Building citizenship and Leadership

through Community Engagement and

Service-Learning in Higher Education
15 June 2018

1
Jacqui Scheepers, Manager: Acting Director, Centre for Community Engagement and Work
Integrated Learning, CPUT
+27 (0) 21 959 6868/9 scheepersj@cput.ac.za
The Ubuntu spirit in South Africa

“How do we rebuild the moral fabric of society that has

degenerated so much and where values have disappeared?
A very real challenge facing nations all over the world. The
social challenges prevailing in society require urgent and real
attention. Where do we start? Let’s go back to basics and
instill the spirit of Ubuntu”.
(Kevin Chaplin)
Ubuntu: some more meanings
an African word for a universal concept.

the potential for being human

to value the good of the community above self interest

to strive to help people in the spirit of service

to show respect to others and to be honest and trustworthy.

regards humanity as an integral part of the eco-systems that

leads to a communal responsibility to sustain life.

shares natural resources on a principle of equity among and

between generations.

is compassionate, is a collective respect for human dignity.

refers to people and is one of those things that you recognize
when you experience it.
Ubuntu: multiple meanings

• The cardinal spirit of Ubuntu is expressed in Xhosa, one of

South Africa’s eleven official languages, as Umntu ngumntu
ngabanye abantu
• understood in English as “People are people through other
people” and
• “I am human because I belong to the human community
and I view and treat others accordingly “.
• In Zulu, another official language in South Africa, the word
Ubuntu
• embodies a distinctive worldview of the human
community and the identities, values, rights, and
• responsibilities of its members. It is about “we” – not
“me.”
 INTRODUCTION TO CPUT

• Cape Peninsula University of Technology established on 1

January 2005, when the Cape Technikon and Peninsula
Technikon merged.
• The merger was part of a national transformation
process that transformed the higher education landscape
in South Africa.
• CPUT is the only university of technology in the Western
Cape and is the largest university in the region; and
• has over 30 000 students, several campuses and service
points, six academic faculties with more than 70
programmes.
Service-Learning and community
engagement at CPUT

6
CPUT: Community engagement Policy

CPUT defines community engagement as those activities and

programmes offered by the institution which involve
collaborative interaction with individuals, groups, and
organisations external to CPUT at the local, regional, national
and international levels to achieve economic and social
objectives using engaged teaching and learning initiatives,
volunteerism, research and various forms of work-integrated
learning, such as service learning and cooperative education.

7
 Community outreach Volunteerism
Community outreach is a The use or involvement
dedicated activity by of volunteer labour
CPUT staff using their (e.g. voluntary work
expertise in their done by staff, student
discipline to provide societies and clubs as
support to community extra-curricular
members in a defined activities within
partnership. communities)

Community
Cooperative Education Engagement Service learning
Cooperative education is defined Concepts Student learning that takes
as a partnership between the place within or through a
institution and its external (CPUT CE Policy) community development
stakeholders (industry) whereby project; it is fully curriculated,
the common objective is to including monitoring and
provide the student with an assessment of student
enhanced learning experience progress.
Work integrated learning
through fully curriculated
(WIL)
placement in a workplace.
Formal education practices that
aim to integrate preparation for
the workplace, structured
learning in the workplace, and
learning through doing relevant
work in the workplace. This
definition of WIL includes both 8
service learning and
cooperative education.
CPUT Policy on Community Engagement
CPUT will …
5.1 through a process of engaged teaching, learning, research,
work integrated learning and volunteerism f endeavour to
understand the needs of its communities; and address those
needs in an appropriate, responsive manner that supports the
strategic aims of the institution.
5.2 explore opportunities for research in CE projects, amongst its
participants and within its practices with the aim of imparting
knowledge, renewing the curriculum and evaluating theories in
a qualitative manner.
5.3 endeavour to address the issue of skills shortages by engaging
in meaningful CE projects that clearly make use of the
9
performance indices required to enhance such skills in its
learners.
CPUT Policy on Community Engagement

CPUT will …
5.4 engage in CE that addresses the issues of improving
employment opportunities and competencies, education and
training requirements and capacity building in its communities
5.5 engage in CE opportunities that encourage within
communities by overcoming the transformation barriers
causing societal fragmentation and marginalisation
5.6 engage in CE projects and activities that directly assist the
curriculum needs of its students and the requirements placed
upon it (curriculum) by the workplace
5.7 engage in CE projects that will foster good values and
10
character in its students
 Centre for Community Engagement and Work
Integrated Learning
Strategic Support Units

