The purpose of this section is to identify the design specifications and new designs for the aims and purposes of two-year institutions of higher education (TYIs) from a learning perspective. The aims and purposes will be set forth in the language of learning outcomes. The new designs for TYIs were expected to result in institutional designs that add value to students, and, thereby, to the communities where they live, to their families, and to the places where they work. Because of the centrality of teaching and learning to the mission of TYIs, the learning outcomes become a very powerful force or keystone in designing the institution and its way of operation. The development of learning outcomes needs to occur institution-by-institution in order to develop the necessary ownership and commitment by key stakeholders and to tailor the outcomes to the context of each institution. The products developed through NDTYI's learning outcomes are the following: (1) a set of design specifications or criteria for guiding and reviewing the development of learning outcomes for a specific institution, and (2) new designs for learning outcomes presented as a set developed as part of the NDTYI project and as a set selected from current practice. The latter are used to illustrate the character of the learning being expected from effective TYIs.
Words such as aims, purposes, goals, objectives, standards, and results have been an important part of the history and philosophy of education at all levels. Learning outcomes is another such word. The intent of using the term learning outcomes is to refer to the added competence (outcome) developed by a learner through a learning experience. The expected or promised learning outcomes are what the educational institution is contracting for in exchange for resources from the learner, family, community, state, and others. The learning outcomes form the common-sense base for designing, implementing, and assessing the effects of the learning experience. As such, they are central to the design, funding, operation, and accountability of TYIs.
As stated by O'Banion (1995), Executive Director for the League of Innovation in the Community College, "At the moment, most community colleges are struggling to operate within established paradigms that are dying" (p. 19). One of the ways to get out of the "ruts" that TYIs now find themselves in is to focus on rethinking and redefining the learning outcomes that should be the focus of their programs. Then design down from these learning outcomes by ensuring that the learning process, organization, staffing, and environment are in alignment with and take their lead from the learning outcomes. Boggs (1995) reinforces the emphasis on rethinking the whole operation of the TYI from the perspective of student learning in advocating, "We need a new paradigm for community colleges as learning rather than teaching institutions. The mission should be student learning, and we should measure our effectiveness based on student learning outcomes" (p. 25).
As we approach the process of rethinking the TYI, Alfred and Carter (1996a) suggest three possible strategies--(1) treading water, (2) catching up, and (3) market foresight. The latter strategy involves transformation of the institution in anticipation of future changes in the market for education. They note that, "Transformation's new strategy can be captured in three words, entrepreneurship, speed, and a focus on outcomes" (p. 17). In their book entitled Transforming Higher Education, Dolence and Norris (1995) also link institutional transformation with a focus on learning outcomes and devote a whole section to "Redesigning to Meet the Needs of the Information Age--Reconceptualizing Around Essential Outcomes" (p. 33).
In summary, there is a basic need to rethink the whole purpose and operation of TYIs with a focus on learning outcomes. In order to get a fresh start at this process, the perspective taken by NDTYI is that institutions must essentially "go outside to get back in" to be of greatest benefit to their stakeholders. The emphasis on going outside the institution and thinking through the changes in life roles and responsibilities on entering the 21st century was made very clear in the prestigious Wingspread Report (Wingspread Group on Higher Education, 1993) entitled An American Imperative: Higher Expectations for Higher Education. An important dimension of the imperative dealt with is that, "We must redesign all of our learning systems to align our entire education enterprise with the personal, civic, and workplace needs of the 21st century" (p. 19).
Those who have written about the development of learner outcomes (Spady, n.d.) have identified three different strategies to approach the development task. The different strategies are akin to "generations" of computers, in that each succeeding generation (level) is more sophisticated, powerful, and useful than the previous generation. The first approach is called the "traditional strategy" and is initiated by approaching each separate discipline or occupational field and asking representatives of the discipline or field to develop a set of learning outcomes for their subject matter area. For example, one would approach the mathematics faculty or the business faculty and ask them to develop a set of learning outcomes for their areas of expertise. They might do it themselves or in consultation with subject matter experts from the next higher level of education (e.g., for TYIs, advice might be sought from faculty in the same subject matter areas in four-year institutions) and/or with representatives of business and industry knowledgeable about the subject matter area. The consultation with representatives of business and industry is more common for occupational fields rather than for the disciplines. The result of this strategy of developing learning outcomes is a separate listing of outcomes for each discipline or occupational field. There is little coordination among the outcomes across disciplines and fields. Integration of subject matter is left to the learner.
The next "generation" in strategy for developing learning outcomes is labeled the "transitional strategy." Here the approach is to bring a cross section of faculty involving a variety of disciplines and occupational fields together and ask them to develop a more general or generic list of learning outcomes. Usually there is a fair amount of "turfspersonship" as the various disciplines/fields compete for inclusion and recognition of their subject matter areas in the final list of outcomes. Here most of the energy focuses on relationships among the various subject matter areas with little involvement of external stakeholders. The resulting list is usually quite general and "academic" with outcomes addressing topics such as communications, computation, problem solving, and critical thinking. The learning outcomes recommended are very abstract, with little context of application, and timeless in that they are likely to stay in place for several years.
