Teaching Interreligious Encounter

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Gustafson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Comparative Theology ◽  
Guest Speakers

This chapter offers instructors in higher education some basic tools and elements of course design for interreligious encounter in the undergraduate classroom. Aiming at practice over theory, it provides practical suggestions for fostering interreligious understanding from the first day of class through the end of the semester. These suggestions include the use of guest speakers, interdisciplinary case studies, in-class reflections, and interreligious community engagement (i.e., “service learning”), among others. Further, it provides a concise bibliography of basic introductory texts for both students and instructors in the areas of comparative theology, theologies of religions and religious pluralisms, and interreligious studies and dialogue.

scholarly journals What makes or breaks higher education community engagement in the South African rural school context: A multiple-partner perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Gabriel Machimana ◽  
Maximus Monaheng Sefotho ◽  
Liesel Ebersöhn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
School Context ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Rural School ◽  
Multiple Partner ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Education Community ◽  
Wide Range

The purpose of this study is to inform global citizenship practice as a higher education agenda by comparing the retrospective experiences of a range of community engagement partners and including often silent voices of non-researcher partners. Higher education–community engagement aims to contribute to social justice as it constructs and transfers new knowledge from the perspectives of a wide range of community engagement partners. This qualitative secondary analysis study was framed theoretically by the transformative–emancipatory paradigm. Existing case data, generated on retrospective experiences of community engagement partners in a long-term community engagement partnership, were conveniently sampled to analyse and compare a range of community engagement experiences ( parents of student clients ( n = 12: females 10, males 2), teachers from the partner rural school ( n = 18: females 12, males 6), student-educational psychology clients ( n = 31: females 14, males 17), Academic Service-Learning ( ASL) students ( n = 20: females 17, males 3) and researchers ( n = 12: females 11, males 1). Following thematic in-case and cross-case analysis, it emerged that all higher education–community engagement partners experienced that socio-economic challenges (defined as rural school adversities, include financial, geographic and social challenges) are addressed when an higher education–community engagement partnership exists, but that particular operational challenges (communication barriers, time constraints, workload and unclear scope, inconsistent feedback, as well as conflicting expectations) hamper higher education–community engagement partnership. A significant insight from this study is that a range of community engagement partners experience similar challenges when a university and rural school partner. All community engagement partners experienced that higher education–community engagement is challenged by the structural disparity between the rural context and operational miscommunication.

Environmental service-learning approach in higher education – a descriptive case study on student-led life cycle assessments of university cafeteria meals

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Johannisson ◽  
Michael Hiete
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Course Evaluation ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Descriptive Case Study

Purpose This study aims to share experiences of an easy to adapt service-learning approach in a graduate course on life cycle assessment (LCA). Specifically, it reports on how students helped the university’s cafeteria to assess meals by conducting an LCA for 25 meals and identifying environmental hotspots. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive case study of a graduate course at Ulm University is presented. The course included lectures and problem-based exercises, both theoretical and software assisted. A course evaluation was conducted during the course and one year after completion to poll improvement potentials, as well as its impacts on students’ everyday life. Findings It was found that although it was the first LCA for all students, the resulting LCA information of 25 different meals were homogeneous, comparable to the scientific literature and beneficial to the cafeteria’s sustainable development strategy. The concept of service-learning had a higher impact on students’ motivation than a good grade and active-learning is explicitly requested by students. The course design sensitized students to the real-life problems of LCA and made their consumption patterns more elaborate and ecological. Furthermore, this digitization of higher education could be carried out with only minor changes in the present COVID-19 pandemic situation. Originality/value As the subject of service-learning in natural sciences is still expandable, this study presents an easy to adapt case study on how to integrate such an approach into university curricula dominated by traditional learning. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this case study presents the first published LCA university course explicitly describing and evaluating a service-learning approach. The topic touches the everyday lives of students, allows comparisons between different student groups, is easily scalable to different group sizes and credits, and supports learning both how to study in small groups and cooperation between groups to ensure comparability of LCA results.

scholarly journals Community engagement as the organic link with the street: Creating a learning community between the academy and homeless people in Tshwane

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Botha
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Church History ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Context Analysis ◽  
Current Form

Does the current community engagement project, of the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology at the University of South Africa (UNISA), respond to the conceptual discourse on community engagement? Informed by this question this article’s objective is two-pronged. Firstly, an attempt is made to locate the project’s beginning in a proper historical perspective by engaging the initial ministry of the Department with homeless people. The narrative about the work of a Mennonite couple is told by structuring it around the dimensions of agency (identification or insertion), context analysis, strategies for mission and theological reflection or in simple terms, the reading of the Bible. Secondly, this article proceeds by subjecting both the initial ministry with homeless people and the community engagement project, in its current form, to the scrutiny of three high ranking publications from the Higher Education Quality Committee in collaboration with JET Education Services, the Council on Higher Education and a handbook on service learning in South Africa on the conceptual clarification of service learning and community engagement. As the documents reveal some difference of opinion amongst the experts, the bottom-line is that unless the interaction between the academy and the community (homeless people) is a consistent, sustainable, reciprocal and mutual process aimed at creating a genuine learning community, the project is called into question. A further issue is that the engagement between the parties must find reflection in what is taught – students or learners are to benefit from this – and researched.