Cooperative Service-Learning
Education Unit Civic Engagement
Units

Centre for
Community Engagement
and
Work Integrated
Learning 11
 Service-Learning Unit at CPUT
• Acts as primary liaison in • Assist with module/programme
partnership between WIL Faculty and service placement design;
Coordinators, staff and students, • Supports Faculties with project
community and service agencies; logistics (where possible);
• Possess a solid knowledge and • Evaluates existing partnerships
understanding of realities of local and explores new partnerships,
community, service agencies, the on campus and in communities;
world of academic study and
• Discuss community interests,
teaching;
expectations and ability of the
• Acts as translator, diplomat and academic staff in identifying and
matchmaker, to facilitate developing relationships with
partnerships between university appropriate community partners;
and community to ensure and
reciprocal benefits inherent in a
• Acts as a bridge between all
sustainable, effective SL module;
partners 12
• Facilitates and administers the
partnership;
International and National
Community Engagement
developments
International declaration on CE
• The Talloires Declaration (September 2005)
• Civic roles and social responsibilities in HE
• Called for commitment from all HEI’s
• Acknowledged that:
• We do not exist in isolation from society;
• We carry an obligation to listen, understand and contribute
to social transformation;
• We must extend ourselves for the good of society so our
core missions (teaching, research and service) can be
promoted; and
• Universities have a responsibility to participate actively in
14
the democratic process and to empower those who are less
privileged
UN World Youth Report
Overview of Civic Engagement

Pat Dolan and Mark Brennan

 Civic Engagement
• Civic engagement is not a neutral concept;
• Encompasses a variety of forms and perspectives sur-
rounding relationships between the individual, the
community and broader society;
• Various discourses and viewpoints carry particular
messages and reflect differences in understanding
with regard to the purpose and nature of youth as
citizens; and
• Need to examine how particular forms of civic
engagement relate to the experiences and social posi-
tioning of young people and what the objectives are.
Discourses informing Civic Engagement

• Five key discourses present youth civic

engagement/action as a desirable activity;
• These discourses are not mutually exclusive; and
• they each contain dominant strands demonstrating
their distinctiveness.
Vice-Chancellors’ Meeting (JET 2000)
• Purpose of higher education: “education for the market place”
versus “education for good citizenship”.
• Add on or integrated approach: “community engagement…
should be an integral part of…..teaching and research”.
• Academic staff roles and rewards: HEI leadership should
promote, support and reward a scholarship of CE.
• Institutional audits: HEIs should be encouraged to audit
existing CE activities thus contributing towards a national
audit on CE in South African higher education.
• The role of the DoE: Although government should not
necessarily drive the role of HEIs in reconstruction and
development, government should provide the necessary
19
encouragement, support and direction (e.g. DoE Policy
Framework on Community Engagement).
 South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum
Launch Colloquium
2-3 November 2009, Hosted by Mangosothu University of Technology

20
9 FEBRUARY 2016
SAHECEF is committed to:
Advocating community engagement at South African
Higher Education Institutions;
Furthering community engagement at Higher Education
Institutions in partnership with all stakeholders with a
sustainable social and economic impact on South
African society;
Promote debate about innovative practices in the field
of community engagement in the context of Higher
Education.
Facilitate the dissemination of new knowledge in the
field of community engagement;
Share experiences and best practice in terms of
community engagement; 21
National policy landscape for Community
Engagement in South Africa
Community Engagement and Service-Learning’s
alignment to local, national and international goals
• Global strategic imperatives: SDG’s
• African strategic imperatives: African Union objectives
• SA strategic policies, aims and objectives:
• DST Grand Challenges
• National Developmental Plan
• Batho Pele principles
• Most democratic constitution in the world
• White Paper on HE Transformation
• White Paper for Post-School Education and Training
• CT and Western Cape’s strategic imperatives: Western Cape
Provincial Strategic Objectives 23
• Integrated Development Plans of local municipalities
• CPUT’S RTI Blueprint
 The South African perspective on CE
• Transformation of HE in SA (post-apartheid 1994) led to the
legislation of CE.
• The three pillars of HE: Is engagement is the weakest one?

http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/03/renewing-civic-education

