A group of 40 students, teachers, administrators, and researchers convened for half a day to hear presentations on narrative research in community colleges, work in groups to read and discuss student narratives, and to generate ideas for improving the community college mission based on the student experiences in the narratives. The first breakout session grouped students, teachers and administrators from different community college campuses, and the second session grouped individuals based on their role in the community college, with students in some groups and teachers and administrators in others. The overwhelming consensus was that the mixed-role groups were more interesting and had livelier discussions. Informal feedback after the forum was positive, and many expressed that they appreciated the opportunity to talk about student experiences among students, faculty and administrators. Especially interesting were the students’ reports of the mixed-group conversations about issues and hopes for the future of the community college. The day concluded with a presentation of the concept for Narrating America, the Game, to be presented at the 2016 CUNY Games festival.
Complete details of the forum and video of presentations, reports from working groups, and game presentation are available here. Check back for upcoming events that will extend Narrating America activities to the community college campuses. For more information or to get involved, contact [email protected] or [email protected].
