Community Colleges as Cultural Texts: Qualitative Explorations of Organizational and Student Culture

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Kathleen M. Shaw, James R. Valadez, Robert A. Rhoads
SUNY Press, Sep 2, 1999 - Education - 213 pages
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.]
 

Selected pages

Contents

Community Colleges as Cultural Texts A Conceptual Overview KATHLEEN M SHAW ROBERT A RHOADS and JAMES R VALADEZ
1
Cultures of Support for AtRisk Students The Role of Social and Emotional Capital in the Educational Experiences of Women DENNIS McGRATH a...
15
The Struggle for Mobility in the Contact Zone of Basic Writing STANFORD T GOTO
39
Navigating the Raging River Reconciling Issues of Identity Inclusion and Administrative Practice MARILYN J AMEY
59
Preparing for Work in a PostIndustrial World Resistance and Compliance to the Ideological Messages of a Community College JAMES R VALADEZ
83
The Politics of Culture and Identity Contrasting Images of Multiculturalism and Monoculturalism ROBERT A RHOADS
103
Be a Name Not a Number The Role of Cultural and Social Capital in the Transfer Process ARMANDO TRUJILLO and EUSEBIO DIAZ
125
Defining the Self Constructions of Identity in Community College Students KATHLEEN M SHAW
153
Celebratory Socialization of Culturally Diverse Students Through Academic Programs and Support Services BERTA VIGIL LADEN
173
Toward a New Vision of the Multicultural Community College for the Next Century LAURA I RENDON
195
Contributors
205
Index
207
Frontiers in Education
211
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About the author (1999)

Kathleen M. Shaw is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University.

James R. Valadez is Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Washington and the coauthor, with Robert A. Rhoads, of Democracy, Multiculturalism and the Community College: A Critical Perspective.

Robert A. Rhoads is Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University and the author of Community Service and Higher Learning: Explorations of the Caring Self, also published by SUNY Press.

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