The Engaged University: Engagement is not a “third strand”

but a critical approach to how we do our teaching and 24
research activities. (Younger, 2009).
The national policy milieu relevant to
community engagement and service-learning

 Green Paper on Higher Education Transformation (DoE,

1996)
 Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the
Transformation of Higher Education (DoE, 1997)
 The Founding Document of the HEQC (2001)
 Institutional Audit Framework and Institutional Audit
Criteria (2004)
 Criteria for Programme Accreditation (HEQC, 2004)
 White Paper for Post-School Education and Training
25
Green Paper on Higher Education Transformation
 “Higher Education has not succeeded in laying the foundations of a
critical civil society with a culture of tolerance, public debate and
accommodation of differences and competing interests. Nor has it
contributed significantly to a democratic ethos and a sense of
citizenship perceived as commitment to a common good.”

 “There is inadequate consideration of and response to the needs of

our society and insufficient attention to the problems and
challenges of the broader African context”.

 The need for co-operation and partnerships among HEIs and

“sectors of the wider society”…identifies the need to offer
programmes that are responsive “to the social, political, economic
and cultural needs of the country and all its people”. Increased
participation in higher education would require “different patterns
of teaching and learning, new curriculums [sic] and more varied 26
modes of delivery”. (1996)
 Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the
Transformation of Higher Education (1997)

 “To promote and develop social responsibility and awareness

amongst students of the role of higher education in social and
economic development through community service programmed
[sic]” (1997: 10).

 “To demonstrate social responsibility of institutions and their

commitment to the common good by making available expertise
and infrastructure for community service programmed [sic].”

 ”The Ministry is highly receptive to the growing interest in

community service programmes for students, to harness the
social commitment and energy of young people […] the Ministry
will encourage suitable feasibility studies and pilot programmes
which explore the potential of community service.” 27
 The Founding Document of the HEQC (2001)
 Higher Education Act (1997) led to the formation of the HEQC
as a permanent sub-committee of the Council on Higher
Education (CHE).

 “The central objective of the HEQC is to ensure that providers

effectively and efficiently implement education, training,
research and community service which are of high quality and
which produce socially useful and enriching knowledge as well
as a relevant range of graduate skills and competencies
necessary for social and economic progress.”

 HEQC Founding Document identified academically based

community service as one of the three areas for the quality 28
assurance of higher education, along with teaching and
research.
 HEQC Institutional Audit Framework and
Institutional Audit Criteria (2004)
“(iv) In the case of institutions with service learning as part of
their mission:

 Service learning programmes which are integrated into

institutional and academic planning, as part of the institution’s
mission and strategic goals;

 Adequate resources and enabling mechanisms (including

incentives) to support the implementation of service learning,
including staff and student capacity development; and

 Review and monitoring arrangements to gauge the impact 29

and outcomes of service learning programmes on the
institution, as well as on other participating constituencies.”
HEQC Institutional Audit Framework and
Institutional Audit Criteria (2004)

Criteria 18
The HEQC audit criteria call on HEIs to have “quality-related
Arrangements for community engagement (which) are
formalized and integrated with those for teaching and learning,
where appropriate, and are adequately resourced and
monitored”.

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HEQC Institutional Audit Framework and
Institutional Audit Criteria (2004)
In order to meet this criterion, examples of what
might be expected include:
• Policies and procedures for the management of the quality
of community engagement;
• Integration of policies and procedures for community
engagement with those for teaching and learning and
research, where appropriate;
• Adequate resources allocated to facilitate the delivery of
quality in community engagement; and
• Regular review of the effectiveness of quality-related
arrangements for community engagement.”
(HEQC, 2004a: 19)
HEQC Criteria for Programme Accreditation (2004)

Criterion 1
“In the case of institutions with service learning as part of
their mission:
• Service learning programmes are integrated into
institutional and academic planning as part of the
institution’s mission and strategic goals.
• Enabling mechanisms (which may include incentives) are in
place to support the implementation of service learning,
including staff and student capacity development.”
(HEQC: 2004b: 7-8)
32
White Paper for Post-School Education and Training:
Executive summary – new legislation
• a vision for the type of post-school education and training
system … to achieve by 2030 with main policy objectives being a
post school education system:
• that can assist in building a fair, equitable, non-racial, non-
sexist and democratic South Africa;
• that is a single, coordinated system;
• that has expanded access, improved quality and increased
diversity of provision;
• A stronger and more cooperative relationship between
education and training institutions and the workplace;
• that is responsive to the needs of individual citizens, 33
employers in both public and private sectors, as well as
broader societal and development objectives.
White Paper for Post-School Education and Training:
Community Engagement and graduate community
service

