Honored but Invisible An Inside Look at Teaching in Community Colleges

Based on the most extensive research on community college teaching to date, this book examines the nature of teaching and the institutional forces that shape it in a variety of course settings, ranging from innovative approaches to complex subjects to conventional didactic instruction.
Drawing on observations of and interviews with over 300 instructors and administrators, this book documents the idiosyncratic instructional practices of teachers who learn to teach primarily by trial and error. It argues that in order to realize their enormous potential, community colleges must take greater advantage of the many institutional influences on the quality of teaching--such as personnel policies, instructor training, and the culture established by administrators--only then will they be able to successfully carry out their many roles in both mainstream education and in workforce development.

Introduction:Who Cares for Teaching in Community Colleges? The Rationale and Method of Our Inquiry Chapter 1: Instructors' Approaches to Pedagogy and the Multiple Conceptions of Good Teaching Chapter 2: The Modal Classroom The Varieties of Lecture/Discussion Chapter 3: W. Norton Grubb and Barbara Byrd--Lecture/Workshop and Hands-On Learning The Complexities of Occupational Instruction Chapter 4: W. Norton Grubb and Helena Worthen--Literacy Practices in the Classroom The Foundation of Schooling Chapter 5: W. Norton Grubb and Helena Worthen--Remedial/Developmental Education The Best and the Worst Chapter 6: W. Norton Grubb and Helena Worthen--Standards and Content The Special Dilemmas of Community Colleges Chapter 7: Innovative Practices The Pedagogical and Institutional Challenges Chapter 8. W. Norton Grubb and Elnora Webb--The Institutional Effects on Teaching The Potential Power of Teaching Colleges Chapter 9: Funding and Policy The Neglect of Teaching Chapter 10: Alternative Futures Creating the Teaching College References Appendix Colleges and Courses Observed Index

Berkeley. He is author of Working in the Middle: Strengthening Education and Training for the Mid-Skilled Labor Force (1996) and Learning to Work: The Case for Re-integrating Job Training and Education (1996).