Community engagement at a higher education institution - exploring a theoretical grounding for scholarly-based service-related process

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is an interpretive analysis of the meanings and understanding of theconstruct 'service' in its relation to scholarly engagement with external non-academiccommunities at curricular level. The study links to other studies relating to communityengagement in higher education or focusing on internal service to the university community,but it is unique in its theorising of service with and in external non-academic communities.The specific aim of the study was to develop a theoretical framework to view, understand,analyse and evaluate scholarly-related service activities which represent the communitycomponent of experiential learning pedagogies.The primary data for the study were generated through unstructured interviews with the fouractor groups participating in such activities, namely module coordinators, students,community organisation representatives and community members. Their responses wereinterpreted, analysed and triangulated through grounded theory methodology.A substantive theory consisting of four interrelated processes, through which these activitiestake place, was developed culminating in a theoretical framework that integrates the fourprocesses into one coherent process of cyclical interchange of social commodities. In thisprocess there is a reciprocation of scholarly service and community service where the latterrepresents the service of the community to the university culminating in the interchange oftangible and intangible products that represent the commodities. The co-creation of usefulcontextual knowledge represents the ultimate outcome of this process through an interchangeof tacit, codified and implicit knowledge of professionals and laymen in society. Thetheoretical framework provides a better understanding of the difference between therelationships with external communities and the actual service actions that take place duringscholarly service activities. Within such understanding the framework suggests rethinking ofhow service activities are planned and integrated in community engagement at curricularlevel.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University