Self-Authorship as the Common Goal of 21st-Century Education

This chapter synthesizes the key expectations of 21st-century higher education and analyzes the developmental demands these expectations place on college students. A common educational goal in American higher education is to improve student learning for the purpose of preparing young adults for the professional, civic, and personal challenges of adult life. The interweaving of cognitive, identity, and relationship dimensions of learning are evident in one of the most recent reports on contemporary higher education. The slow pace of change in higher education, faculty training in their discipline rather than in pedagogy, and the historical bifurcation of academic and student affairs all contribute to lack of reform. Placing self-authorship as the central goal of higher education necessitates providing a new form of guidance. The holistic nature of the journey toward self-authorship requires a holistic approach to higher education.