Canada's Community Colleges: A Critical Analysis

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and an honorary chief of the Lennox Island
Mi’kmaq of Prince Edward Island.

This book grew out of a more extensive research-project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The study was conducted across Canada by the two authors. Very wisely, they realized at the outset that generalizing about community colleges would be dangerous in a country which might well be viewed as ten separate countries, so diverse is the nomenclature and orientation in each province. The separate summaries of development by province are much to be commended.

Part I of the book deals with the origin, development, and characteristics of community colleges. Part II is a more general consideration of issues to be faced by the colleges now and in the future. The book has four appendices, 13 pages of footnotes, and a useful, itemized bibliography.

It has been made clear that the university transfer option was not to be part of these new institutions. They were to stand entirely on their own. Much more important, curricula have always been occupationally oriented and geared to the emergent local needs in their respective provincial areas. They have been patently more publicly accountable than universities, and have gone out to ascertain, identify, and meet local needs for skilled workers, often with astonishing success. Unlike that done for universities, research for community colleges has been minimal, and what there has been has usually been student oriented. In this regard, Holland College in PEI has pioneered a highly successful individual work-evaluation model. Social and personal needs in local communities have also been identified and satisfied whenever possible. Chapter 6 of the book concludes with a summary of possible options for the colleges at the turn of the twentieth century. Chapter 8 has a useful section on the possible expansion of activities in general education. The two authors deem this to be desirable.

Two criticisms can be made of this book. One is the undue reliance of the authors on their footnotes. There are so many that sometimes they impede rather than help the flow of the argument. A second criticism is that, despite the authors’ disclaimer, fact and opinion are not always clearly distinguished. Their suggestion that colleges might undertake “discipline-related academic research” and that college instructors’ teaching “could benefit from a prolonged immersion in the university research environment,” seem highly suspect! The community college is not meant to function as a mini-university.