A Curriculum for Civic Engagement in Higher Education: Re-Conceptualising the Academic Role

Author(s):

Josephine Anne Boland

Conference:

ECER 2008

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 07C, Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Part 4) Curriculum and Cultures

Paper Session

Time:

2008-09-11

15:30-17:00

Room:

B2 215

Chair:

Mariana Gaio Alves

Contribution

The concept of the engaged curriculum in higher education is attracting growing attention as we seek to engage students more actively in the learning process, while simultaneously pursuing other strategic objectives of the institution. A range of academic practices, based on the principles of experiential learning, has developed in Ireland and elsewhere. These practices are variously referred to as ‘service learning’, ‘community based learning’ or ‘pedagogy for civic engagement’ and they share an explicit civic focus. They are underpinned with a rationale which invokes concepts such as citizenship, democracy, community and civic engagement, while advancing the goal of enhanced student learning. The pedagogy involves a fundamental shift of focus and power in the teaching/learning relationship, not merely within the classroom, but also, potentially, in the university’s relationship with community partners. For those who lament the atrophy of the affect in higher education it offers a potential counter example. The current emphasis on transparency in curricular design – exemplified in the use of student learning outcomes – presents certain difficulties to those devising a learning process which promotes the development of less measurable, longer-term outcomes. The process of curriculum design also poses significant difficulties if the principle of reciprocity – a core value in university-community partnerships – is to be taken seriously.

Method

This paper reports on doctoral research which examined the process of embedding a civic engagement dimension within the higher education curriculum in Ireland. Using a multi-site case study methodology conducted in the spirit of naturalistic enquiry, four cases of this curriculum innovation in four different higher education institutions were studied in depth, over a three year period. Unstructured interviews and documents served as the main sources of data. Interviews were conducted with academics implementing this pedagogy (‘embedders’) and a range of other actors; co-operating colleagues, project directors, educational developers, academic managers and leaders within the institution together with external actors from the national policy context. Data analysis led to the development of a thematic framework focused on three themes; underpinning rationale, the process of embedding a civic dimension within the curriculum and factors influencing academics’ willingness and capacity to do so.

Expected Outcomes

Academics’ conceptions of the role and purpose of higher education are central to their approach to embedding pedagogy for civic engagement within the curriculum. These attitudes are reflected in their orientation to civic engagement and the primacy afforded to academic outcomes. The challenge of articulating intended learning outcomes for an experiential, counternormative pedagogy, combined with uncertainty as to its epistemology and academic legitimacy of has engendered tentativeness in the design of the curriculum, ostensibly in the interest of flexibility. While development of the affective domain features as an implicit, if not explicit aim, the experience of participants in this study confirms the challenges associated with the assessment of student learning in this domain. Ambivalence about the role of values in higher education – and about academics’ role in this regard – is manifest, for example in how approaches to the assessment of reflection have evolved. Tentativeness, reticence and ambivalence have contributed to the uncertainty and invisibility of the pedagogy, with consequences for its embeddedness within the curriculum and by extension, within the institution. The findings from this study also suggest that, as the curriculum encompasses new kinds of knowledge and higher education embraces new processes of knowledge creation, we need to revisit our conception of the academic role – a role traditionally conceived of in terms of certain kinds of teaching, research and service.

References

Association of Commonwealth Universities (2002) Engagement as a core value for the university: A consultative document, London, ACU. Barnett, R. and Coate, K. (2005) Engaging the curriculum in higher education Buckingham, SRHE & Open University Press. Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for quality learning at university, Buckingham, Society for Research into Higher Education. Boland, J. (2006) Conceptions of engagement within the Irish higher education curriculum Education Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference. National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Boland, J. (2007) Pedagogies for civic engagement in Irish higher education: principles and practice in context. IN Sanden, M.-L. and Zdanevicius, A. (Eds.) Democracy, citizenship and universities. Vytautas, Vytautas Magnnus University. Boland, J. and Mc Ilrath, L. (2007) The process of localising pedagogies for civic engagement in Ireland: the significance of conceptions, culture and context. IN McIlrath, L. & Maclabhrainn, I. (Eds.) Higher Education and Civic Engagement – International Perspectives. Aldershot, Ashgate. Cowan, J. (2005) The atrophy of the affect. IN Robinson, S. and Katulushi, C. (Eds.) Values in higher education. Leeds, Aureus Publishing Ltd. Ennis, C. D. (1992) The influence of value orientations in curriculum decision making Quest 44, 317-29. Hannon, A. and Silver, H. (2002) Guide to innovation in teaching and learning. York, LTSN Generic Centre. Jackson, N., Oliver, M., Shaw, M. and Wisdom, J. (Eds.) (2006) Developing creativity in higher education: the imaginative curriculum, Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge. Jacoby, B. (2003) Building partnerships for service-learning, San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass. Macfarlane, B. (2007) The academic citizen: the virtue of service in university life, London, Routledge. Moon, J. (1999) Reflection in Learning and Professional Development London, Kogan Page. National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (2003) Policies and criteria for establishment of the National Framework of Qualifications NQAI. Scott, P. (2005) The university and civic values. IN Robinson, S. & Katulushi, C. (Eds.) Values in higher education. Leeds, Aureus Publishing Ltd. Toohey, S. (1999) Designing courses for higher education Buckinghamshire SRHE/OUP. Walker, D. (1990) Fundamentals of Curriculum, New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Author Information

Josephine Anne Boland

National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG)

Education

Galway

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