Orientation

Presented by
Dr CJ Gerda Bender
Department of Curriculum Studies
Faculty of Education
Tel: 4203331 or 4604244
gerda.bender@up.ac.za
Outline of Orientation
• Community Engagement: What is it?
• Community engagement at UP Who is the community?
Where and who are involved? CHESP
• Curricular Community Engagement
What is it?
Why CCE Learning?

Forms of CE Learning (CEL)

Why CE Learning?
• Engagement of academic staff in and with the
community (figure)
• An Integrated Curriculum model
• Outline of the course
 Community Engagement (CE): What
is it?
…initiatives and processes through which the
expertise of the institution in the areas of
teaching and research are applied to address
issues relevant to its community.
CE typically finds expression in a variety of
forms, ranging from informal and
relatively unstructured activities to formal
and structured academic programmes
addressed at particular community needs
(service-learning programmes)
(CHE, HEQC, 2004:26)
Community Engagement at UP

• Curricular Community Engagement

• Non-curricular Community
Engagement
• Research related Community
Engagement
 Who is the community? Where and Who
are involved?
• Community: Essential functions and characteristics:
Socialisation, Participation, Social Control and Geographic
location

• The CHESP Model (Partnership model)

HEI (Staff and Students)

Partnership

Community Services/Organisation
Curricular Community Engagement

• What is it?

… refers to a course- or module-based,

credit-bearing educational experience and
includes various forms of student
community service (or engagement or
engaged learning) outside the campus
(off campus).
A characteristic common to all the forms
of community engaged learning is that it
all embrace a measure of experiential
learning.
 Why Curricular Community Engagement?
The national policy milieu relevant to
community engagement

• Green Paper on Higher Education

Transformation (DoE, 1996)
• Education White Paper 3: A Programme for
the Transformation of Higher Education (DoE,
1997)
• The Founding Document of the HEQC (2001)
• Institutional Audit Framework and Institutional
Audit Criteria (2004)
• Criteria for Programme Accreditation (HEQC,
2004)
 Why Curricular Community Engagement
National policies on higher education and community engagement
White Paper on the Transformation of Higher Education (1997)

academic programmes that are responsive to social,

political, economic and cultural need

• community engagement as an overarching strategy for the

transformation of HE

• demonstrate social responsibility and commitment to the

public good

• pilot programmes that explore the feasibility of community

engagement in higher education (SL programmes)
 Towards a ‘scholarship of engagement’

Changing Community Service

Perceptions (White Paper, 1997)

Academically Based Community Service

(HEQC Founding Document, 2001)

Community Engagement and Service-Learning

(HEQC Audit & Accreditation Criteria, 2004)

Scholarship of Engagement
(Boyer, 1990)
 The scholarship of engagement (Boyer, 1990)
• The scholarship of discovery: Closely resembles the notion
of research and contributes to the total stock of human
knowledge.
• The scholarship of integration: Underscores the need for
scholars to give meaning to their discovery by putting it
in perspective and interpreting it in relation to other
discoveries and forms of knowledge.
• The scholarship of application: Theory leads to practice and
practice leads to theory. Community engagement, viewed
and practised as a scholarly activity, provides the
context for a dialogue between theory and practice
through reflection.
• The scholarship of teaching: Within the framework of a
scholarship of engagement, the traditional roles of
teacher and learner become somewhat blurred. What
emerges is a learning community including community
members, students, academic staff and service
providers.
 Forms of Community Engaged
Learning (CEL)
• Community Service remains the one most widely used
term in HE institutions in SA to describe student activity in
community settings. The primary focus is on service and
the beneficiary of service – there is no planned intention to
link the formal learning process with the actual community
service. (national community service) (e.g.: Faculty of
Health Sciences)
• Community – based education denotes a mutual linking of
community service and academic training aimed at
addressing needs in society, at deepening/strengthening
students’ learning experience and at enriching the
teaching actions of lecturers ( Community-based projects;
CS projects and programmes, linked to learning
programmes as well as CS research) (e.g.: Faculty of
Health Sciences; EBIT)
 Forms of Community Engaged
Learning (CEL)
• Internships (also referred to as 'clinical practice or practicals’ in
many instances in the final year of academic programmes) are
used extensively in many professional programmes such as
Faculty of Humanities: Social Work, Psychology; Health
sciences: Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Nursing;
Education: Teaching internships; Law; Veterinary Science;
Theology; Economic and Management Sciences.
• Service-Learning / Community-based Learning (e.g.: Faculty of
Health Sciences; Education; Humanities). Reciprocity and
Reflection are central characteristics of service-learning. The
primary focus of courses/modules in programmes is on
integrating community service with scholarly activity such as
student learning, teaching, and research. An integrated
curriculum model for Service-Learning at UP has been proposed
and included in a training programme for academic staff and
administrators (SLTP).
Service-Learning (SL)

