Community engagement: Barriers and drivers in South African higher education

Johnson, Bernadette

doi:10.20853/34-6-4116

Cited by 14 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…In a global context there are of course numerous barriers to traverse for universities. In some HEIs the approach to CE was a one-way street in which there was knowledge dissemination from an institution to the community (Johnson 2020). The current modus operandi suggest that there is now a far greater consideration of addressing societal needs in a two-way approach in which there is inter-connectedness and solid engagement on issues dealt with between HEIs and communities (Weerts and Sandmann 2008).…”

Section: How Heis Tackle Cementioning

confidence: 99%

“…CE must be a two-way relationship (Weerts and Sandmann 2008) and have mutual interchanges (Hammersley 2017). Johnson (2020) refers to this as "interconnectedness". Community engagement, research and innovation, as well as teaching and learning, are critical in Higher Education (Duke 2008, Lazarus et al 2008).…”

Section: How Heis Tackle Cementioning

confidence: 99%

“…HEIs have a civic role in the regional development of South Africa and should of necessity enhance their relations by concentrating on the many prevailing local socio-economic needs. Johnson (2020) suggests that in South Africa, several terms are used when speaking of CE, these include inter alia "volunteerism", "service learning" and "engaged scholarship". She states that in all cases however, the common thread is a university extending itself beyond its "…internal community to its external non-university communities for various purposes and in a variety of different ways".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community Engagement as an Ubuntu Transformative Undertaking for Higher Education Institutions

Nicolaides¹,

Austin²

2022

AJPHIL

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Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) stand at the junction of increasing social and economic challenges in a pandemic era. The focus of this study is to substantiate to an extent what CE implies and what HEIs can and should do. A probing question is whether HEIs can effectively respond to needs identified within the communities in which they operate? The purpose is to interrogate how CE by HEIs can shape and be shaped by its role-players. A qualitative literature study and an interpretivistic paradigm were utilised in this study to deliberate upon the debate on Community Engagement (CE) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. It is a global truth that a university has an important role to play in responding to a range of societal needs. In South African universities, this is also the case, but the notion and practice of community engagement by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in general, is a persistent transformational requirement. What is meant by the term Community Engagement (CE) may differ from institution to institution but broadly speaking it relates to how an institution interacts with a community in which it operates in ways that result in a win-win situation for all parties involved and positively influence the quality of life within society in general. Viewed from a South African Higher Education milieu, it is clear that CE is an instrument through which transformation is supported through social responsiveness and it is thus in essence far more than mere community service or outreach as in most universities abroad. Having CE engaged universities is vital for a strong social and economic South Africa. CEs role is then to promote skills and knowledge to those alienated during the apartheid era. For a higher education institution, the benefits accrued would most likely be in inter alia joint projects, research initiatives and teaching opportunities to help redress past evils. Although community engagement often brings with it a range of challenges, it remains a fundamental role required of HEIs in South Africa and beyond. This article thus presents a brief overview on inter-alia, the direction and theoretical development of CE practices and suggests some possible aspects to consider applying to CE. A desktop literature review methodology and an interpretivistic paradigm were used in this brief study. Keywords: community engagement, higher education, South Africa, transformation, ethical duty

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Section: How Heis Tackle Cementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Heis Tackle Cementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community Engagement as an Ubuntu Transformative Undertaking for Higher Education Institutions

Nicolaides¹,

Austin²

2022

AJPHIL

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“…Community service or engagement has been delivered by many universities across the globe but defined variously across countries and universities [2,3]. Sandmann (2008), cited in Johnson [2] called this meaning variety "definitional anarchy." Some of the common definitions given for community service are summarized as follows.…”

Section: Background Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Practices and Challenges of Community Services at Debre Markos University, Ethiopia: A Case Study

Mengist¹

2022

Business, Management and Economics

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Universities are the main actors that deliver community service in Ethiopia. Community service is among the three pillars of the university’s business along with teaching and research tasks. Employing a qualitative case study design, this research inspects the practices of community services against the ascribed principles and identifes the pitfalls of community service in Debre Markos University. Both primary and secondary data were collected. Primary data were collected through key informants interviews, semistructured interviews, and non-participant observation. Thirteen participants, five through key informant interview and eight through a semistructured interview were addressed. Participants were purposively selected from both the university and the nearby community. Lecturers, vice-presidents, and directors have participated in the interview. Articles, books, different reports, newspapers, and magazines were reviewed and used as sources of secondary data. Thematic data analysis technique was employed to analyze the primary data, and document analysis was used to analyze the data gained from secondary sources. The results show that, though community service is rendered since 2006 at Debre Markos University, there are still limitations in adhering to the principles of community service. These include shortage of budget, low level of University-Industry Linkage (UIL), less commitment of the staff, and the low level of monitoring and evaluation.

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“…There is a welter of writings on the typologies of engagement (Barker 2004;Bhagwan 2017;Cherrington et al 2019;Sandmann 2008) following Boyer's seminal pieces on the scholarship of engagement (Boyer 1996(Boyer , 1997. And there are discussions about the "barriers and drivers" associated with achieving the mandate of engagement (Johnson 2020). Recently there has been a spurt of interest in this field of study, including the formation of academic associations such as symposia (Council on Higher Education [CHE] 2009), conferences, 1 and even an inaugural address (Muthwa 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universities and the Co-construction of Knowledge with Communities

Motala

Vally²

2022

EaC

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The article discusses the question of the co-construction of knowledge between the university and its communities in the pursuance of community engagement, which is one of the key mandates of universities in South Africa. It reflects on the limitations of most academic approaches to the concept and practices associated with the scholarship of engagement and problematises the complex notion of knowledge co-construction and what is implied in this notion, dealing with the relationship between community engagement and sociocultural power and its associated issues.

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Community engagement: Barriers and drivers in South African higher education

Cited by 14 publications

References 12 publications

Community Engagement as an Ubuntu Transformative Undertaking for Higher Education Institutions

Community Engagement as an Ubuntu Transformative Undertaking for Higher Education Institutions

Practices and Challenges of Community Services at Debre Markos University, Ethiopia: A Case Study

Universities and the Co-construction of Knowledge with Communities

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