Faith Development Theory

James Fowler’s theory of faith development is another theory that I found useful and directly in line with my own faith, beliefs, and desired line of work. Evans et al. (2010) claim that faith is shaped from unconscious structures with stages of faith development and that there is a distinction between content and structure. “Individuals at the same stage can hold beliefs that are vastly different (content) while their ways of thinking about and making sense of their beliefs (process) are similar. […] Some individuals never reach the more advanced stages” (p. 197). Fowler’s theory was quite evident during my emerging adult interviews and it was in the area of faith development where I heard the most diverse responses. “Is faith a significant
part of your life? Why or why not?” These diverse responses are as follows: “Yes, faith and the love that I have for God is significant in my life because I have been blessed. Besides, without faith, it is impossible to please God. When things are going wrong in my life, I always believe that these will pass and that He will provide a new direction. Family is very important to me. Through prayer, I have faith that the Lord will also bless them and keep them safe. I believe that we are all put on this earth for a purpose and I have tremendous faith that God will guide me toward the purpose that He has for me. Although I don’t have this answer yet, and that I struggle with this question daily, it is my faith that keeps me moving forward through patience. I know that the answer will come when the Lord feels that I am ready. I couldn’t imagine the trouble I would be in without having faith and the love I have for God” (G. Hernandez, personal interview, June 7, 2015). “No, I can’t say that faith is a significant part of my life. I have had some bad experiences in life thus far and I have a hard time understanding why God lets people endure such a hardship if He loves us so much. It’s not that I don’t believe in God because deep down inside I believe that He does exist even though He can’t be seen. My parents went to church while I was growing up and taught me things about the bible. If they hadn’t done so, I probably would not believe at all. I really don’t think about faith all that much because living life, getting an education, working, spending time with friends, and playing soccer tends to take up a lot of my time” (D. Nelson, personal interview, June 5, 2015). Through the responses of Hernandez, we are able to identify that faith plays a significant role in her life. Her commitment to faith, love for God and family, and the goals that she is being patient with suggests that she is experiencing and looking at life through the lens of faith. If we examine Fowler’s stages of faith, we can conclude that Hernandez is most likely in stage number four: Individuative-reflective faith. “When one’s self-definition becomes self-authored, their system of beliefs, values, and commitments become a coherent and explicit meaning-making system” (Evans et al. 2010, p. 198). We do not see a similarity in D. Nelson’s response who is a 24 year old Caucasian male from Murrieta, California. Because of his bad experiences, blaming God, not being able to see God, and being pre-occupied with activities outside of faith, we can assume that Nelson may be somewhat behind, placing him into stage number three: Synthetic-conventional faith. In this stage, “faith is meaningful, they are not yet able to consider it critically. External validation is still necessary to affirm one’s decisions” (Evans et al. 2010, p. 198). As I consider my future role in college counseling and student development, the information I have learned in this course accompanied by work experiences within the counseling field, I am becoming increasingly convinced that the integrative space within the integrative model is where I will be anchored in my purpose.
In this light, Chickering’s theory of identity development can be very useful in my own personal quest for success within educational counseling. According to Chickering and Reisser (1993) there are three admonitions that underscore the creation of educationally powerful environments: (a) Integration of work and learning: will allow me to maintain collaborative relationships and integrate work opportunities into the campus and produce ways for students to find internships and eventually jobs (b) Recognition and Respect for Individual Differences: will help me to be cognizant of the different backgrounds and needs of students and allow me to adjust my approaches to meet those needs. And (c) Acknowledgment of the Cyclical Nature of Learning and Development: will assist me to recognize that I will face difficult times and that new experiences and challenges will arise granting me new perspectives and a more complex understanding of how to provide opportunities to challenge individuals’ thought processes to gain a deeper understanding of them (Evans et al. 2010, p. 71). The aforementioned model and theories will help guide me and illuminate who I am and where I am going; remind me to create an environment for meaningful discussions with those I counsel, and to utilize and embrace the resources that are available to me to help one student at a time--equally and
fairly.