I have a new book coming out in about two weeks and want to let my readers know about it. It’s called Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education. The publisher added this “reading line” to the cover An Argument for Democratizing Knowledge in America. The title and reading line give a pretty good sense of the book’s purpose: To both champion and improve those institutions that provide a second chance at educational success, particularly the community college and adult school. This purpose is embedded in a broader purpose: to remind us in these budget cutting times how fundamental such institutions are to our nation’s definition of itself as an egalitarian, second-chance society, and to our social and economic vitality. I reprint below the short preface and the table of contents.
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Preface to Back to School
This is a book about people in tough circumstances who find their way, who get a second… or third… or fourth chance, who, in some cases, feel like they are reinventing themselves. Education can play a powerful role in creating that second chance.
At a time when public institutions are held in low regard, and schools at all levels are under assault – for good reasons and bad – Back to School demonstrates what education can do…even though it was often earlier schooling that let people down. The stories in this book affirm the transformational potential of the college classroom, the occupational workshop, the tutoring center, the mentoring relationship.
One of the defining characteristics of the United States is its promise of a second chance; this promise is central to our vision of ourselves, and to our economic and civic dynamism. When we are at our best as a society, our citizens are not trapped by their histories. Sadly this possibility is contracting, partly because of a damaged and unstable economy but more so because of our political response to the economy. There are better ways to respond and to foster the growth of a wider sweep of our population. I hope Back to School points us in that direction.
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Table of Contents
Preface. Second Chances
Introduction. Why Going Back to School Matters
Chapter One. Adult Education and the Landscape of Opportunity
Chapter Two. Who Should Go to College?: Unpacking the College-for-All Versus Occupational Training Debate
Chapter Three. Full Cognitive Throttle: When Education for Work Ignites the Mind
Chapter Four. Who We Are: Portraits from an Urban Community College
Chapter Five. Overcoming Bad Ideas: Toward Success with Remedial Education and Bridging the Academic-Vocational Divide
Chapter Six. Improving the People’s College
Conclusion. A Learning Society
