive

allows the helper to not categorize the student based on any other factor but the

dilemma being discussed. In the end, that allows the rapport establishing to be more

authentic and lasting for future dilemma solving between the helper and the student.
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References

Hall, M. (2013, December, 13). Perry’s Scheme – Understanding the Intellectual

Development of College-Age Students. Retrieved from
https://ii.library.jhu.edu/2013/12/13/perrys-scheme-understanding-the-intellectual-
development-of-college-age-students/

Reynolds, A.L. (2009) Helping College Students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Student Development Theory. (2011, January, 21). Student Development Theory -

Cheat Sheet. Retrieved from
https://sharepoint.louisville.edu/sites/SIGS/Documents/P_student-dev-theory-01-21-
2011.pdf

Student Development Theory. (n.d.). William Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical
Development. Retrieved from https://studentdevelopmenttheory.weebly.com/perry.html