The most sophisticated strategy for developing learning outcomes is referred to as the "transformative strategy." With this strategy, one starts outside the educational institution by identifying and doing in-depth analysis of the changing context of life in the future and the resulting problems and opportunities likely to be faced in living and improving the state of affairs in the workplace, family, and community. Based on the analysis of problems and opportunities, the focus shifts to the areas of competence that will be most needed and effective. These areas of competence should add the most value to improved living. The result of using the transformational strategy to develop learning outcomes is the development of outcomes that are both integrative of subject matter areas (because that is how the challenges of living exist) and contextually linked or applied (because they are derived from real-world problems and opportunities). Often the resulting list is demanding in terms of the implications for change in direction, operation, and accountability of educational institutions. Because the promise and expectation of NDTYI is to be future-oriented and to break with tradition where needed, the transformational strategy will be used in this project as the approach to developing learning outcomes.
The process used to develop the design specifications for learning outcomes and illustrative new designs for learning outcomes for TYIs involved meetings of the NDTYI Work Group and the National Design Group, a review of literature, and group interviews at several TYI campuses. The process started with the NDTYI Work Group and focused on developing an initial draft of the design specifications for learning outcomes. The draft of design specifications for learning outcomes was then reviewed and edited by the National Design Group.
As directed by the resulting design specifications, the project staff began a review of literature on the changing nature of work, family, and community life on entering the 21st century and implications for education, particularly for the TYI. Central to this process was grounding the learning outcomes in the demands of future living, in contrast to the past or even the present way of thinking about the purposes of TYIs. The aim was to make certain to break with the current mold of designing and operating TYIs where that was needed in setting the tone and direction for NDTYI.
Using the review of literature as a base, an initial draft of an illustrative set of learning outcomes was developed. The review of literature and list of outcomes were first critiqued by the NDTYI Work Group and then by the National Design Group. Suggestions were made for strengthening the literature review, and modifications were made to the list of outcomes. Next, the development process for both the design specifications and the illustrative set of learning outcomes involved direct and indirect review through small group interviews on TYI campuses. Indirect review came by asking those interviewed what they thought were the criteria for an effective set of outcomes and asking them to list important outcomes. The suggested criteria and outcomes were then compared with existing drafts of design specifications and learning outcomes. Direct review came by sharing the existing drafts of the design specifications and learning outcomes with those interviewed and asking for their comments. One of the groups interviewed was students; the interview of a diverse group of students occurred on the San Diego Community College Campus. The second and third interviews were with faculty and staff and occurred on the Tunxis Community Technical College Campus in Farmington, Connecticut, and Miami-Dade Community College in Miami, Florida. The results of these interviews were shared with the National Design Group and resulted in further modification of the illustrative set of learning outcomes.
The final version of the learning outcomes developed as a part of NDTYI is presented later in this section. Another illustrative new design for learning outcomes was discovered in Australia when project staff members were invited there to present a preliminary report on NDTYI at an international conference on learning technology and the learning environment. The Australian set of outcomes is also presented later in this section.
If the NDTYI was to be coherent, the design specifications and illustrative new designs needed to be connected and aligned with the previous elements of the design process--learning context and learning signature. Since care was already taken to align the learning signature with the learning context, the connection of learning outcomes to the learning signature is emphasized here. The design specifications for the learning signature and the connection to development of design specifications and illustrative new designs for learning outcomes are as follows:
As with the development of design specifications for the learning signature, several key concepts emerged from the development of design criteria based on the learning context and learning signature for TYIs and the review of literature and discussions with the NDTYI Work Group and National Design Group specifically focusing on learning outcomes. Those that particularly stood out were the following:
With these key concepts in mind, the discussions by the NDTYI Work Group and National Design Group led to the development of a set of design specifications for the learning outcomes of an effective 21st century TYI. The design specifications should serve as a guide for the development of learning outcomes by a specific institution. The suggested specifications for a set of learning outcomes are shown in Exhibit 4. These specifications are a major product of NDTYI and should serve to review and/or develop the learning outcomes for a specific institution.
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Taking its lead from the design specifications stated in the previous section, this section of the report goes outside the TYI and addresses the changing nature of work, family, and community life in the United States (and to some extent the world) as we enter the 21st century. After identifying and describing these changes and related challenges, the implications for education are set forth. Finally, two sets of learning outcomes, which were mentioned earlier, are presented to illustrate what NDTYI has in mind when focusing on transformative learning outcomes for TYIs.
Bridges (1994) sees three major changes in technology and work:
To cope with these changes in technology and work, organizations have begun to make decisions more quickly by reducing hierarchies, turning over the design of products to crosstrained and self-managed teams, shifting to just-in-time systems of material handling, and bringing suppliers and customers onto product development teams (p. 17). Turbulence requires that every organization build the management of change into the structure of the workplace: "The job as a packet of responsibility, rewarded according to a fixed formula, and a single reporting relationship, is a roadblock to change" (p. 26). According to Bridges, organizations must search for speed, "faster product development, faster production, faster delivery, faster information processing, faster service, and faster implementation of all of the changes are necessary to keep up with the market" (p. 26).
Bridges (1994) notes that corporations are moving to teamwork where there is constant collaboration. For example, at Microsoft Corporation there are no regular hours; buildings are open twenty-four hours; people work anytime, all the time; no keeping track of hours, but everyone is watching output, and accountability to the team (p. 40).
