Guided Pathways On-Boarding Orientation Example
An example of a Guided Pathways academic On-Boarding experience is the Academy for College Excellence’s (ACE) Foundation of Leadership Course. According to Rose Asera, former Senior Researcher at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching at Stanford, the Foundation of Leadership Course is what a redesigned orientation and transition to college might look like.
The Foundation of Leadership Course is a five-day intensive and each day is a full-time, nine-to- five schedule, like a work day, it is a 2 credit course. In the Foundation of Leadership Course the curriculum does not begin with the same academics that students have seen before in high school (or earlier) and are likely to see again in developmental English or mathematics classes. Instead, students start with a range of hands-on experiences that focus on professional 21st century skills; students gain the academic and affective skills that prepare them not only for college, but for professional work and life beyond school.
In creating the Foundation Course, Diego Navarro drew on a wide range of influences, starting with his own negative and positive school experiences in public schools through high school, community college, liberal arts colleges, and graduate school. He also drew from work experiences in high tech, as well as theories and research from fields as diverse as sociology, education, engineering, neurobiology and management. The ACE design brings together the perspectives of liberal arts education, high tech product design, and community organizing.
In the design we wanted a course flexible enough to serve the wide population of students who come to community college, but also explicit enough to serve more vulnerable students who enroll but are tentatively connected to college academics and culture. These students’ strengths are rooted in their complex lives: they have survived in difficult communities and have a range of work and family responsibilities. In fact, it is a measure of strength to even come to college when earlier school experiences have not been positive. However, these students need to understand academic culture and begin to identify as college students. They need the opportunity to learn and practice classroom behaviors such as attendance, punctuality, and participation. Finally, if they are to succeed and persist, students need a network of supportive relationships that will be a counter balance and keep them in school when other forces pull them away.
The Foundation Course is not designed solely for vulnerable students. All students can benefit from the experience and in fact, much of the same material is used with faculty and administrators in ACE’s professional development curriculum. However, ACE, and particularly the Foundation Course, was designed to be sure that vulnerable students, who have not been well-served by the educational system, do not fall through the cracks again.
The design characteristics of the Foundation Course are both structural and thematic.
CONTENT FOCUS — 21ST CENTURY PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
The major content of the Foundation Course is 21st Century professional skills. The National Research Council’s recent publication Education for Life and Work Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century xiiidescribes the challenge: “Business, political, and educational leaders are increasingly asking schools to integrate development of skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and collaboration into the teaching and learning of academic subjects. These skills are often referred to as ‘21st century skills’ or ‘deeper learning.’”
The Foundation Course focuses on communication and work styles to be part of a collaborative team. The curriculum has been adapted from professional development materials used with high tech executive leaders. This choice of curriculum in the Foundation Course has a number of educational advantages. First, the content is different from anything students have seen in school before, so it does not trigger old school responses. In addition, work is a powerful motivator for students. They see college as a way to better jobs and better lives. In the Foundation Course students learn to recognize their own skills and to recognize and work with the skills of others.
Learning skills and learning strategies are the most important things I’ve learned because I’m learning new things about myself. –ACE student
FOUNDATION COURSE STRUCTURE
The Foundation Course is eight days, four days a week for the first two weeks of the semester, or as part of a summer bridge, before the semester starts. The daily schedule is full-time: eight hours a day, like a job. In fact, many students get time off from their jobs or can arrange flexible schedules to allow them to attend the Foundation Course because the employers see the value of college education for their workers. This is an intensive time to ‘light the fire,’ to build a sense of college identity and belonging and an excitement about learning. Students get to know other students and form a community. And two weeks is long enough to lay down new habits and practice and repeat behaviors such as punctuality and participation. Especially with the break between weeks, there is time for students to apply their new skills to their lives outside of the classroom and bring experiences back to school.
Something happens in the intensity of the Foundation Course, something happens in the 9am to 5pm days, that doesn’t happen in twice a week classes— ACE teacher