The Impact of Schlossberg and Levinson's Theory

Exploring Transition Theory

When examining Noor's development with the Schlossberg and Levinsson transition model, it is easily to see the events that led up to my voice's decision.  She has experienced all kinds of anticipated events such as marriage, having a kid, having them go to college, and having an "empty nest" but her major non-event was not going to college due to having a wealthy husband. In terms of Josselson's Women Development Theory, she is a searcher but through this change of pace to seek education, she is opening the door into identity achievement.

 Noor's life seemed to be normal in terms of the the eras of Levinson.  She went through childhood and adolescence and halfway through early adulthood before a major shift in her life occured.  It was through this shift that her decision to come back to school was made.  She is in a "period of transition".  Like stated, this is non sequential and she explored the possibilities of change first, followed by commitment.  She now is finding out about the stresses and consequences of her decision and hopefully, through her program and support, she finds a balance to creates stability.

When using Schlossberg's four S's, her coping with transition is ongoing and I am finding that the less resources a college has, the more Noor will have to rely on support and strategies.  As stated in my past post, some colleges work with social networks to help create opportunities for this interaction and support.  I can feel the frustration that Noor would have if everytime she thought she was doing something with consistency, that due to lack of college resources, stressors kicked in and she had to go into coping mode.  This would increase her inability to focus solely on her education and may lead to other areas of her life, like her marriage, to become under stress due to pent up emotions.  Like the scenarios in class, it is important to listen and suggest rather than direct situations since everyone is different.  Staff in higher education, like in the past post, need to be able to be facilitators and great resources in order for students to have the opportunity to succeed.

Odds and Ends

I looked at my past experiences again and remembered seeing an art exhibit in Italy and a certain piece stuck out in my mind.  In was a video art piece that featured Muslims in American and European films over the past 10 years or so.  Throughout the video, it was more or less a violent, terrorizing, sword welding, depiction of Muslims.  The artist's intent was to show how the media has create a stereotype for the present day Muslim or Middle Eastern individual.  In the end, it said some disturbing statistic that over 90% of Muslim in films are depicted inaccurately or with stereotypical imagery.  Unfortunately, I do not remember the artist's name or museum but its impact was as great as some of the pieces I saw in Europe.  I find that through art or other media, that issues can be used as great examples of expressive the views of the oppressed.  When working in higher education, I find it important to use a wide variety of resources to help in the development of an individual. 

Resources:

In-Class Handouts: Schlossberg, Waters, and Goodman's Transition Model & Levinson Handout