New rules for jobs according to Bridges (1994) are as follows:
In the context of these new rules, Bridges suggests that job security will depend on three characteristics:
Bridges (1994) describes the world of work of the future as a series of projects, and the organization built around a mix of projects. Project-oriented structures offer the important advantages of tailor-made, designed-to-fit, unique tasks; flexible resource commitments; defined-terminal points; and an absence of enduring commitment that encourages resistance to change (p. 57). Bridges encourages individuals to put together personal strategies where workers see every potential work situation as a marketplace where things are exchanged. The market defines things in terms of their exchange value, and the worker needs to look past her or his past and current employer for new markets for products and services (p. 59).
Rifkin (1995) notes in his book, The End of Work , that, "Redefining opportunities and responsibilities for millions of people of a society absent mass formal employment is likely to be the single most pressing social issue of the coming century" (p. xv). He goes on to claim that because the idea of a society not based on work is utterly alien to any notion we have about how to organize large numbers of people into a social whole, we are faced with the prospect of having to rethink the very basis of the social contract (p. 120).
One
of the most challenging phenomenon of the late 20th century is the dislocation,
restructuring, outsourcing, part-time, and temporary employment of millions of
workers and the often accompanying disparities in income, job security, and
benefits compared to the relative job security of the Post World War II
decades. Rifkin's research findings suggest that we will be facing a depressed
workforce, a rising part-time work contingent, increasing numbers of long-term
technological employment, and a disparity in income between the "haves" and the
"have nots" which will result in a two-tiered economy
(p.
181).
The general agreement among social scientists is that the U.S. society is moving from one stage of the industrial revolution to a new stage. Rifkin (1995) refers to the stage to which we are moving as the "Third Industrial Revolution," while Toffler (1980) called it the "Third Wave Society." Still others (e.g., Tapscott & Caston, 1993) refer to the coming stage as the "Second Era of Technology." The terms may differ, but there is agreement among authors that society is moving into a new era. This movement is affecting all sectors. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the decline in the middle class came from the manufacturing sector; however, in the late 1980s and in the 1990s, the decline in the middle is made up of the college-educated. Between 1987 and 1991, the college-educated made up the bulk of management-level positions in the American economy. Over the past ten years, more than 3 million white collar jobs were eliminated in the United States (Rifkin, 1995, p. 9). From 1980 to 1990, more than 1.5 million mid-level management jobs were eliminated (p. 171). Even as the economy rebounded in 1992 with a 2.6% growth rate, more than 500,000 additional clerical and technical jobs disappeared (p. 9). United States corporations are eliminating more than 2 million jobs annually (International Labor Organization, press release, Washington, DC, ILO, March 6, 1994). According to reports from the Michigan State University College Employment Research Institute (1993, as cited in Rifkin, 1995), more than 35% of recent graduates have been forced to take jobs that do not require a college degree, up from 15% in the late 1980s (Rifkin, 1995, p. 171). This Institute reported that the job market for the college educated is the poorest since World War II.
In 1953, corporate executives earned 22% of corporate profits; in 1987, they earned 61% of profits. In 1988, the average CEO earned 93 times the earnings of the average (manufacturing) worker. This represents a greater consolidation of wealth for those who are executive management, contributing to the disparity of incomes and resulting in the before-mentioned two-tiered economy (Rifkin, 1995).
The
knowledge worker is just below the top income level of workers. These jobs
involve the use of state-of-the-art information technology to identify,
process, and solve problems. They are the creators of the stream of information
that makes up the post-industrial, post-service, global economy. Their ranks
include design engineers, lawyers, investment bankers, management consultants,
financial and tax consultants, architects, strategic planners, marketing
specialists, film producers and editors, art directors, publishers, writers,
editors, and journalists. The top income level, 3.8 million or 4% of the
population, earns as much as the entire bottom 51% of the American wage
earners--49.2 million people (Rifkin, 1995, p. 174). The entire knowledge class
comprises 20% of the workforce and earns more income than the remaining 80%
combined, $1,755 billion
(p.
174). The comparatively high incomes of knowledge workers to other workers
contributes to the dual economy phenomenon or, according to Reich (1992), "the
divergence of economic fates of Americans" (p. 173).
During the mid-1990s we are experiencing a shift to a core of full-time employees and a peripheral pool of part-time or contingent workers. "Just in time employment" is the practice of companies that use people only as needed. Part-time temporary workers earn 20% to 40% less than full-time workers doing comparable work (Rifkin, 1995, p. 194). Part-time and temporary workers are both clerical and professional. The Executive Recruiter News reported that more than 125,000 professionals work as temporary workers (as cited in Rifkin, 1995, p. 192).
Americans still define themselves by their work (Rifkin, 1995, p. 195). Employment is more than income; for many it is self-worth. Studies conducted over the past decade have found clear correlation between rising technological employment and levels of depression and psychotic morbidity (p. 195). Cottle, from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, has met with the hard-core unemployed, those who have been unemployed more than six months and have given up looking for employment. Cottle found that the hard-core unemployed experience symptoms of pathology similar to dying patients. They manifest the classic signs of dying. There is a common progression of symptoms; the first is anger at a former employer and coworkers. Second, they turn inward and become reclusive, which further limits their ability to become employed. A challenge of the 21st century will be for society to transition from an occupationally identified population to a broader criteria for personal identification (pp. 195-197). The changes in the workplace, changing employment patterns, technological advancements, and changing or loss of occupational identity will be a challenge for NDTYI.
