Kate Connor, PhD, Professor at Harry S. Truman College: The Magic Sauce of Working with Adult Learners

“Community colleges play this really unique role because we balance this idea of a general education with integrating skills that get you ready for employment. Those things can dance together, and I think community colleges do that dance so beautifully,” says our WorkforceRx guest, Professor Kate Connor of Harry S. Truman College in Chicago. One example of that dance is integrating the life and work experience of students directly into coursework, something Connor has seen play out in her own specialty of early childhood education where college students are already out in the field leading classes of their own. “Figuring out really great ways to integrate their knowledge into class assignments while also building additional expertise is I think the magic sauce of working with adult learners.” Professor Connor met Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan when they were serving together on the National Skills Coalition’s Care Workforce Advisory Council, so this episode’s conversation also takes a broad look at what’s needed to support workers in the caring professions, who do what she describes as high stress, low wage jobs that involve helping people through difficult and sensitive life changes. “If we come together, we can communicate about the care workforce in a new way that hopefully leads to the pay and support they deserve, and increases respect for the work they are doing.” This wide-ranging interview also offers insights on prior learning assessments, work-based learning experiences, and how credential structures can help align education with workforce needs.