Service-Learning is a form of experiential education

and is a collaborative teaching and learning
strategy designed to promote academic
enhancement, personal growth and social
responsibility.
Students render relevant and meaningful service at
service providers and in community settings that
provide experiences related to academic content.
Through guided reflection, students examine their
experiences critically and determine whether they
have attained the learning outcomes, thus
enhancing the quality of both their learning and
their service, and helps foster social
responsibility
 Forms of Community Engaged
Learning (CEL)
• Community Outreach: An engagement of
students in activities where the primary
beneficiary is the recipient community and the
primary goal is to provide a service. The
modules/courses in these programmes are
generally initiated from by a department or a
faculty. In some cases recognition is given,
either in the form of academic credit or in the
form of research publications (e.g.: Faculty of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Veterinary
Science; Theology).
Why Community Engaged Learning?
• Foundational knowledge: knowledge of the basic
concepts and substance of a traditional discipline; content,
theories, history, and methodology of the field; as well as
cross-disciplinary knowledge)
• Professional knowledge: refers to the substance and skills
of what students learn in “vocationally-oriented” fields,
including health sciences, business, engineering,
education, social work, psychology, architecture, and law.
• Socially responsive knowledge: a sense of responsibility
to others; sensitivity and aspirations to help resolve
problems of society; a feeling of commitment and
obligation to become involved in community affairs.

Socially responsive knowledge is not intended to replace

foundational knowledge or professional knowledge Instead
these three domains of knowledge interact synergistically.
Why Community Engaged Learning?

Benefits (and challenges) for:

• Students
• Academic staff
• University
• Community / Service agencies
 Academic Benefits

• Makes learning more useful and relevant

• Promotes active learning
• Extends the boundaries of the classroom
• Provides students with real-life application of what they
learn in the lecture hall
• Promotes the value of diversity
• Strengthens analytical and critical thinking skills
• Strengthens interpersonal and communication skills
• Promotes students'intellectual growth, leadership
development, and personal and social growth
• Fosters a sense of civic responsibility
• Allows for integration and synthesis of knowledge
• Helps prepare students for the world of work
• Allows students to serve as involved citizens in their
communities
“How CEL affects Students – Research findings
”
• Academic performance /development
• Values / Ethical
• Inter and Intra-personal
• Leadership
• Career
• Civic / Social responsibility / Community Engagement
• Students see relevance of academic work
• Student’s self-esteem increases
• Enhances critical thinking & broadens perspectives
• Provides guidance and experience for career choices
• Improves student engagement with subject matter &
module/course
• Encourages a variety of learning styles
• Boosts student confidence
• Promotes critical analysis
Benefits for Academic Staff
• inspiration and invigoration of teaching methods
(innovation)
• increased student contact through greater
emphasis on student-centered teaching
• a new perspective on learning and an increased
understanding of how learning occurs
• connecting the community with
curriculum and becoming more aware of
current societal issues as they relate to
academic areas of interest
• identifying areas for research and
publication related to current trends and
issues
 Community benefits through…
• access to university resources
• positive relationship opportunities with
the university
• awareness-building of community issues,
agencies and constituents
• opportunities for contributing to the educational
process
• affordable access to professional development
• short and long term solutions to pressing
community needs
• New ideas can be integrated

“It shifts from community as laboratory to community as classroom”

University benefits through…

• Enhanced teaching, research and

community engagement activities
• Academic staff and student engagement
in local and regional community issues
• Opportunities to extend university
knowledge and resources
• Positive community relationships
• Increased development and preparation
of university graduates
Engagement of Academic Staff in and
with the community
 Main aim of this COURSE:
How to integrate CEL in the
curriculum:

An Integrated Curriculum model

for
Curricular Community
Engagement with focus on
Academic Service-Learning
Linkages of the CCE with other components
in a CEL module

National Policies
National Policies Theoretical
Theoretical
And Policies
And Policies of
of the
the Institution
Institution Framework
Framework

An Integrated
Curriculum
model for CEL
Theory and
Quality
Quality Practice Partnership
Partnership
Management
Management development
development

Risk
Risk
management
management

(Adapted from Bender, Daniels, Lazarus, Naude and Sattar, 2006)

 Outline for course

1. National Higher Education Policies, Community Engagement

and Service-Learning
2. A Theoretical and Conceptual Framework for Service-
Learning
3. An Integrated Curriculum Model for Service-Learning:
Design and Implementation
4. Service-Learning in the Curriculum:
Reflection, Assessment and Evaluation
5. Partnership Development for Service-Learning
6. Risk Management and Agreements for Service-Learning
7. Service-Learning in Practice
8. Institutionalisation of Service-Learning
9. Managing and Enhancing the Quality of Service-Learning
Assignment for Interactive session on next session

• Bring your institution /faculty/ department/school policies

on Community Engagement (or Community service)

• Bring YOUR MODULE /course (one you teach) in which

Community Engaged Learning / Service-Learning can be
integrated in the curriculum. Bring the study guide for the
module/course as well as all other study material.

• Study Chapters 1 to 6 of the book: Service-Learning in the

Curriculum: A Resource for Higher Education Institutions
(Bender et al, 2006)
• Download handouts of PPP of all chapters