National attention has been directed at improving the skills and employability of the American workforce. In 1991, Secretary Lynn Martin convened the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), a bi-partisan, multi-sector commission for the purpose of linking education to the "real world" of work. The aim was to develop students into productive workers, responsible citizens, and more complete human beings (SCANS, 1992). Chair William Brock wrote in the report's cover letter to Secretary Martin, "The United States needs to recognize that schools and students do not exist in a vacuum but are part of a community, and that this nation needs workplace competencies integrated into national standards and assessment of core academic subjects" (p. xiii). The characteristics and skills identified were needed to support a high-performance economy, characterized by high-skills, high-wage employment (p. xiii).
The high-performance economy envisioned by the SCANS report has high skills, high wages, and full employment--in which every human being's resources are used well. The high-performance workplace, the foundation of the high-performance economy, has the following characteristics:
SCANS brings back a common term of the 1950s and 1960s, "know-how." Know-how has moved from the old job skills of reading, writing, comprehending (instructions), reliability, and following a set schedule, to new job skills of decision making, gathering and sifting information, setting and troubleshooting systems, organizing workflow and team arrangements, manipulating data to solve problems, and providing direction to colleagues (p. 12). For the nation to realize a high-performance workplace and a high-performance economy, SCANS links the high-performance criteria back to the schools. High performance must be consistent throughout the interlinking system of education and work.
SCANS (1992) reported that high-performance workplaces required a solid foundation in basic literacy and computational skills, in thinking skills necessary to put knowledge to work, and in personal qualities to be a trustworthy and dedicated worker. These characteristics and skills were further refined into competencies that would encourage a high-performance economy characterized by high-skill, high-wage employment (p. xiii). The competencies state that effective workers can productively use the following:
In addition, SCANS recommended the following foundational skills:
The report called for the competencies and skills to become the standard for both employers and schools, and that individuals should be provided with multiple opportunities to achieve them (p. xiv).
The Commission envisioned the skills becoming explicit objectives at all educational levels, assessment systems providing students and workers with a résumé documenting attainment of skills, SCANS know-how being incorporated into the human resource development efforts, the federal government leading the way to the high-performance workplace by advancing the SCANS agenda, and every firm in America creating its own strategic vision around the principles of the high-performance workplace (p. xvi).
The competencies and skills would be realized through the following recommendations:
The SCANS report noted that one third of new entrants into the workforce are members of minority groups (p. xvii) and that 80% of the workers of the 21st century are already on the job (p. xviii). Education and training programs need to take into consideration differences in family incomes, limited English-speaking proficiencies, and different lifestyles.
Labor unions and industry-specific groups can develop training strategies and materials around the SCANS competencies. Students/workers would be certified in workplace competencies. There could be a nationwide voluntary assessment system bridging education and work. The individual's résumé would include courses, projects completed, and proficiencies attained--beginning in middle school (SCANS, 1992, p. 3). Information would flow from employer to educator through recruiting and employee development activities. A national assessment system would be implemented to permit educational institutions to certify the levels of SCANS competencies that students have achieved. Employers, both public and private, would define requirements for higher-level competencies. Employment-based assessment would be needed to diagnose the individual's learning needs (p. 3).
Kantor (1995), in her book World Class , supports the argument for standards--world standards. She calls the 21st century the "World Century" (p. 12). The competition is no longer among corporations but between global networks and world class skill centers. To be "world class," businesses must be in the global network and, therefore, must meet world standards to be a member. Some companies are "born global" and can implement universal standards, as has happened in software, telecommunications, and health care technologies (p. 26). In the 21st century, "those who set the standards call the shots" (p. 354). Setting or meeting standards will be necessary to create a world class education center.
World class education centers gain competence from "core capabilities," such as flexibility, and can be renewed or updated; the organizational competencies are general and permit diversity, which in turn creates new industries. World class education centers have deepening, widening skills that link them to the global economy (Kantor, 1995, p. 28). The world class centers are preeminent for "thinkers, traders, and/or makers" (p. 28).
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, passed into law in 1993, established the National Skill Standards Board. The purpose of the board is to develop and implement a voluntary system across the country of industry skill standards and certification. According to Hoachlander and Rahn (1994), an effective system of national skill standards will require completing four tasks:
As a nation, we have a long way to go before completing these tasks.
Work at identifying industry skill standards was begun prior to passage of the Goals 2000 legislation when the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor (n.d.) commissioned 22 pilot projects in 19 major industries back in 1992 and 1993. The reports of these projects, which present long lists of general and specific occupational skills competencies in different formats, have been under review by the National Skill Standards Board since its creation. More information on national skill standards is provided in a four-volume report (Wills, 1993), focusing on a review of skill standards (education and industry driven) in the U.S. and selected other countries. While applauding the value of developing and using skill standards, Wills and her research team concludes, "The largest challenge . . . will be the development of the capacity to exploit the standards to their fullest potential within organizations and governments" (p. 29). In other words, the standards must be used by government, education, business and industry, and labor.
