developmental autobiography

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National University

LED 620 World View and Adult Development

DEVELOPMENTAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

This assignment is split into two parts: • Part I DUE in Week 2 requires students to look back over their life’s journey to explore

how their worldview was shaped and what factors and life experiences contributed to their

overall development as a person and leader. • Part II DUE in Week 4 requires students to analyze their journey and identify two

theoretical models which best explains / supports their developmental journey as a person

and leader. Developmental Autobiography Part I – Due Sunday, Week 2 by 11:59 p.m. PST

Part I of your paper will discuss your developmental journey by identifying critical episodes (peaks

and troughs) that you have experienced over your lifetime. This may include people / mentors,

career roles, lessons, educational background, and significant experiences that may have played a

role in shaping and contributing to your development over the course of your life. As you share your developmental journey, its recommend that you organize your paper using sub-

headings to section off your paper as well. There are a few ways that you may choose to organize

your paper. Here are a few suggestions. You may mix and match these options.

• Stages of your life (childhood, young adulthood, adulthood, etc.)

• Significant / impactful moments, milestones, or turning points that have contributed to your

development.

• Experiences, education, jobs, and people that have contributed to your development.

• Age Ranges that help you discuss a timeline approach to your development.

• The following are prompts that my help you think of how to organize your paper:

o What were your typical ways of thinking and acting earlier in your life?

o What are your typical ways of thinking and acting now?

o What are your future aspirations for developing how you think and act?

o What has triggered your own development toward greater maturity?

o What might be triggering your development now? Feel free to also incorporate any discoveries made about your development through the course

activities and readings as appropriate. Part I should be written in first person. Be sure to use real-world examples to explain the

impact (not just tell) the reader about the evolution of your development. This paper will only be

read by the professor and will not be shared with other students. As a resource, there are a few

sample papers provided under the Student Resources section.

This assignment must be written in APA format with a proper title page and reference page. It is

expected that each part of your paper will be 4- 5 pages long (which means that your final

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submission will be 8-10 pages). The title and reference page does not count toward your page

count.

FINAL Developmental Autobiography (Part I & Part II) – Due Sunday, Week 4 by 11:59

p.m. PST

Part II requires students to analyze and explain their own development journey from an objective,

theoretical perspective. Part II requires that students use at least one theory of adult development

to explain the student’s evolution as a person and at least one theory of leadership to analyze the

student’s evolution as a leader. Students may choose to use more than one theory for each. This

means that students will have, at least, 2 references listed on their “Reference” page. This will

also mean that students will have several in-text citations as they paraphrase and/or quote from

their resources. Keep in mind, students should paraphrase in their own words more often than

using direct quotes.

Part II must also include details focused on your future development and who you want to become

as a leader. Students must also include cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioral development

activities that might help further their development and what results they anticipate as an outcome.

The following questions should be addressed as well:

• What will positive development toward your aspirations look and feel like and what will

drive it?

• How can you facilitate the development of other people?

• How can you build a shared culture for positive development in the direction required by

the work of your organization or community?

• What are the implications you see for adult development as it connects with the exercise of

leadership? In other words, development for what purpose?

• No theory is perfect, so what is your critique of developmental theory? Where are the

holes? The unanswered questions? The gaps?

This assignment requires students to adhere to APA formatting and writing guidelines. No abstract

or table of contents is required. Please be sure to check out the sample papers available in the

Student Resource section. Also, be sure to use the grading criteria listed on the next page to guide

your efforts. It is expected that each section be 4- 5 pages long (this means that your final

submission will be 8-10 pages long). You may go over this page count; however, grades will be

assigned based on quality, not quantity, of analysis.

As this is the final course paper, late work will not be accepted for this assignment.

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Developmental Autobiography Grading Criteria

1. Analysis: How well did you integrate theory and data to create a coherent diagnosis of the

current situation and future action in the paper?

• Translates major theoretical perspectives from the lectures and the readings to

leadership theory being studied into concrete implications and interventions in his/her

own learning and practice.

• Demonstrates the ability to make connections between organizational processes and

larger social dynamics and patterns

2. Self-Reflection: How well did you demonstrate an understanding of how elements of your

identity and history affect your world view, development and exercise of leadership?

• Expresses unique personal insights derived from application and evaluation of course

content.

• Sustains sense of inquiry

3. Data: How well did you utilize descriptive data to support your analysis?

• Uses specific examples from your own life.

• Offers a description of the situation giving the reader enough background to follow your

analysis.

• Presents evidence, interprets evidence, relates evidence to own development and strategies

for the exercise of leadership.

4. Theory: How well can you apply the conceptual material offered in readings and lectures to

reflect on and provide new insights into personal experiences?

• Relates subject of paper to course concepts and materials, and has sufficient

number of references.

• Outlines theory’s relevance to one’s own development, world view, and exercise of

leadership.

5. Organization: How clear, focused, and well-organized is the paper?

• Demonstrates masterful organization that strengthens your analysis.

• Synthesizes connections making explicit statements (not expecting instructor to infer

student’s meaning).

6. Writing: Does the paper reflect professional and graduate-level quality in grammar,

writing style, and adherence to APA 6th format?

• Cites course materials (lectures, readings) appropriately.

• Properly formats paper using 12pt font, 1-inch margins, double- spacing, and proper sub-

headings.

• Avoid contractions (i.e., I’m, you’re, we’re, etc. in academic writing)

• Indent all first lines of paragraphs (.5-inch tab)

• One main idea per paragraph with 2-3 supporting sentences (paragraphs should be 3-5

sentences in length.