Evidence of Competency: Movie Review

In reflecting on the two years in the M.Ed. program in Higher Education, another course that I

thoroughly enjoyed was Student Development Theory. Being able to have a better understanding for

how students grow and mature throughout their college years was very insightful, but beyond that

having the chance to learn more holistically about human development was both interesting and

beneficial for me. In particular, I appreciated learning about various human populations and the

identities that they possess that impact development over time. Through a final assignment that I

completed for the Student Development Theory course, I was able to illustrate competency in my

communication skills and commitment to social justice.

For one of the final papers, I had to write a movie review about college students. Through the

movie we had to access its ability to illustrate college student development. This assignment required us

to choose a movie from a selected list and identify developmental characteristics of the main student

characters as they journey throughout the movie. I chose to the movie School Daze (1998). My intent for

selecting this movie was the opportunity to see development in a movie I grew up watching but also the

student’s identity within the movie. Through the movie and the theories I was able to gain better

understanding of the theories through media and art. In terms of communication skills, I really

challenged myself by attempting to organize the information in a complex but natural way of how the

characters have development through the developmental theories I chose and how they transition

through the stages. I felt I was able to integrate the various sources of knowledge and ideas into a

cohesive movie review.

I was able to link together my personal and professional goals for the assignment as a means of

illustrating my commitment to social justice and student development. I took this assignment as an

opportunity to learn theory through film but also see how this would apply to the students I will be

working with in the future. Through the various developmental theories, I was able to see the transition

the characters go through but also ways in which they develop. As a means of realistically being able to

relate to students it is important to understand where students are at in their development process and

take the opportunity to serve as a resource and advocate for students and their families, illustrating my

competency in the area of social justice. Lastly communication skills were also depended on how I

articulated and communicated that in my paper. In order to complete this assignment I had to be

intentional, clear and cohesive because often times with movies you can see many developmental

theories but it is important in the way you articulate and providing reasoning as to why you chose that

specific theory for the character. Furthermore, this artifact is able to express out written

communication skills in the areas of comprehension, synthesis, and analysis due the fact that I had to

give the artifact one voice as film can be portrayed differently.