Synopses & Reviews
Today, community colleges enroll 40% of all undergraduates in the United States. In the years ahead, these institutions are expected to serve an even larger share of this student population. However, faced with increasing government pressure to significantly improve student completion rates, many community colleges will be forced to reconsider their traditional commitment to expand educational opportunity. Community colleges, therefore, are at a crossroads. Should they focus on improving student completion rates and divert resources from student recruitment programs? Should they improve completion rates by closing developmental studies programs and limiting enrollment to college-ready students? Or, can community colleges simultaneously expand educational opportunity and improve student completion?
In John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education, Cliff Harbour argues that before these questions can be answered, community colleges must articulate the values and priorities that will guide them in the future. Harbour proposes that leaders across the institution come together and adopt a new democracy-based normative vision grounded in the writings of John Dewey, which would call upon colleges to do much more than improve completion rates and expand educational opportunity. It would look beyond the national economic measures that dominate higher education policy debates today and would prioritize individual student growth and the development of democratic communities. Harbour argues that this, in turn, would help community colleges contribute to the vital work of reconstructing American democracy.
John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education is essential reading for all community college advocates interested in taking a more active role in developing the community college of the future.
Review
The parallel analyses of the historical evolution of community colleges and John Deweys work on democracy and education are each rich in their own right, but taken together they provide a critical overview of potential and promise. The author makes a compelling call for community college leaders to purposely advance the use of democratic communities to transform community colleges and create a better democracy. -
Carlos Nevarez, Professor and Director of Doctorate in Educational Leadership, California State University, Sacramento, USAIn John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education, Harbour takes his readers on a provocative journey of the community colleges' landscape, analyzing their humble beginning, their evolving and transformative mission, and their purpose. Harbour explains the development of the community college and its institutional predecessor, the junior college, to show how these democratic institutions acquired their traditional vision of expanding educational opportunity and access. This is a fantastic read for both practitioners and non-practitioners, which will shed some light on the current state of community colleges in the USA and the competing interests and priorities that these institutions must grapple with. - Rassoul Dastmozd, President, Saint Paul College, USA
In an era of growing and dangerous inequalities, Cliff Harbour reaches back to John Dewey for the ideas, will and courage to recommit to a new version for what “Americas College” should be. Harbour also reminds us of the value of knowing the past and calling forth those ideas that were - and still are - compelling of the betterment of us all. He connects current issues to our collective past and to our values, and identifies what could be lost if we dont change course. This book is well-researched and referenced; it will prove accessible to a wide range of readers. - William M. Timpson, Professor of Teaching and Learning, Colorado State University, USA
Harbour provides an alluring overview of the historical evolution of the community college and of the life and times of Dewey. Grounded in this context, he uses battle-tested Deweyan philosophy to articulate a bold, new, and innovative vision for community colleges that prioritizes individual growth and the development of democratic communities. The volume is a must-read for community college practitioners and scholars who seek to improve the institutions capacity to facilitate the upward social and economic mobility of individuals and communities. The volume is written in an accessible tone, which allows readers to envelop themselves in a history and story that compels them to reconsider the future. - J. Luke Wood, Doctorate in Education Director and Associate Professor of Community College Leadership, San Diego State University, USA
Synopsis
'Honorable Mention' 2016 PROSE Award - Education Theory
Today, community colleges enroll 40% of all undergraduates in the United States. In the years ahead, these institutions are expected to serve an even larger share of this student population. However, faced with increasing government pressure to significantly improve student completion rates, many community colleges will be forced to reconsider their traditional commitment to expand educational opportunity. Community colleges, therefore, are at a crossroads. Should they focus on improving student completion rates and divert resources from student recruitment programs? Should they improve completion rates by closing developmental studies programs and limiting enrollment to college-ready students? Or, can community colleges simultaneously expand educational opportunity and improve student completion?
In John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education, Cliff Harbour argues that before these questions can be answered, community colleges must articulate the values and priorities that will guide them in the future. Harbour proposes that leaders across the institution come together and adopt a new democracy-based normative vision grounded in the writings of John Dewey, which would call upon colleges to do much more than improve completion rates and expand educational opportunity. It would look beyond the national economic measures that dominate higher education policy debates today and would prioritize individual student growth and the development of democratic communities. Harbour argues that this, in turn, would help community colleges contribute to the vital work of reconstructing American democracy.
