Why Is Chickering's Theory Important To Practice?

Student development theories are important to learn and to incorporate into any student affairs professional’s practice. In order to do so, one needs to learn about the wide breadth of possible theories, some which are applicable to many fields and others are more specialized. For example the highlights I learned from class are things I found applicable to my current job and future career goals as an academic advisor. Some of these highlights were theories that focused on understanding how general student populations think or what issues they may be experiencing in various stages of development.
This is followed by learning different ways to put theories to practice, particularly I found most useful was the developmental intervention model. From wanting to implement this, I learned about various techniques from …show more content…
I find Evan et al.’s (2010) critique of Chickering’s theory being too general exactly why I find it a highlight. It’s a useful starting point when first interacting with students, particularly in one-on-one interactions since knowing what vector a student is in can me an idea of possible issues they dealing with and I would know what strategies to use to address those problems and suggest appropriate activities or resources as well.
I like how Chickering’s theory is widely applicable to many areas in student affairs, particularly programming. I need more experience in this, so knowing Chickering’s theory can give me a starting point on developing program outcomes and strategies (Evans et al, 2010). For example, I can focus on the Developing a Purpose vector in my career services internship next quarter and create a program to address an issue in this vector like developing vocational goals through finding paid or unpaid work, volunteering or internships (Evans et al.,