An Implementation Revolution as a Strategy for Fulfilling the Democratic Promise of University-Community Partnerships: Penn-West Philadelphia as an Experiment in Progress

Abstract

In this article, the authors argue that the academic-practitioner divide is largely a product of the Platonic false dualism between “superior” pure theory and “inferior” applied practice. The authors call for a Dewey-inspired implementation revolution to build local democratic neighborly communities as a means for advancing academic-practitioner collaboration, fulfilling America’s democratic promise, and overcoming the influence of Plato’s aristocratic philosophy on American higher education. The authors describe the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Community Partnerships’work with public schools as an experiment in progress designed to advance academic-practitioner collaboration and a “democratic devolution revolution.” Academically based community service learning and research and communal participatory action research are highlighted as particularly useful approaches for improving scholarship and communities and forging democratic, mutually beneficial, and mutually respectful university-school-community partnerships.

Towards a conceptual understanding of community engagement in higher education in South Africa

“…In the United States, Benson, Harkavy and Puckett (2000) argued the need for universities to devote themselves towards transforming into socially responsible civic institutions, by radically changing their institutional cultures. This argument coalesced into a range of activities that academics began engaging in.…”

Academic and Community Collaborations: An Exploration of Benefits, Barriers and Successes

“…These fit Perrault et al's (2011) definition of interorganization collaboration because they involved a university and other partners from the community (i.e., a nonprofit organization and a government entity) coming together to engage in collective planning to meet common goals. These collaborations also took steps to address a large social problem (i.e., family and intimate partner violence) and identify the needs of clients (i.e., people with lupus; Benson et al, 2000;Bok as cited in Fisher et al, 2004).…”

Teacher Education, Community Service Learning and Student Efficacy for Community Engagement

“…The Centre for Community Partnership at the University is committed to individual and institutional engagement with its local communities. This engagement involves a genuine partnership between communities and the University so that perceived social problems are addressed with creativity and new insights and the discipline bases of the University are transformed through local community engagement (Benson et al, 2000).…”