General Education/Institutional Models

Common Core Requirements

General Education with Guidelines forImplementation
Skagit Valley College Cultural Pluralism

Skagit Valley College is committed to providing general education in a pluralistic atmosphere. Pluralism is a philosophical orientation or attitude based on the recognition of diversity, that is, the differences among groups of people. To be pluralistic means not only to acknowledge the differences in groups' values, norms, attitudes, histories, and contributions to life in the United States but to accommodate those within the larger social context. A plural education, therefore:

• Provides alternatives in pedagogy and curriculum to formulate valid comparative generalizations and theories of cultural diversity.
• Emphasizes the integration of curriculum sensitive to individual and group needs, and
• Promotes positive interaction among individuals of different groups.

REQUIREMENTS FOR AA-UCT AND ATA DEGREES

There are no specific Cultural Pluralism requirements for either degree.

GENERAL STRATEGIES

All courses accepted for completion of general education requirements should identify how issues of pluralism will be addressed, following the criteria suggested below.

The College should support faculty as they attempt to build or modify their courses to fulfill this requirement. This support should include both models and samples, and on-going in-service education specifically designed to help instructors make courses pluralistic.

CRITERIA FOR PLURALISM WITHIN A COURSE

The pedagogy and content of ANY COURSE included within the general education curriculum should address the five issues below:

• Do the instructional materials, including course outlines, methods, and assessment techniques reflect the learning styles of diverse students to master more than one cognitive style?
• Does the course provide continuous opportunities for all students to strengthen their self-identities, develop greater self-understanding, and improve their self-concepts?
• Does the course help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary for effective interpersonal and group interactions with diverse populations?
• Does the course call attention to the inherent biases that determine what is studied?
• Does the course promote values, attitudes and behaviors which support cultural pluralism as a vital societal force that encompasses both potential strength and potential conflict?

In addition, the pedagogy and content of any General Education course in which either mathematical and/or symbolic modeling, study of the arts, or the study of culture is the predominant topic should address the following three areas, as well as the five given previously:

• Does the course draw attention to the nature of its models and paradigms, where they come from, and how and why they change over time?
• Does the course discuss the impact of cultural and political concerns on the field being studied and on the bias of its practitioners?
• Is the student given a historical perspective of the field being studied, with particular emphasis being placed on the diversity of contribution to the field?

Finally, the pedagogy and content of any General Education course in which the study of culture is the predominant topic should address the following five areas, in addition to the eight given previously:

• Does the course include the study of historical experiences, cultural patterns, and social advantages and disadvantages of different groups within the society?
• Does the course include the study of society's problems as individual members of both mainstream and non-mainstream groups experience them, such as racism, prejudice, discrimination, and exploitation?

• Does the course examine the diversity within each group's experience and how those experiences are dynamic and continuously changing?

• Does the course help students develop a sound knowledge of the methods of thinking about issues of diversity, particularly the ab ility to distinguish fact from interpretations and opinions?

• Does the course include materials written by as well as about persons from diverse groups?