Cross-cultural communities of practice for college readiness

Abstract

College readiness is a social construct requiring both student and adult preparedness. This paper used a case study methodology to explore how teaching in an early college program might promote adult college readiness in the instructors. A community of practice, enhanced by a co-teaching model, in two separate high school settings under one early college program, was the unit of analysis. The communities of practice provided a safe place for risk-taking, experimentation and innovation. Semi-structured interviews revealed growth in cross-cultural understanding, content knowledge and contextual skills and knowledge as well as general teaching skills, all of which would contribute to student success in the secondary/postsecondary transition. Self-discovery and self-expression flourished, but concrete changes in identity were minimal and institutional learning was marginal. IntroductionEarly college high schools offer college courses to students who are still in high school with the goal of increasing college readiness. Many employ a learning community approach to support student success (Sperling 2009, 15), where an integrated curriculum and co-teaching with high school and college faculty require close collaboration. Instructors also collaborate across grade levels to increase student promotion. In effect, the early college staff is a community of practice. The purpose of this investigation was to explore how a cross-cultural community of practice approach might develop college readiness for high school and college instructors in an early college program. 1 Conceptual frameworkSimilar to many studies on teacher development, this paper focuses on the venue for development, which was the community of practice. In this case, however, the participants were unusual, in that high school and college faculty worked side by side in a co-teaching situation. This arrangement offered new opportunities for growth and development. Finally, the mingling of participants across the secondary/