Abstract
This chapter describes a civic engagement project aimed at connecting first semester community college students more meaningfully to their college community in an effort to promote greater student persistence. Using college inquiry as a frame through which to help students develop the knowledge and skills they need to flourish in college, this project sought to engage students in the college community as the site of civic engagement. This chapter considers both the successes and limits of curricular and pedagogical innovations to ameliorate the challenges community college students face to reaching graduation. The author further considers how civic engagement efforts in community colleges might honor students’ commitments to their home communities while building their bonds to college and argues in favor of a new conceptualization of civic engagement that positions community college students’ academic success as part of an expanded definition of what it means to be an engaged student, community member, and citizen.
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Notes
- 1.
Learning communities involve intentional curricular restructuring in which linked courses are offered to a group of students to foster a sense of academic community, bridge disciplinary boundaries, and promote engaged and active pedagogies. During both semesters described in this chapter my English composition classes were linked with Professor Damali Dublin’s Student Development course.
- 2.
I am indebted to Damali Dublin for her work on developing and implementing the college inquiry curriculum and to College Access: Research and Action (CARA) for allowing us to adapt parts of their excellent College Inquiry high school curriculum.
- 3.
For further details on the students who participated in Brooklyn Public Scholars courses see: Sánchez, S. A. (2014). From the Public Scholars: students’ experiences, embodiments and enactments of civic engagement at KCC. Brooklyn Public Scholars Evaluation. Public Science Project, CUNY Graduate Center.
- 4.
At KCC, English compositions classes are capped at 27 students and generally fill to capacity.
- 5.
All student names are pseudonyms.
References
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Schnee, E. (2016). Engaging Students in the Community of College. In: Schnee, E., Better, A., Clark Cummings, M. (eds) Civic Engagement Pedagogy in the Community College: Theory and Practice. Education, Equity, Economy, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22945-4_13
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