Collaborations between Elementary Schools and Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 82-104
Author(s):  
Patricia Hrusa Williams ◽  
Carole K. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
School Students ◽  
School Communities ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

This chapter examines service learning efforts and community partnerships formed between elementary schools and higher education around science education. The types and characteristics of the efforts are considered using a newly developed framework for service learning and community engagement. The potential benefits of these collaborative efforts for higher education faculty, college students, elementary school students, teachers, and school communities are explored, highlighting what is known from the existing research literature. The match between these projects and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are considered, highlighting the ways which community engagement efforts can utilize standards in developing and implementing projects. Finally, recommendations are made regarding how to optimize community-based science education collaborations and expand our knowledge-base regarding these efforts.

Forging University Social Responsibility Through Community Engagement at Higher Education

2022 ◽  
pp. 902-916
Author(s):  
Ndwakhulu Stephen Tshishonga
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Ivory Tower ◽  
Modus Operandi ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
Reliable Knowledge

This chapter interrogates the notion of community engagement or service learning. The chapter argues that universities pay lip service to community engagement to the detriment of teaching and research functionaries. Most prestige universities operate on the belief that it is only research that matters; hence, research is prioritized. Universities and their staff have adopted an ‘ivory tower' attitude. This modus operandi negates the reality that reliable knowledge could be produced through responsible community engagement and can become the source of empirical data that can be used for teaching and shared through publications. For universities to impact transformational change within and in their surroundings, community engagement should be elevated to equal teaching and learning.

scholarly journals Can Philanthropy Be Taught?

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey McDougle ◽  
Danielle McDonald ◽  
Huafang Li ◽  
Whitney McIntyre Miller ◽  
Chengxin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Academic Learning ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Development Outcomes

In recent years, colleges and universities have begun investing significant resources into an innovative pedagogy known as experiential philanthropy. The pedagogy is considered to be a form of service-learning. It is defined as a learning approach that provides students with opportunities to study social problems and nonprofit organizations and then make decisions about investing funds in them. Experiential philanthropy is intended to integrate academic learning with community engagement by teaching students not only about the practice of philanthropy but also how to evaluate philanthropic responses to social issues. Despite this intent, there has been scant evidence demonstrating that this type of pedagogic instruction has quantifiable impacts on students’ learning or their personal development. Therefore, this study explores learning and development outcomes associated with experiential philanthropy and examines the efficacy of experiential philanthropy as a pedagogic strategy within higher education. Essentially, we seek to answer the question, Can philanthropy be taught?

scholarly journals Impacts of Sustained Institutional Participation in Service-Learning: Perspectives from faculty, staff and administrators

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 186-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Vogel ◽  
Sarena D. Seifer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
The United States ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
Demonstration Program ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Institutional Participation

The movement for greater civic engagement in higher education in the United States has taken hold across the core academic missions of teaching, research and service. One manifestation of this movement has been growing participation in service-learning, a teaching method grounded in community-university partnerships in which students provide services that simultaneously address community-identified concerns and meet key learning objectives. In order to assess the benefits of long-term sustained institutional involvement in service-learning, in 2007–2008 we interviewed 23 faculty members, staff and administrators from 16 academic institutions that had participated in a national demonstration program for service-learning, which ended in 1998. We found that 15 of these institutions had sustained service-learning to some degree and 12 had integrated service-learning into the curriculum, with varying degrees of institutional support. Interview participants described five main impacts of their institutions’ sustained participation in service-learning: 1) increased community engagement and community-engaged scholarship, and increased valuation of both, among participating faculty members; 2) greater capacity for community-university partnerships among academic and community partners; 3) improved community-university relations; 4) diffusion of service-learning and/or principles of community-university partnerships to other departments and schools; and 5) recruitment of students seeking community engagement opportunities. This study provides evidence that sustained institutional participation in service-learning can foster an understanding of the scholarly value of community-engaged teaching and research among participating faculty, and increase community-engaged activities at participating academic institutions. These findings suggest that funding agencies, faculty members and academic administrators can use service-learning as a strategy to foster a culture of community engagement in higher education institutions. Keywords Community-university partnerships, service-learning, community engagement, sustainability, impact, higher education

Facilitating Active Citizenship in Students Through the Strengthening of University-Community Partnerships

2019 ◽  
pp. 904-933
Author(s):  
Rika Swanzen ◽  
Victoria L. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Community Partnerships ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Field Supervisors ◽  
University Community

In South Africa, the integration of community engagement into research and teaching roles is mandated through policy guidelines, which created the need for transformation of Higher Education (HE) since the late 1990s. One approach that allows such integration is service-learning and this approach is the focus of a research study conducted with field supervisors to determine the level of reciprocal engagement experienced by them. Communication plays a strong role in authentic university-community partnerships (UCPs) and Monash South Africa is cognisant of the challenges encountered with regard to diversity during placements or internships, some of which were discovered through the study. The ultimate aim of the chapter is to offer some recommendations for having a student-engaged and community-focused curriculum with reflections on its internationality and inter-disciplinary impact.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document