Universities across the world strive to be engaged institutions whose purpose is to foster positive social change through teaching, research and community engagement. The integration of these roles may sometimes hinder authentic engagement. Community engagement research in South Africa: histories, methods, theories and practice proposes a transformative model for engagement, in which societal involvement is the driving force behind all activities of the university. This overarching focus serves to blur the divisions between the core higher education and training activities as research becomes more community-based and teaching prepares students to be agents to be informed by research through teaching and learning, and to be agents for positive social change in all spheres of life.
This idea is explored throughout the book, with chapters written by renowned community engagement practitioners and scholars of various disciplines. Contributions map community engagement interventions in the intersections of fields such as education, the social sciences, psychology, health, planning, engineering and architecture. They share best practices and draw from theoretical scholarship and practical experience, innovative ways of conceptualising, establishing and "community experiencing" projects. Based on original research, contributors encourage thought of modelling the practical implementation of community engagement at universities.
Elize S van Eeden is an NRF-rated researcher and professor of History and Deputy Director in the School of Social Sciences at the Vanderbijlpark campus of the North-West University. Her research interests are Regional history (also in multidisciplinary contexts), History teaching practices and regional studies in ecohealth & wellbeing research. She is author and editor of leading publications in Regional histories and in History teaching, including Teaching & Learning History and Geography in the South African Classroom, published by Van Schaik Publishers.
Irma Eloff is a professor of Educational Psychology and former dean of Education at the University of Pretoria. She is a guest professor at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. As a registered psychologist her research focuses on sustainable development, quality of life and wellbeing.
Hanlie Dippenaar is an associate professor in the Department of English (Faculty of Education) at the Wellington campus of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. She has published widely on language acquisition, pre-service teacher training, service-learning and community engagement.
Section A
Science in (and) community and (in) research
Thoughts from academia
Science for society: the practice of community engagement
Chapter 1: Mirroring 25 years of community engagement research and practice in South Africa
Section B
Theories in community engagement and other modes of participatory collaboration
Thoughts from academia
Research and service-learning for the enhancement of pre-service teachers and communities
Chapter 2: Understanding the gemeinschaft in student-led community engagement in higher education
Chapter 3: Service-learning as a “boundary practice” in higher education: an activity theory lens
Chapter 4: University engagement practitioners on the challenges and benefits of higher education engagement and its institutionalisation
Chapter 5: Collaboration embedded in service-learning through the lenses of a network of activity systems and a Change Laboratory
Section C
Methods of community engagement: indigenous community health care and wellbeing
Thoughts from academia
Community centric curriculum: an engaged curriculum approach to student teaching and learning
Chapter 6: Reflections on the process of ethical co-creation of knowledge with community partners – lessons learnt
Chapter 7: Affordances of indigenous knowledge systems for community engagement by educational institutions in South Africa
Chapter 8: Observing freedoms and unfreedoms in rural and urban communities – challenges to leading a life people have reason to value
Chapter 9: International collaboration in community intervention programmes: developments and challenges
Section D
Methods of community engagement: rural and urban contexts
Thoughts from academia
Inclusive and collaborative community research – Ndumo, KwaZulu-Natal
Chapter 10: Inclusive community engagement studies: sharing moments of integrative multidisciplinary research in the Far West Rand region
Chapter 11: Building strong educational pathways from early childhood development to tertiary education: a case study of Mamelodi township
Chapter 12: Benefits of community engagement practice in the context of higher education and rural school partnership: multiperspective voices
Chapter 13: On the researcher-researched relationship in educational psychological research with vulnerable populations
Chapter 14: Engagement with mining-affected communities: lessons learnt – a case study within the West Rand Goldfields
Chapter 15: Engaging with complexity: wicked problems in a southern context
Section E
Science for society: the practice of community engagement
Thoughts from academia
Community engagement in higher education and training in the future: from theory to practice
Chapter 16: Moving community engagement in South Africa from rhetoric to reality through engaged scholarship
Chapter 17: The relevance of social responsibility in empowering students with required Fourth Industrial Revolution power skills through a service-learning module
Chapter 18: Strength-based activities in community intervention: an example of a restorative justice programme in a South African female correctional centre
Chapter 19: Towards a live project framework for community engagement in South Africa: an architectural education perspective
Chapter 20: The transformative pedagogical potential of pre-service teacher professional learning communities embedded in a mathematics service-learning course
Chapter 21: Valuing the world café in a South African context
Chapter 22: Conducting fieldwork in South African communities: challenges and best practices
Chapter 23: Studying processes and experiences: ethnographic tools for experiential field research in communities
Chapter 24: Towards a responsive community engagement: reflections of key stakeholders
Chapter 25: Higher education and training’s responsibility in 21st-century societies: considering a redefined and integrated engagement
Chapter 26: The Sustainable Development Goals and community-based collaboration and research
