A Freirean Countervailing Vision to the Accelerated Conformism of U.S. Community Colleges to Neoliberal Drivers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Challenging Neoliberal Educational Policy Through Democratic Practices

Abstract

Neoliberal ideology is re-shaping higher education in the U.S. and constitutes a severe threat to substantive democracy. U.S. community colleges have a long history of business-driven influence on their educational practice. The recent report Reclaiming the American Dream constitutes the blueprint for the future of U.S. community colleges and is clearly fashioned adhering to neoliberal ideological outlines. Following this blueprint community colleges are under threat to develop into mere training sites preparing workers for corporate needs in a globalized world. Such narrow skills training, tailored to the needs of the market, might not bode well for substantive democracy. Within this educational landscape Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy can constitute a countervailing force to diminishing the impact of this debilitating neoliberal tide.

Authors

• Ana Lucia Cruz, Saint Louis Community College

• Joachim Dorsch, St. Louis Community College at Meramec