Engaged Learning: Enabling Self-Authorship and Effective Practice
David C. Hodge, Marcia B. Baxter Magolda, and Carolyn A. Haynes
There is now broad consensus that higher education must extend beyond content-based
knowledge to encompass intellectual and practical skills, personal and social
responsibility, and integrative learning. The college learning outcomes needed for
success in 21
st
century life include critical thinking, a coherent sense of self, intercultural
maturity, civic engagement, and the capacity for mutual relationships. Yet, research
suggests that college students are struggling to achieve these outcomes in part because
skills needed to succeed in college are not those needed to succeed upon graduation.
One reason for this gap is that these college learning outcomes require complex
developmental capacities or "self-authorship" that higher education is not currently
designed to promote.
Promoting Self-Authorship to Promote Liberal Education
Marcia B. Baxter Magolda, Miami University
1
______________________________________________________________________________
Abstract
Contemporary college learning outcomes such as critical thinking and intercultural maturity
require transformative learning. Self-authorship-the capacity to internally generate one's beliefs,
values, identity, and relationships-is a necessary foundation for transformational learning. This
essay describes the evolution of self-authorship and the conditions that promote it based on a 22-
year study of adult learning and development. Learning partnerships model how to promote self-
authorship and enable learners to take charge of their learning.
__________________________________________________________