The July 1996 newsletter of the National Skill Standards Board entitled WorkWise reports that some of their current activities include increasing public awareness of the need for skill standards, awarding studies to implement skill standards in several industries, and implementing a series of projects to incorporate skill standards into effective school-to-work programs. Clearly, as the work on skill standards develops, it will have implications for TYI learning outcomes, particularly as outcomes address worklife roles and responsibilities.
Stasz, Ramsey, Eden, Melamid, and Kaganoff (1995) explored skills and work-related dispositions in technical work by closely examining skills in seven target jobs in work sites representing diverse industries--health care, traffic management, transportation, and semiconductor manufacturing. The project research goal was to improve the understanding of skills as they are manifested in technical work, both by extending the theoretical conception of skills and by providing empirical observations of skills in practice. The study explored employer's strategies for obtaining the skills needed under conditions of technological or organizational change (p. iii).
The project research focused on three skill areas--(1) problem solving, (2) communications, and (3) teamwork--as well as work-related dispositions because all have been generally perceived to be required in the workforce (Stasz et al., 1995). Further, it is widely agreed that the workforce lacks these capabilities, and to improve them requires public policy action (p. 11). Capelli and Rogowsky (1995, cited in Stasz et al.) surveyed workers and supervisors on the importance of skills as defined by SCANS (1992), their contribution to job performance, and the relationship between the new system of work organization and skill requirements. Employees ranked thinking skills (problem solving) first, followed by "ability to work with others," communication skills (speaking, listening, writing), and the "ability to work in teams" (Stasz et al., 1995, p. 11). Supervisors' ratings, according to Stasz's recount, overlapped with the workers (p. 11).
Bailey and Merritt (1995) analyzed the skill standards movement and twenty-two U.S. Departments of Labor and Education pilot projects for various industries in the U.S. Their research generated a detailed description of two models within the skill standards movement (Merritt, 1996): (1) the skill components model and (2) the professional model. The skill components model is based on limited passive roles that workers are expected to assume in traditional hierarchical organizations (p. 1). The academic skills are learned prior to vocational skills and are useful to the extent that they help workers master the required list of tasks. Workers do not transfer the enabling competencies to their applications (Stasz, McArthur, Lewis, & Ramsey, 1990, as cited in Merritt, 1996, p. 1). In the end, the manager, not the worker, retains control over the decision of when to use the skills or tools, the process of developing skill standards, and their certification.
The other model identified by Bailey and Merritt is the professional model. This model assumes that workers have the ability to apply general knowledge to a variety of nonroutine circumstances or situations (Wolfson, Trebilcock, & Tuohy, 1980, as cited in Merritt, 1996, p. 1). Professionals are rewarded for autonomous, proactive, nonroutine behavior and are expected to make important decisions on a client's behalf. At the same time, professionals are expected to carry out specific tasks. In the professional model, technical and academic skills are the foundation or enablers for more complex general functions.
Looking specifically to the role of the community college in preparing the workforce, Grubb, Badway, Bell, and Kraskouskas (1996) identified five areas of educational content for occupational preparation. Their analysis was done as a basis for thinking about and identifying/developing strategies for integrating general and occupational studies in community colleges. The five areas of competence they describe are as follows:
This listing represents one of the most recent interpretations of what might be the general areas of learning outcomes from a work requirement perspective. The next part of this section turns to the family and community life requirements as two additional and important areas of learning outcomes for the TYIs.
The 21st century will bring many changes to homes and families, resulting in new challenges to individuals and families as an institution. These changes will include changing demographics, rising dual economy, lack of affordable housing, and impact of technology.
Some of the demographic trends of the late 20th century that affect family formation (DaVanzo & Rohman, 1993) and help to describe the context and challenges of the learner in TYIs are the following:
Just as the workplace is changing, families continue to change. The impact of changes in work and the workplace affect the family, and changes in the family affect work and the workplace. Some of these changes may be positive, others negative. The dual economy was described earlier and reported in the 1993 Census. They found that the number of Americans living in poverty in 1992 was greater than at any time since 1962 (Rifkin, 1995, p. 177). The total number in poverty was 36.2 million people with 40% of those being children. The poverty rate was, 11.6% for Caucasians, 29.3% for Hispanics, and 33% for African Americans. Among the poor, 40% were working in low-paying or part-time jobs (p. 177).
The statistics cited above mean that fewer families are able to own their own homes. In 1980, a home required 37.2% of the average American's income. This was up from 29.9% in the 1970s. Consequently, in the 1980s and early 1990s, home ownership dropped for all age categories. In the February 5, 1988, Wall Street Journal , it was reported that Americans were having difficulty purchasing homes (as cited in Rifkin, 1995, p. 179). For persons in the thirty to thirty-four age bracket, the rate of home ownership dropped from 61% to 53.2%, and, for the thirty-five to thirty-nine group, home ownership declined from 70.8% to 63.8% (p. 179). In 1995, when housing was discussed, an additional category needed to be included, which was the number of homeless persons. A 1991 survey of 25 cities found 600,000 persons were homeless, which included 90,000 children (p. 180).
The Third Wave family (Toffler, 1980) or the family at the turn of the century will continue to have many forms: two parents, single parents, individuals, childless couples, same-sex marriages, adult clusters, and family clusters. Part of the diversity of the 21st century will continue to be the diversity of the family structure. Individuals will experience multiple "family" arrangements over a lifetime.
