美國社區學院的演進與課程發展

Abstract

社區學院是美國教育中相當獨特的系統，它是兩年制的中學後教育機構，以門戶 開放政策為原則，並以彈性的教學和課程提供給成人終生學習的機會。社區學院演進的歷 史就是美國社會、經濟發展和教育改革的歷史。本文首先探討美國社區學院的演進過程， 並分析其發展的哲學基礎、任務與目標；其次探討社區學院的教學方式與課程內涵，最後 並就社區學院的優缺點提出檢討。 本文分為六個部份，第一部份描述美國社區學院運動的發展過程，並著重在某些影響 其發展的重要法案或事件之分析，其中捐地法案和退伍軍人權利法案對社區學院均有重要 影響；第二部份則根據前述的發展情形，歸納出社區學院建立的哲學基礎包括有：地方社 區的自助主義、研究型大學的興起等七項；第三部份探討美國社區學院的任務、功能與目 標，以進一步瞭解美國社區學院的機構特性；第四、五部份則著重在介紹美國社區學院的 教學方式與探究其課程內涵，其中，課程內涵包括有：轉學課程、技術和職業課程、一般 通識課程等六大類；第六部份則分析社區學院的優缺點，並省思未來社區學院的角色；第 七部份則討論美國社區學院課程發展對我國規畫社區學院課程的啟示。

Today's community college is a special and vital part of American's extensive system of education. The community college is founded on open-door policy and offers flexible teaching strategies and variety of programs for adults. The community college movement is influenced by diverse forces such as the Morrill Act of 1862, university leaders and scholars, World War II, the GI Bill , business and industry's demand for trained workers, federal student aid , and thousands of state legislators, and enacted laws. Also, there are seven streams in the historical development of American community colleges which laid the foundation of what the community college are of today. There are many instructional practices being employed at American community colleges such as television, computers, cognitive style mapping, writing across the curriculum, etc. Community colleges also offer many programs:(1)transfer programs, (2)career programs, (3)general programs, (4)compensatory programs, (5)community education programs, and (6)other student services. Both strengths and weaknesses of American community colleges are discussed here. On the final part of this article, some principles should be considered when planning the curriculum of community colleges in Taiwan.