"Maybe I'm Not the Way I See Myself": Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Development in Trinidad and Tobago

• In Event: 21.036 - Embracing the Tension: Identity and Positionality in Diverse Educational Spaces in Africa and the Caribbean

Abstract

Personal development is central to the mission of tertiary education in Trinidad and Tobago, yet there is little research on student development in this collectivist culture. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how students navigated their interpersonal relationships in ways that affected their sense of self. Findings from this study provide information about the intersections of intrapersonal and interpersonal development to those seeking to promote tertiary students’ personal development in Trinidad and Tobago. This study also allows the broader international higher/tertiary education community to further examine the ways in which our theories and research, particularly pertaining to student development, are culturally constructed in ways that limit our ability to understand the full complexity of human experience.

Authors

• Elizabeth Niehaus, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Letitia Williams, University Of the District of Columbia

• Miles Young, Northeast Texas Community College

• Adam Fullerton, American College of Education

• Kayla Person

• Stephanie Zobac