Challenging the dominant ideological paradigm: Can community engagement contribute to the central epistemic aims of philosophy?

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

“…Favish (2005:4) endeavoured to develop a conceptual framework and acknowledged the "interconnectedness between social engagement and the other core activities of the university". More recently, Paphitis and Kelland (2015) argued for the South African philosophical community to embrace an epistemic shift that will enable higher education to enhance philosophical knowledge generation and to use community engagement to advance which would allow a unique South African philosophical identity to emerge.…”

The university as a site for transformation: developing civic-minded graduates at South African institutions through an epistemic shift in institutional culture

“…Moving away from a primary focus on knowledge production, we have seen a massification of the higher education sector in an attempt to produce skilled labourers for the market, which has simultaneously served the goal of beginning to undermine the 4 Engaged research presents a methodological approach that recontextualises and challenges traditional positive research and allows for the co-creation of knowledge in ways that are mutually beneficial both to the communities in which the research is carried out and to those carrying out the research. Engaged research represents a shift to a more collaborative and inclusive approach to knowledge generation and dissemination, which is intentionally adopted by researchers in order to harness the assets available in the communities in which research is being carried out and so further the research goals and outputs of academic projects through collaboration (Paphitis & Kelland 2015).…”

Beckoning a new post- Covid higher education engagement agenda: Lessons from Nelson Mandela University Covid-19 responses

“…This suggests that there is a need for community engagement to be rigorously interwoven into the core business of teaching and learning and, more importantly, integrated into the culture of the university (Bhagwan, 2020;Mtawa, Fongwa & Wangenge-Ouma, 2016;Favish, 2010;Boyer, 1996). Regardless of the challenges, Paphitis and Kelland (2015) suggest that it is essential to advance a genuine engagement with the local context to contribute to developing a uniquely South African philosophical identity. Community engagement denotes interactions with the world outside the academy (Sachs & Clark, 2017;Schuetze, 2010;Hall, 2010), in a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources, within a context of partnership and reciprocity (Benhayoun, 2020;Kliewer, 2013).…”