James R. Valadez - Böcker

Questions whether, and how, community colleges confront the challenges of diversity and provide real opportunities for upward mobility.Community colleges are positioned to play a critical role in the process of upward mobility in American society. Yet despite the "open door" accessibility of these institutions, the question remains as to whether or not community colleges enhance the social mobility of working class and minority students.The contradictory and often paradoxical nature of research on community colleges suggests that making generalizations about the sector as a whole is perhaps misguided. This book takes an important step toward developing a more nuanced understanding of the rich and varied cultures inherent in community colleges. The contributors approach this task by examining community colleges as "cultural texts," using critical qualitative frameworks to address the question of whether, and how, community colleges confront the challenges of diversity and provide real opportunities for upward mobility.[Contributors include Marilyn Amey, Eusebio Diaz, Stanford T. Goto, Berta Vigil Laden, Dennis McGrath, Laura I. Rendón, Robert A. Rhoads, Kathleen M. Shaw, Armando Trujillo, James R. Valadez, and Bill Van Buskirk.]

Questions whether, and how, community colleges confront the challenges of diversity and provide real opportunities for upward mobility.Community colleges are positioned to play a critical role in the process of upward mobility in American society. Yet despite the "open door" accessibility of these institutions, the question remains as to whether or not community colleges enhance the social mobility of working class and minority students.The contradictory and often paradoxical nature of research on community colleges suggests that making generalizations about the sector as a whole is perhaps misguided. This book takes an important step toward developing a more nuanced understanding of the rich and varied cultures inherent in community colleges. The contributors approach this task by examining community colleges as "cultural texts," using critical qualitative frameworks to address the question of whether, and how, community colleges confront the challenges of diversity and provide real opportunities for upward mobility.[Contributors include Marilyn Amey, Eusebio Diaz, Stanford T. Goto, Berta Vigil Laden, Dennis McGrath, Laura I. Rendón, Robert A. Rhoads, Kathleen M. Shaw, Armando Trujillo, James R. Valadez, and Bill Van Buskirk.]

Based on five organizational case studies, this book argues that community colleges face an identity crisis and must find ways of balancing the three traditional roles typically assumed by them: transfer, vocational, and community education.To emphasize one at the expense of another is to fail to meet the diverse needs of students who look to the community college as a source of opportunity and social mobility. In addition, community colleges must create an organizational context in which opportunities exist for culturally diverse students to participate as full members in the educational process. The study uses democratic educational strategies first suggested by John Dewey as a foundation for developing a critical multicultural view of community college education. The authors argue that critical multiculturalism moves beyond liberal views of cultural diversity and challenge academic institutions to take advantage of the varied experiences and perspectives that students from other cultures bring to education. The book includes a reference section following the final chapter and a name and subject index.