• The Ministry encourages feasibility studies and pilots

which explore potential of Community Service to:
• “answer the call of young people for constructive
social engagement,
• enhance the culture of learning, teaching and
service in HE, and
(White Paper 3, 1997:36)

34
White Paper for Post-School Education and Training:
Community Engagement and graduate community
service
• CE has become part of universities in SA in different forms like:
• Socially responsive research
• Partnerships with civil society organisations
• Formal learning programmes (part of academic programme)
• HEQC study shows:
• many CE university initiatives has been: ad hoc, fragmented
and not linked to the academic project.
• Future funding of such initiatives in universities will be
restricted to programmes linked to the academic programme
35
and is part of teaching and research (UCDG, etc.).
A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR
SERVICE-LEARNING
Towards a ‘scholarship of engagement’

Changing Community Service

Perceptions (White Paper, 1997)

Academically Based Community Service

(HEQC Founding Document, 2001)

Community Engagement and Service-Learning

(HEQC Audit & Accreditation Criteria, 2004)

Scholarship of Engagement
(Boyer, 1990)
Suggested as
being the next
shift. What does
this mean?
 The scholarship of engagement (Boyer, 1990)
• The scholarship of discovery: Closely resembles notion of
research and contributes to total stock of human knowledge.
• The scholarship of integration: Underscores need for scholars
to give meaning to their discovery by putting it in perspective
and interpreting it in relation to other discoveries and forms of
knowledge.
• The scholarship of application: Theory leads to practice and
practice leads to theory. Community engagement, viewed and
practised as a scholarly activity, provides context for dialogue
between theory and practice through reflection.
• The scholarship of teaching: Within the framework of a
scholarship of engagement, traditional roles of teacher and
learner become blurred. What emerges is a learning
community including community members, students,
academic staff and service providers.
 Examples of community engagement

Community
distance based
education Community
research

ENGAGEMENT
Teaching
Research

Service

service-learning professional participatory

community service action research

(Adapted from : Bringle, Games and Malloy, 1999)

Forms of community engaged learning

BENEFICIARY Student
Community

Service GOAL Learning

Service-Learning

Community Outreach Co-operative Education

Volunteerism Internship

40
Defining Service-Learning
• Service-learning is: a course-based, credit-bearing
educational experience in which students:
• Participate in an organised service activity that meets
identified community goals.
• Reflect on the service activity in such a way as to gain
further understanding of course content, a broader
appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of
civic responsibility (Bringle & Hatcher, 2004).
• Service-learning’ is also defined as: applied learning which
is directed at specific community needs and is integrated
into an academic programme and curriculum. It could be
credit-bearing and assessed, and may or may not take 41
place in a work environment (HEQC, June 2004).
 SL: An integrated curriculum model
•Foundation for curriculum model: S-L is conceptualised as a
form of experiential education and as a collaborative teaching
and learning strategy designed to promote in students
academic enhancement, personal growth and social
responsibility.

•Students render relevant and meaningful service, in

community and service agency settings that provide
experiences related to academic content (module descriptors).

•Through guided reflection, students examine their

experiences critically and determine whether they have
attained the learning outcomes; thus, the quality of both
students’ learning and their service is enhanced, and social 42
responsibility is fostered.
(Ash and Clayton, 2004; Ash, Clayton and Day, 2004; Ash, Clayton and Atkinson, 2005)
 Academic staff as key role-players

“It is the academic staff/ lecturers who design and offer the
service-learning modules, and who are ultimately responsible for
curricular reform. Therefore, academic staff involvement and
development are crucial to the long-term success and
institutionalisation of service-learning worldwide”
(Bringle and Hatcher, 1996; Stacey and Bender, 2005)

43
Service-Learning as a new paradigm

• Service-Learning challenges every educator to make a

paradigm shift.
• Compatible with other trends in higher education e.g.
• collaborative learning;
• problem-based learning;
• interdisciplinary work;
• democratic and diversity foci;
• emphasis on learning and not teaching.
(Bringle, Phillips & Hudson, 2004).
Distinctions between traditional learning and
service-learning
Traditional Learning Service-Learning

