Making sense of the community college: interrogating belongingness

Abstract

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Drawing on the transformative potential of critical-theoretical learning grounded in the CHATframework of recognizing the bi-directional relationship between learning and development, thepresent paper is an investigation of how nine American community college students participatingin a critical learning community (Peer Activist Learning Community) make sense of and positionthemselves towards the pursuit of higher education. The paper has two key findings: (1) studentsprimarily draw on vocational discourse paired with a conceptualization of learning as rotelearning (i.e. memorization and acquisition of skills) in making sense of their pursuit of highereducation, and (2) students embody a transitional positioning toward the community college,which poses the ontological challenge of belonging to an academic institution while seeking tonegate this belonging. The findings are framed and discussed in particular through the lens of thetransformative activist stance (Stetsenko) with an emphasis on the recognition of education as theprocess of becoming human as well as with a focus on the transformative potential of meaningfullearning experiences. I conclude by suggesting the need for transforming the aim of retentionstudies as well as put forward the suggestion of re-conceptualization the concept of belongingnessin educational psychology in light of the CHAT framework.