Toffler (1980), as well as others, recognized that technology would have an impact on the family. He suggested that one of the most profound effects on the family will be the shifting work back to the home. Technology makes it possible for individuals to work either at home or in work centers close to home. The linking between family and work has always been strong. Just as the factory and office caused the shift of parent's time away from the family, the technological changes in the workplace will cause a shift in family communication patterns and activities. The family in the coming era will have the ability to work together or to work in parallel arrangements within the home. The presence of work in the home will mean a fundamental shift in family relationships and family interaction.
The functions that were transferred from the home to schools, hospitals, and human service organizations may return to the home often via telecommunications. Toffler (1980) predicts that children in the 21st century will again experience adults working. The family may, in fact, extend itself in ways similar to the families of the 1930s. Families in the 1930s often included an unrelated child or young adult who lived with the family and contributed to the family work. In the 21st century, the family will be able to function in an extended fashion through electronic communications. In 1980, 6% of American families were classified as expanded or extended, and Toffler predicts that the number will triple by the turn of the century (pp. 219-222).
Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, and Tipton (1993) in their book, The Good Society , made the point that,
The family is in flux, and signs of trouble are widespread. The idea of the nuclear family is difficult to create and to keep in place. The communities of support for the family have weakened, and many family functions have been taken over by the economy and the state. While there are practical and sometimes moral reasons for the decomposition of the family, it coincides neither with what most people in our society say they desire nor, especially in the case of children, with their interests. (p. 45)
These authors go on to describe the postnuclear family as being characterized by a shift from child to adult centeredness, to family having a purpose of generating personal satisfaction, to increasing divorce rates with long-term consequences for children and the larger society, and to reducing the ability to depend on extended family.
Changes in families have significant implications for educational institutions, including TYIs. For good, and sometimes for bad, family is the young person's first teacher, first community, and first workplace. Many of the most important skills for life (e.g., communications, relationships, problem solving, responsibility) are first approached and often accomplished in the family (Way & Rossmann, 1996). The impact of the family on the young, with its wide variety of forms, is part of nearly everyone's life. Individuals probably spend as much time dealing with their family roles and responsibilities as with work and community roles and responsibilities. And there is much to be learned about being effective in family roles and responsibilities over a lifetime.
Elkind (1995) has contrasted the stereotype of the modern family common in the United States over the past fifty years with what he termed the postmodern family, more a reality today, and then suggests implications for education. The contrasting features of the modern and postmodern family are described as follows:
With the change to a postmodern family, Elkind (1995) suggests that education will need to mirror the kinship structures, sentiments, values, and perceptions of the emerging family characteristics. For example, educational institutions will have to recognize many different forms of family, provide for shared parenting, and use more sophisticated curricular materials that address the problems faced by families and family members who are more urban and autonomous.
The concern for families and children extends to concern for communities. Etzioni (1993), in The Spirit of Community , links concern for children and parents with community. He writes,
The moral voice of the community is based on shared values. The underpinnings of society are based on people knowing one another. If there is not viable community, if people do not know one another, then the underpinnings of morality are lost. The moral voice does not just censure, it blesses. Communities need to hear the moral voice of welcome, concern, encouragement and celebration. (pp. 33-34)
Etzioni finds that the moral voices are no longer heard with clarity and conviction.
To Etzioni (1993) the challenge of the 21st century is to reverse the dearth of time that parents are able to spend with their children: "Any industry that would have experienced the same downsizing and replacement (as the parenting industry of the 1980s and 1990s) with less qualified personnel would experience a decline in quality" (p. 56). He does not criticize working parents or single parents, but he is concerned that parents and children do not have time together. Parenting is commitment. Whether it is one parent or two, it is the scope of commitment that is important (p. 56). Children require a commitment of time, energy and self (p. 56). He cites the National Commission on Children Report (1991, cited in Etzioni, 1993), which called for the revaluation of children's situation and the need to show a greater respect for children by making parenting a less taxing and more fulfilling experience (p. 161).
To bolster the family, Etzioni (1993) recommends concentrating on community building. He finds that we have lost the traditional community and now live in a society of individuals isolated from one another, with a lack of caring for one another, and with exposure to rowdiness and crime (p 117). The following new forms of community are emerging:
To strengthen new and traditional forms of community, Etzioni suggests that we change orientation in terms of how we use our energy, invest our time, and allocate our resources--changing our concepts of "making it" and "habits of the heart"; work out conflicts between working and serving community; redesign our physical environment (e.g., workplace, home, public spaces) to be more community-friendly (e.g., places to mingle, enhance sociological mix); and foster volunteer endeavors that make wise use of our commitment to the common good--that is, ways that make it count (pp. 123-131).
The first line of community building is maintaining and establishing community institutions. Educational institutions have historically played an important part in building communities. They are part of the common core of institutions for all members of society (p. 134).
