Issue 27(1)
Establishing
& Sustaining Learning-Centered Community Colleges.
(2005). Christine Johnson McPhail,
Ed.
Washington,
D.C.: Community College Press, 232 pp. $50.00.
ISBN # 0-87117-366-2.
Review by: William
S. Altman
Psychology
and Human Services Department
Broome
Community
College
In Establishing & Sustaining
Learning-Centered Community Colleges, Christine Johnson McPhail
and her colleagues provide a good overview of the recent impetus
within community colleges to recreate themselves as learning-centered
environments. Authors provide practical rationales and advocate
excellent strategies for achieving this transformation, offering
concrete examples of existing programs. Consideration of successes
and obstacles is straightforward and helpful. This is especially
true when the authors enumerate institutional, personal, and community
barriers to implementing a learning-centered environment.
Perhaps the most important messages
within this book are that every stakeholder must understand and
accept the principles of the learning-centered environment, and
that they must collaborate in its creation. Not only must this
include the college administration and faculty, but also student
affairs professionals, students, trustees, local employers, accrediting
agencies, and hosts of others. The administrative, teaching, and
professional infrastructure must be rethought. Robert B. Barr
and Frank A. Fear point out in chapter two that an entire paradigm
shift is required, not just the slow adaptation of particular
programs or approaches.
As Barr and Fear also note, "...becoming
a learning college requires, first and foremost, becoming a student
of learning," (p. 26). This entails starting with an honest analysis
of desired outcomes, the widest possible array of methods for
achieving those outcomes, and the processes by which success will
be measured. These basic ideals and approaches are not new. Although
many ideas in this book are presented as revolutionary, most have
deep roots in educational psychology and assessment. Most notably,
we see echoes of Jerome Bruner's Discovery Learning and the work
of John Dewey, A.S. Neill, and Jean Piaget. Also, discussions
about evaluation draw upon the methodology of Robert Mager in
objective testing and Benjamin Bloom's work on educational objectives.
Chapter seven deeply explores the
role of student development professionals in collaborating on
the overall model of the learning-centered environment and in
the development of appropriate outcomes and measures. Evelyn Clements,
Alicia B. Harvey-Smith, and Ted James also recommend several important
enhancements and improvements for student services divisions.
Renate Krakauer provides an extremely
helpful strategy for conducting assessment at all organizational
levels and Cynthia Wilson offers excellent examples of assessment
in action at several community colleges. The emphasis is on evidence:
the collection and analysis of real data. This should be the basis
of all decision making as a community college transforms into
a learning centered college.
Each chapter is written to stand
on its own, therefore the reader can jump directly into any topic
covered. Unfortunately, as a result many chapters include a lot
of the same introductory material which readers may find a bit
wearing. However authors are committed and excited as they call
for those involved in community college education to rethink and
transform their institutions. This can be a valuable book for
professionals who want to start this conversation on their campus;
it may help with their first steps to transformation.
