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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Charting a Course: Building a Community College System for Poland BUILDING A COMMUNITY COLLEGE
FOR POLAND'S FUTURE Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida and the Polish National Ministry of Education in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education. Chairperson: Dr. James L. Wattenbarger Major Department: Educational Leadership |
This dissertation contributes to the field of community college planning and development. The sole purpose of the research is to design a community college for Poland's future. The study includes three major sections. The first analyzes, synthesizes, and evaluates social and philosophical principles of democratic education applicable to higher education in Poland. The second is an analysis of empirical studies pertaining to community college development in the United States that are relevant for community college development in Poland. The key issues studied in section two are access, success of community college transfer students, curricula, and community college organization. In the third section, Poland's educational history, institutional organization, student access, and articulation patterns are studied in order to identify and better understand the social environment in which the sociological, philosophical, and empirical principles of education, developed in sections one and two, are applied. Based upon these findings, a community college model is developed. This model, if implemented, can contribute to the building of a democratic society in Poland. It enables Polish educational leaders to expand educational opportunity, while concurrently maintaining rigorous academic standards in the nation's institutes of higher learning, especially the nation's universities. Furthermore, the model provides a cost-effective plan for the provision of broad general and liberal education, as well as vocational and technical training needed by the people of Poland. |
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