Abstract
Serving students with educational disparities is imperative to the community college mission. In this book, Hoggan & Browning explore students transformational learning needs and proposing a framework for practitioners at the forefront of helping students complete a credential or degree. This book's strength is its practitioner, program-level focus (curricular design, teaching, advising) supported by a strong theoretical underpinning. Further, analyzing data collected through the Training Futures Program through a transformative learning approach, offers guidance for programmatic decision making for community colleges.
This book is organized into 5 chapters and includes many examples and practical approaches for readers to consider in their own practice. Chapter 1 is focused on defining transformation for community college student learning needs. This chapter also introduces and discusses Jack Mezirow and associates’ foundational work in theorizing transformative learning's 10 phases of which the authors construct 3 broad themes from the data. These themes are: tumultuous aspects of transformation, exploring the path forward, and reintegration. Each theme and the responding phases are detailed in this chapter and then are further discussed in the subsequent chapters.
The student experiences from the Training Futures Program are presented and tied to recommendations in Chapters 2-4. Each chapter discusses a key theme from the transformational learning phases and includes practical recommendations. Student stories and experiences are related the corresponding theme. For example, in chapter 2, for the theme “tumultuous aspects of transformation”, the authors integrate critical thinking exercises as they relate to learning and advising settings and chapters 3 and 4 follow a similar structure.
In the final chapter, Moving Forward, the authors provide the case for “holistic reassessment of program practices, with an eye toward redesigning the student experience throughout the program” (p. 182). The program reassessment that the authors highlight is also accompanied by step-by step recommendations. These recommendations include addressing team formation, focus, audience, mapping student experiences, dealing with problems, and then testing and assessment.
The books organization makes it clear and easy to follow, the sections are clearly labeled and then discussed in a way that is accessible to readers. For example, the authors identify the two key problem areas that they will address. These problems are: student learning needs and institutional inertia (reform fatigue). They provide a historical overview of community colleges with linkages to the current state of student success. They also introduce and discuss how they utilize a program “Training Futures” to illustrate the transformative learning approach throughout the book. The authors successfully provide a practical guide grounded in a transformative learning approach. They have achieved the books stated goal which is to inform “professionals to systematize their work, based on time-tested theory, research, and the experiences of educational programs” (p. 24). In addition to achieving these goals, this book addressed diversity and difference among students through the compositions of the student body and target population. They highlight the diverse student body in community college settings and the mismatch in many institutions between the intended institutional mission and the current program design.
As aforementioned this book's strength is the focus at the program level (curricular design, teaching, and advising). Looking to historically underserved students’ tangible experiences (needs include: transportation/parking, testing, and counseling) requires focusing holistically on student needs. This is a strength of this book especially because student needs exist within often rigid social structures. This book approaches transformation from an individual perspective which is important, yet it does not address the larger institutional and social structures that that lead to inequity. When adult students arrive in community colleges, they are often down-stream from where many social challenges originate and are having to navigate social struggles that impact their learning and access to resources. The authors acknowledge the challenge of large-scale institutional change and instead focus on program-level recommendations.
I recommend this book for practitioners in various fields including department heads and program leaders in community colleges as well as other community organizations that work with adult learners. This book provides recommendations that can be implemented to help support student learning beyond the classroom. The book's primary audience is any practitioner who works in a community college, community education, or workforce development setting. Additionally, anyone whose work includes advising and mentoring non-traditional adult learners will benefit from the suggestions and recommendations highlighted by the authors.
I suggest that this book be used by program-level teams to think through their current practices and consider how they can adjust current practices using this approach. Administrators with a vested interest in better meeting student needs and improving outcomes would also benefit from this book. Students and scholars in adult education fields with an interest in Transformative Learning approaches will also find this book informative and illustrative.