Community-Based Education : A New Direction for Community Colleges / James F. Gollattscheck.

Community-based education is a concept of rapidly increasing interest and importance to community college educators, finding its way more and more frequently into literature and discussions, yet it is a concept more talked and written about than practiced. A basic reason for the gap between theory and practice is that few institutions have completely thought through and developed an adequate working definition of community-based education. Most colleges have been unwilling to completely rethink their views of postsecondary education. In order to succeed, community-based colleges must give the highest priority to providing for the continuous renewal of the communities they serve through attending to the lifelong learning needs of all community residents. Because of their great diversity, it is impossible to describe all community-based colleges' activities and programs; however, there are common characteristics. Community-based education should be founded on carefully documented needs of individuals, groups, and community institutions; should work with all community components in planning, conducting, and evaluating activities and programs; should be accessible to all community residents; should provide needed competencies and skills for those unserved by traditional credits and degrees; and should willingly adapt instructional methods to the needs of the great diversity of learners. (TR)

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