John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education is essential reading for all community college advocates interested in taking a more active role in developing the community college of the future.
Synopsis
Today, community colleges enroll 45% of all undergraduate students in the United States. In the years ahead, these institutions will play an even larger role in American higher education as they transform themselves into new community located, globally-oriented colleges. However, the outcome of this transformation is yet to be determined. Community colleges could develop into hyper vocational institutions guided by government economic development policies and the short term needs of employers operating in a global economy. Or, they could retain their outdated traditional mission with commitments to open access and delivery of a broad and expanding curriculum. Unfortunately, neither future would prioritize the long-term needs and interests of adult learners and their communities.
In John Dewey and the Future of Community College Education, Cliff Harbour argues that it become new and better institutions, community colleges must create a new democratically-based normative vision. This vision must be pragmatic and realistic, and show how community colleges can and should become more seriously committed to the advancement of American democracy in large and small communities.
In Part One of the book, Harbour reviews the evolution of community colleges and introduces John Dewey's work. In Part Two, he reviews the values and priorities that guided the evolution of junior colleges and community colleges. In Part Three, he looks at key issues and themes highlighted in John Dewey's work, identifying the Deweyan values and priorities that may be used to establish a new normative vision for community colleges.
About the Author
Clifford P. Harbour is Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming, USA and President of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges, USA. His formal education was at North Carolina State University (Ed.D.), Duke University (M.A.), Ohio Northern University (J.D.), and Rhode Island College (B.A.). Cliff was a community college faculty member and administrator for 14 years.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Democracy's College: The American Community College
Normative Vision and Institutional Mission
John Dewey and the Pragmatists
My Community College Education
Part One - The Context and the ExperimentChapter 1: The Precursor: The Public Junior College
Introduction
The Social, Economic, and Educational Environment in the Early 20th Century
Academic and Vocational Education at the Junior College
Leonard V. Koos
Walter C. Eells
Taking a Place in American Higher Education/ Conclusion
Chapter 2: Democracy's College: The Community College
Introduction
The Social, Economic, and Educational Environment in the Late 20th Century
The Truman Commission
Open Access and the Comprehensive Mission
Burton Clark and the "Cooling Out" Thesis
Practitioner Responses to Clark
Conclusion
Chapter 3: The Origin and Development of the Community College
Introduction
The Functionalists: Cohen and Brawer
The Marxists: Karabel, Pincus
The Institutionalists: Brint and Karabel
The State Relative Autonomy Theorists: Dougherty
Conclusion
Chapter 4: The Three Dogmas of Community College Education
Critiques of the Institution and the Consequences for Its Normative Vision
The Institution: Virtuous but Powerless/ The Students: Second Chance Learners
The Faculty: Overworked and Underpaid
Dismantling the Dogmas
The Next Normative Vision/ Conclusion
Part Two - Dewey on Education, Democracy, and Community Chapter 5: John Dewey and the Role of Education in a Moral Democracy
Introduction
Michigan and Chicago
Jane Addams and Hull House
New York and the World
The Brookwood Labor College
The Foundations for Dewey's Ethics and Political Philosophy
Conclusion
Chapter 6: Democracy and Education
Introduction/ The Primacy of Experience
The Method of Reconstruction/ Education and Democracy
The Moral Democracy
Educational Aims
Vocational Education
Shared Inquiry
Moral Imagination
Dewey's Democratic Theory of Education
Conclusion
Chapter 7: The Public and Its Problems
Introduction
The Method of Reconstruction
Negative Freedom and Positive Freedom
Organizing a Public
Democratic Decision Making
Surviving the Great Society
Creating the Great Community
Conclusion
Chapter 8: The Dewey - Hutchins Debate
Introduction
Hutchins' The Higher Learning in America
Dewey's First Response
Hutchins' Reply
Dewey's Second Response
Liberal Arts Education and Vocational Education
The Evolution of American Higher Education After the Debate
Conclusion
Part Three: The Future of Community College EducationChapter 9: What Dewey Can Do For the Community College
Introduction
Reconstructing the Learner's Experience
Reconstructing the Community
A New Perspective of Community College Education
Acquiring Greater Institutional Autonomy
Conclusion
Chapter 10: The Evolving Meaning of "Democracy's College"
Introduction
Achieving Greater Freedom for Learners
Pursuing a Greater Democracy
Attaining Greater Optimism About Education an Era of Pessimism
Reconstructing the Normative Vision
Conclusion