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The national debate on community engagement in South African higher education: an interpretation
Magda Fourie
Vice-rector: Teaching
3 April 2008
Overview of presentation National policy framework Historical backdrop, in particular CHESP Community Engagement in Higher Education
Conference Critical issues identified What does this signify for Stellenbosch
University?
National policy framework White Paper on Higher Education (1997): identifies
community engagement as integral and core part of higher education in SA
Specific reference to the role community engagement can play in transforming higher education
HEIs should demonstrate social responsibility… and their commitment to the common good by making available expertise and infrastructure for community service programmes
National policy framework (cont) National Plan for Higher Education (2001):
enhancing of responsiveness to regional and national needs, for academic programmes, research and community service
National policy framework (cont) HEQC identified knowledge based community
service as one of the three areas (together with teaching and learning, and research) for quality assurance of higher education
Criteria for Institutional Audits include criteria on both service-learning and community engagement
Criteria for Programme Accreditation include minimum requirements for service-learning
Historical backdrop Examples of different forms of community
engagement activities at many HEIs: voluntarism, internships, experiential education, service-learning, community outreach, research and development projects for communities or industry
Not necessarily planned and co-ordinated
Historical backdrop (cont): JET Education Services:
- since 1997 active in research and development to advance CE
- survey of community service in SA HE in 1997/8 – two publications
- Community-Higher Education-Service Partnerships (CHESP) initiative launched in 1999
Historical backdrop (cont):CHESP: To support development of pilot programmes
that explore potential of CE as integral part of core academic functions of HEIs
To monitor and evaluate these programmes To use data generated to inform HE policy
and practice
Historical backdrop (cont): At national level several seminars, workshops,
capacity building sessions by CHESP, HEQC and DOE
Development of Good Practice Guide for Service-learning
Increasing international contacts and exposure At institutional level policy and strategy
development, resource allocation, integration into academic programmes through service-learning
Conference on Community Engagement in Higher Education Hosted by CHE/HEQC and JET/CHESP
in September 2006 Largest and most important conference on this topic
in SA More than 200 delegates Representatives from all public HEIs in SA and
numerous others Speakers included Minister of Education, Premier of
WC, vice-chancellors, and scholars from SA and abroad
Critical issues Conceptualisation Strategic considerations Planning and operational challenges Partnerships Building a scholarship of CE
Conceptualisation Examples: broad social frame of reference for
engagement through Mode 2 knowledge (Gibbons), engagement as form of scholarship (Fourie), engagement as mechanism to make university a knowledge-based instrument of social equity (De la Garza)
Conceptualisation (cont) National level (enabling framework)
- Setting broad parameters for CE- Place of community engagement in social development agenda
Institutional level (context-specific)- Establishing a relationship between CE and two other core functions- Possible models for community engagement
Strategic considerations National level:
- What additional policy, funding, monitoring and reporting levers are necessary to embed CE in HE?
- How to embed/reconcile CE with policy implementation already under way?
Strategic considerations (cont) Institutional level:
- Governance and leadership
- Institutional vision/mission
- Roles of different stakeholders
- Community voice
Planning and operational challenges
- Resource allocation
- Quality assurance and evaluation
- Performance management
- Staff incentives and development
- Risk management
- Organisation of research
- Student learning
Partnerships Shared vision Clarification of roles and expectations Power relations Reciprocity and mutual benefits Regional consortia
A scholarship of CE (theoretical work) What are the bodies of knowledge that could
inform CE? What are the new epistemologies for
establishing CE as a field of knowledge? What are the new pedagogies for teaching and
learning to give effect to CE? What are the new research methodologies
needed to give substance to CE?
What does this signify for Stellenbosch University? Have we clearly conceptualised community
interaction at SU? Who are our communities? What is our approach to community
interaction:- the silo model- the intersecting model- the infusion (cross-cutting) model ?
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