In writing about the core competencies required to be effective in community building, Brown and Isaacs (1995) recommend the following areas of focus:
Writing in the same collection of essays as the previously cited authors, Gerald and Teurfs (1995) reinforce the importance of conversation to community building and the role of dialogue in the process. They note that productive dialogue will require skills at uncovering and correcting incoherence through
To add to this understanding of the models and techniques for building community in personal relationships, neighborhoods and cities, and workplaces, Shaffer and Anundsen (1993) recommend developing the following skills and processes:
Beyond the central lifeplaces of work, family, and community, there are many overriding ways in which the context of life is changing on entering the 21st century. Among these are the changes occurring in organizations, learning systems, communications and media, social accountability, health care, and criminal culture. Each of these changes impact roles and responsibilities in work, family, and community and, in turn, the learning outcomes expected of TYIs.
We know instinctively that the world is opening in different ways and that it is volatile (Tapscott & Caston, 1993). Walls to competition are disappearing; an era shift is also occurring in organizations. The new organization or enterprise is dynamic and can respond quickly to changing market conditions. It is flatter and team oriented (p. xii). This is due to changes in technology from computing architectures of personal-to-workgroup computing, from system islands to integrated systems, from internal to inter-enterprise computing--linked with suppliers, distribution channels, and consumers--and workgroup commuting (p. xii).
The Second Era of Technology (Tapscott & Caston, 1993) is open and networked, modular and dynamic, and based on interchangeable parts. It distributes intelligence and decisionmaking to user networks made possible because of common standards to integrate data, text, voice, and image information--the backbone of team-oriented computer work groups. The integrated technology blurs walls between enterprises, enabling the recasting of external relationships. This technology is affordable and achievable for all organizations (p. xii). The business environment and other work environments will be driven by increasing productivity of the knowledge worker, quality improvements, responsiveness to rapidly changing markets, reduction of time from production to delivery, removal of government barriers and regulations, mergers and alliances, outsourcing and partnering, and social and environmental responsibility (pp. 6-9).
Learning in the 21st century will be "trans-disciplinary" (Gibbons et al., 1994). The emphasis will be on group problem solving. Through problem solving, learning and knowledge are generated and sustained in the application. The new learning will develop its own distinct theoretical structures, research methods, and modes of practice. The diffusion of results of 21st century learning will be accomplished in the course of participation. Once a specific problem is solved, the practitioner will move on to new problems. The knowledge will be disseminated and contained in the learners' communication network. The learning/knowledge may not be formally disseminated. Learning will be dynamic; exactly how it will be used and how it will be developed are difficult to predict (pp. 5-7).
There will be an increase in the number of sites where knowledge can be created--no longer just in colleges and universities, but in non-university institutes, research centers, government agencies, industrial laboratories, think-tanks, and consultant groups as well (Gibbons et al., 1994, p. 6). The sites will link with one another in a variety of ways--electronically, organizationally, socially, informally--through functioning networks. Educational institutions will be in the linkage, but may not control the participation and product.
In the Post World War II, Second Wave, Second Industrial Revolution, and First Technological Era, the mass media standardized the message. Even though there were multiple messages in the environment from school, church, friends, and community, there was a powerful mass standardizing message from the broadcast radio, television, and film industries. Mass media had the power to turn its image into an icon, to implant a message into the memories of millions of people at once (Toffler, 1980, p. 167). This created a universal image file for the culture to draw upon. This, in turn, produced the standardization of behavior or, at least, public behavior of the American society. Mass media followed along with the Second Revolution of mass production and mass consumption.
In the 1990s, mass media is being forced to share access and influence with other networks, vendors, and forms of communication. The "de-massified" communication includes publications, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, radio stations, cable and satellite television, CD-ROMs, Internet, and video and audiotapes. The audience is targeted and diverse.
De-massified media has had an effect on public opinion. The Third Wave (Toffler, 1980) culture is diverse. The de-massified communication facilitates and accelerates diverse images. The net effect is less consensus at all levels on issues and goals. The individual must contend with "blips" or information shards. It is for the individual to sum up and to organize the shards into a whole (p. 165). The individual must also select and manage input to avoid being overwhelmed.
The Third Wave world requires that individuals invent the reality by which they live (Toffler, 1980). For a time, it will be possible to live in a Second Wave culture by controlling the selection of information, entertainment, news broadcasts, and publications and through retention of a position or work begun in an earlier decade. Because society is both diverse and differentiated, the amount and types of information are increasing exponentially. The computer is the vehicle that manages the info-sphere of multiple strata of information (p. 179). The information organizer of the Second Wave was the file cabinet. It managed systematic records. It was linear. The Third Wave is a matrix. The computer is the information organizer of the Third Wave. It can record and interrelate in "fine grained detail."
The nature of social accountability will also change as we enter the 21st century. New sectors of the economy will arise, diversity will take on a new form, and wellness and crime will present new challenges.
The 21st century economy will be comprised of the market sector, government sector, and a third sector--community builders (Rifkin, 1995). Participants in the third sector work in nonprofit organizations. Volunteer participation is a strong theme in the literature on social accountability. The volunteers may be managed by paid staff. A significant work of the 21st century will be building community.
The literature reviewed for this section reframed the race-specific diversity issues of the 1980s and early 1990s into a general discussion of the collapse of consensus and a democracy of minorities (Toffler & Toffler, 1994). In Creating a New Civilization , the Tofflers recommend institutional changes to recognize diversity beginning with "semi-direct democracy" (p. 96), a shift from representation to self-representation.
