Overview
In the "Call for Presentations" announcement for the NMACC
conference, I came across the following sentence: "The 2004 Faculty
Development Conference will focus on improving education in the classroom
to prepare students for success in the real world." The last two
words of this sentence struck me. The "real world" is a term
frequently used by both educators and learners to refer to what lies
outside educational institutions; by implication, if what lies outside
of classrooms is "real," then obviously what lies inside of
them is not real-in other words, fake. At least, that's the unspoken
assumption by those who draw distinctions between educational environments
and the "real world." As an instructor and program coordinator
at the University of New Mexico's Taos college who had sought ways of
developing professional relationships between the college and the community,
I found this presentation to be an opportunity to address practical
actions educators and administrators may take to erase this distinction;
to make education "matter" to students by directly connecting
classrooms (as well as specific programs and entire institutions) to
larger professional communities-by not "educating" students
so much as "professionalizing" them. After returning from
the conference, I submitted this document to the UNM-Taos Academic Council
and the Center for Faculty Development as a potential strategic plan.
This plan offers specific and direct ways of making the educational
experience matter to students both inside and outside classrooms at
community colleges in New Mexico. My objective at that time was to encourage
administrators to consider adopting some of the following suggestions
as part of its short and long-term strategic plan.
Assessment
UNM-Taos and other community colleges should design pragmatic instructional
activities to help bring the "real world" into the classroom
and the classroom into the "real world." It should promote
the establishment of tangible, mutually-supportive relationships between
institution, local professional communities, and area school systems.
The significance of specific degree programs depends on the community's
acknowledgement of their worth and value; hence, without infringing
upon the academic freedom of educators, the role played by such relationships
in the development and enactment of various curricula should be strongly
encouraged and enhanced.
Applied
Academics, or "Real World Education," at Community Colleges
The 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, criticized occupational education
for focusing too narrowly on low-skill, entry -level jobs. In response,
the National Commission on Secondary Vocational Education a year later
recognized that "[w]hat is really required today are programs and
experiences that bridge the gap between the so-called 'academic' and
'vocational' programs." That same year, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational
Act called specifically for integrating occupational and academic education.
The ameliorative
thrust of much of the literature concerning the "New Vocationalism"
is making vocation-based programs more academic by having students write,
analyze, study vocational history, and so on. Growing out of this movement
is another body of literature, called "Applied Academics,"
which argues that the gap between occupational and academic education
is most effectively bridged when educators seek not only to "academicize"
vocational curricula but to "vocationalize" academic curricula.
In 2000, the $5
billion-funded Workforce Investment Act (WIA) altered the federal system
of job training and workforce development. Writing in New Directions
for Community Colleges (#115, Fall 2001), James Jacobs recognizes why
this legislation is a watershed policy for community colleges:
Never before has such a large and comprehensive federal
law been created assuming the participation of community colleges.
Indeed, through almost all aspects of WIA from drafting of the legislation
to the current issues over implementation, American community colleges
have been considered a critical factor in the success of this legislation.
(93)
This legislation
plays to the strengths of community colleges partly because it targets
constituencies those colleges have historically served: adults wishing
to improve their employment and economic status. "Community colleges
are uniquely positioned as gatekeepers for local sub-baccalaureate labor
markets," Jacobs observes. "Whereas high schools are often
unable to develop sustained ties with employers and four-year colleges
concentrate on baccalaureate degrees, the comprehensive mission of community
colleges makes them readily able to contribute to this important sector
of the economy." (94)
Classroom
Based Application: Vocationalize the Academic Curriculum
Here are some suggestions on meaningful ways instructors can vocationalize
non-vocational or "academic" courses:
(1) In
addition to the standard "Objectives" and "Requirements,"
list on your course syllabus the "Applied Skills" or "Employability
Techniques" that students will receive from the course. Be certain
your coursework addresses such skills and techniques.
(2) Many
students have jobs or belong to local community groups; others may not
belong to a formal organization but belong to a community of people
who share similar interests (hunting, basketball, etc.). Have these
students act as informal "representatives" of these work-place
or community groups and, whenever possible, incite discussion of them
within appropriate academic contexts.
