Student Community Engagement at the University of Brighton

• Involvement of the university with its local community for mutual benefit, of community groups, academic staff and students

Concepts of traditional change over time

• Morrill Act in 1862 ‘acquire the understanding and skills essential for solving farm, home, and community problems’

• Pursuit of Knowledge- found in many places• 1960s and 70’s – The transmission of knowledge and

understanding• 1970’s Service Learning and Science Shops• 1980s – Personal transferable skills (key skills)• 1990s – Critical reflection (Bourner 1998)

• 21st Century? Widening participation, third stream work, community engagement. (Millican 2005)

• Education is always political, educators and students should become ‘transformative intellectuals’ (Giroux 1998) ‘cultural workers’ (Freire 1970) capable of identifying and redressing the injustices, inequalities and myths of an often oppressive world. (Gruenewald 2003)

Cupp’s programme includes:

• Cross disciplinary modules (Community Participation and Development, Learning by Objectives) with projects relating to a student’s discipline area and personal aspirations.

• Discipline specific modules (Partnership and Participation with Marginalised groups, Understanding Participation, Politics and the Local)

• Student Community Research

Contextualises learning: local, regional, national, global(Crossley and Watson 2003)

People will tend to reflect on their own ‘situationality’ to the extent that they are challenged by it to act upon it. Human beings are because they are in a situation. And they will be more, the more they not only critically reflect upon their existence but critically act upon it. (Freire 1970:90).

Action Research project with a university in Bosnia

• Citizenry still divided by former ethnic conflict

• Weak civil society with low local participation and ownership

• An imposed democracy, no culture of involvement

• High unemployment, low aspirations and a very passive student population

• ‘Missing generation’ of professionals, older professors with young teaching assistants keen to develop practice

• i.e. none of the conditions associated with effective partnership work

Language students teaching English to a group of Asylum seeking women

A criminology student conducting a research project with a group of young offenders

Sports science students doing football coaching on a local housing estate

Environment students running a pond dipping event

Environmental hazzards student working at a housing advice centre

Social science student staffing holiday scheme for urban children

What is the purpose of a university?

• To promote individual excellence and enable people to go on to develop brilliant careers?

• To push out the boundaries of knowledge, to focus on new research?

• To contribute to the wellbeing of a local community?• To prepare people to be responsible citizens within a

national community?• To solve the pressing problems of our times?