Diversity is the context of the turn of the 21st century. The advantage of being a majority will diminish. Individuals, in relationship with others, must plan for themselves. There will not be the clear path to success or security provided by institutions or lifetime employers (p. 96).
A theme identified by the National Design Group as emerging in the new century is public health--a return to an earlier concern for the spread of disease. This concern is different from the concern for adequate health care services for all Americans. To be able to address the concern will require immunization or the control of communicable diseases. However, the health of Americans adversely affected due to poverty, unemployment, job changes, and lack of health care benefits is an ongoing challenge.
Embedded in the discussion of work, family, and community are concerns for health and safety. Rifkin (1995) refers to a criminal culture that indicates more than youthful misdirection, but an alternative economy based on criminal activity, often the buying and selling of drugs. Banach and Lorenzo (1993) note in Toward a New Model for Thinking and Planning , "over 900 addicted babies are born every day" (p. 12). It will cost $40,000 per child to prepare them for kindergarten (p. 12).
The cost of crime is great for American inner-city youth. Homicide by firearms is the leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-old African-American males and third for Caucasian males (p. 12). The August 13, 1995, New York Times (Butterfield, 1995) reported that homicides for the first six months of 1995 were down in most major cities. This is due in part to the incarceration of 1.5 million persons. The incarcerated are in the 25 and older age group. The article quotes criminologist, Alfred Blumstein from Carnegie Mellon University, as attributing the reduction in crime by this age group to the fact that a large number of those age 25 and older are in prison. Persons who commit crimes and persons who are incarcerated are a challenge that has been faced at other times in this country. Blumstein notes that the homicide rate (those who commit murders) in 1993 was 10 in 100,000; today, it is 9.9 in 100,000, but had been as high as 10.9 in 100,000 in 1991. What is of grave concern is that when the statistics are separated out for teenagers, between 14-17, the rate is 18.6 per 100,000 teenagers, up from 6.2 per 100,000 in 1984. Teenagers are not being deterred from crime by the incarceration of those a few years older than themselves. The number of teenagers is expected to grow by 15% between 1995 and 2005, which could cause another rise in the homicide rate.
Clearly this brief review of the challenges and opportunities of work, family, and community life on entering the 21st century has profound implications for education at all levels and throughout a person's lifetime. The changes now with us and before us in these three realms of life will make challenging demands on educational institutions.
First, work, family, and community roles and responsibilities interact and overlap in significant ways. Success in family life contributes to success in work life and vice versa. Without successful community life, neither a successful family nor work life is very possible. The learning outcomes of educational institutions must seriously and effectively address all three of these domains of life and do so in combination.
Second, the challenges and opportunities of work, family, and community life require attention to many of the same problems and needed areas of competence. For example, all three domains of life require skills at communications, solving problems, making decisions, building and sustaining relationships, and continued learning. The learning outcomes of educational institutions must capture the general as well as the specific skills needed across all three domains of life.
Keeping closely in mind the design specifications for learning outcomes for the TYIs presented earlier in this section and the results of the review of literature on the changing nature of work, family, and community life and their implications for education, NDTYI first took an initiative to develop an illustrative set of learning outcomes. The outcomes moved through several rounds of discussion and modification by the NDTYI Work Group, National Design Group, and project staff. The resulting set of learning outcomes is shown as Exhibit 5.
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Learners will leave the two-year institution with added general and specialized competence in the context of work, family, and community responsibility in order to do the following:
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During the NDTYI project time line, staff were also on the watch for existing institutions that had developed and were using a set of learning outcomes that were responsive to the design specifications for learning outcomes and the literature review on the changing nature of work, family, and community life. As the project drew to a close and the presentation of a preliminary report was invited by an international conference on learning technology and the learning environment in Australia, a set of learning outcomes was identified that had been in use for several years (and recently updated) by the Torrens Valley Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in South Australia. Their set of learning outcomes is shown in Exhibit 6.
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The purpose of this section was to extend the design-down process for the TYI from learning context and signature to learning outcomes. Learning outcomes communicate the aims of the institution in terms of how it promises to add value through the institution's work. The outcomes should speak to and capture the full array of educational programs and activities undertaken by the institution. After drawing implications from learning context and learning signature for the learning outcomes, a series of concepts important to discussion and thinking about outcomes was advanced. These concepts included addressing a wide range of interests, wide range of lifeplaces, wide range of talent and human development, future orientation, change agents, excellence, consensus, and expedience. Using these concepts, a set of design specifications was advanced to guide the review/selection/development of learning outcomes for an educational institution.
One of the design specifications was that the learning outcomes should address the changing nature of work, family, and community life roles and responsibilities. With this in mind, the section includes a brief review of the major changes being faced in the United States in these realms of life and their implications for education. Using this information and giving due consideration to all of the other design specifications for learning outcomes, two sets of learning outcomes were presented to illustrate new designs for learning outcomes. One set was developed as a part of the NDTYI project, with involvement of the NDTYI Work Group and National Design Group. The other set was selected from existing practice and represents the learning outcomes used by a college of technical and further education in South Australia.
In the end, the learning outcomes for a particular institution will have to be worked out by that institution. The design specifications and illustrative new designs for learning outcomes proposed in this report should be helpful in that process.
[*] The initial draft of the section was developed by Sandra Krebsbach and George Copa. Subsequently, major changes and additions were made by George Copa.