(3) Offer an automatic
letter of recommendation to students who successfully complete your
course (with, say, a B or above) composed on institutional stationery
and mailed to the student at the course's conclusion. The letter could
give a brief overview of the course's objectives and applied skills,
state the student's name and grade, and offer your contact information
(if desired) should potential employers seek you out as a reference.
(4) Create
an on-line discussion group pertaining to the academic concerns of your
course. (This may be done through most course webpage software programs
like UNM's WebCT or through the "Groups" components of search
engines like Yahoo! and MSN.) From their home computers, students my
log-in and post/respond to messages by other students. Not only is the
electronic exchange of ideas and information very much a part of professional
communication these days, but it also (1) provides a space for shy or
quiet students to express themselves, (2) requires students to write
and to "publish" their writing publicly, and (3) engage in
continuous, informal, but professional dialogue with classmates they
may come to see as "colleagues."
(5) Create venues
(including on-line discussions, if possible) between students and members
of the community whose professional capacity relates to the course discipline.
(6) Incorporate
into your coursework meaningful components that require (1) writing
and (2) information literacy. Both components may effectively be engaged
cross curricularly, thereby unifying the college experiences of students
despite their declared areas of concentration. In addition, both require
skills that are employed frequently in the many occupations.
Institution-Based
Application: Creating Partnerships with the Community
Postsecondary educational institutions should create meaningful partnerships-not
simply formal, upper-echelon ties-with regional businesses and organizations:
The Bridge Program
at the City Colleges of Chicago, the Workforce Development Program at
Shoreline Community College in Seattle, and the Fast Track to Work Office
at Cabrillo Community College in California are examples of successful
programs resulting from strong collaborations between colleges and local
employers and community-based organizations. Such programs should be
studied by community colleges that simply "exist" within communities
and whose relationship with specific organizations and employers consist
of formal, but not necessarily meaningful, liaisons between administrators.
Collaborative councils
or cohorts between community colleges and regional businesses and organizations
will help to link the mission of each college with the needs and expectations
of the community it serves. Bringing college instructors, students,
and administrators together with community leaders, employers, and other
professionals to discuss community needs and concerns will have many
benefits, but two overriding ones should here be pointed out: (1) college
personnel will have a better idea of what kinds of programs, skills,
etc., local business people deem "employable," and (2) local
professionals will feel that they are contributing to the educational
mission of their local college and, hence, may give more credence to
the degree and certificate programs graduates complete.
Program and departmental
partnerships of the kind discussed above should be on-going and meaningful.
English faculty ought to meet with local writers' groups, book discussion
groups, as well as businesses to get an idea of what people are doing
and looking for writing-wise in the greater community, and vice versa.
Likewise, instructors of sciences ought to meet regularly with regional
offices responsible for monitoring environmental conditions, and so
on.
Many community
colleges, UNM-Taos among them, do not have a close-enough relationship
with the primary and secondary school system also serving that community.
This is unfortunate because all educators are responsible for nurturing
intellectual growth and inculcating practicable skills among the same
general population. The transition from primary to secondary to post-secondary
education, especially within the same community, ought to be somewhat
seamless. However, many younger students report a "bump" when
they enter college-it's a "different world" from high school.
While entering a brave new world is frequently difficult and not necessarily
a bad thing, if the "bump" results from very different academic
standards and expectations between secondary and postsecondary teachers
then there exists an unfortunate gulf between both institutions that
should be addressed and possibly breached. A consortium between all
community educators that provides venues for collegial dialogue would
help bridge such gaps and enhance the educational experience for all
members of that community, young and not-young alike.
Conclusion
At the time I made this presentation, UNM-Taos was experiencing a precipitous
decline in full-time student enrollment. My belief was that this decline
was in part the result of community members getting degrees from UNM-Taos
only to discover, to their chagrin, that the degree did not translate
into benefits-eligible, salaried professional positions in the community.
I thought that the only way UNM-Taos could survive the consequences
of this community-wide reality check was to bridge the gulf between
itself as an institution of higher education in an economically depressed
region and the community it served. In 2004, the newly appointed Dean
of Instruction, Jim Gilroy, began to enact processes that entwined the
destiny of the institution with that of the Taos community. By the time
I left in June 2005, certain programmatic implementations under his
direction were just beginning to provide positive results. At the time
of this revision, those efforts are ongoing.
November,
2005
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