Theory Theory and experience

Others' knowledge Personal knowledge

Spectator Participant

Individual learning Corporate learning

Distinction between teacher and Blurred distinction between teacher and

learner learner

Answers Questions and answers

Certainty of outcomes Heterogeneous outcomes

Ignorance avoided Ignorance a resource

Objectivist epistemology Connected/ feminist epistemology

(Adapted from Howard, 1993 by Stacy, Rice & Langer, 2001)

Theoretical framework for
service-learning
Service-Learning: an innovative pedagogy with
multiple theoretical roots. (Adapted
2010)
from Paso Joven, 2004; Tapia, 2006;

Paulo Freire
Critical social Learning by
theories transforming Values education
Habermas – society Citizenship
Marcuse - education John Dewey
Constructivism Praxis=reflection +
Adorno action Learning by
doing

Habermas-Marcuse-
Ausubel: meaningful Adorn
learning
(contexualised) Critical social
theories

Active pedagogies Gardner

rather than passive
Multiple
approaches
intelligences

Cooperative Goleman
learning Service- Emotional 47
(individualism Learning intelligence
versus democracy)
Prosociality
Dewey and a new paradigm for learning
• His formula: Experience plus Reflection equals Learning

(Dewey, 1963).

• He never used the term service-learning

• But his perceptions and philosophy on education informed and

contributed to the pedagogy of service-learning.

Dewey and a new paradigm for learning
Five areas that can be related to service-learning:
• Linking education to experience
• Importance of linking theory to practice
• Democratic community
• Education is a social process connecting the ‘I’ to the ‘we’
• Social service
• Learning includes participation in a democratic community,
contributing to social wellbeing.
• Reflective enquiry
• Critically connects/breaks down the distinction between
“thought and action, theory and practice, knowledge and
authority
• Education for social transformation
• Education is linked to social reconstruction
(Saltmarsh, 1996)
Dewey’s theoretical underpinning for
good instruction

Learning should:

• generate interest.
• be intrinsically worthwhile.
• present problems to awaken curiosity (create
demand for information).
• cover a considerable time span to foster development
over time.
Dewey’s theoretical underpinning for
good instruction

• Learning begins with personal connection.

• Learning is useful to the learner.
• Learning is developmental.
• Learning is transformative.
• Citizenship rests on learning.
Kolb’s experiential learning cycle

• Cyclical processes/ pattern of learning from experience.

• Framework for the unique blending of ‘hands on’
experience and learning - with reflection as the vital
link;
• Map to structure the environment for S-L.
Kolb and Fry (1975)
Kolb’s experiential learning cycle
Direct practical
experience,
‘knowledge by
acquaintance’.
• From Concrete Experience
Observation,
• through Reflective Observation examination, analyses
and interpretation of
impact of experience
• to Abstract Conceptualisation
Gives meaning by
relating discoveries to
• and Active Experimentation other discoveries or
knowledge – apply
theory
Transforms
conceptualisation by
testing abstractions in
practice, constructing
and modifying the next
concrete experience.
 Kolb’s experiential learning cycle

Kolb’s description of the experiential

learning cycle (1984)
Immediate
Concrete Experience
is the basis for

and followed by
Testing Implications Observation
of Concepts in and
New Situations Reflection
which lead to

which are assimilated into the

Formation of Abstract
Concepts and Generalizations

from which implications for

action are deduced
naudel.hum@mail.uovs.ac.za
Kolb’s experiential learning

Experiential learning is flexible:

• learning can start at any stage;
• the completion of a cycle can happen in a flash, or over
days, weeks or months;
• there may be ‘learning wheels within wheels’ at any
point in time.
(Atherton, 2004)
Action learning and research

Action learning = “learning from concrete experience and

critical reflection on that experience” (Zuber-Skerritt,
2002: 114).

Action learning:
• Shares similar philosophical assumptions with
experiential learning;
• Is sometimes used as a synonym for experiential
learning.
Action learning and research
Action research
(Lewin’s model adapted by Zuber-Skerrit, 1992)
Learning style types are namely
3 convergent; divergent; accommodating
and assimilating (Kolb and Fry, 1975).
Updated learning styles are: Initiating,
Experiencing, Imagining, Reflecting,
Analyzing, Thinking, Deciding, Acting and
Plan Balancing.
www.learningfromexperience.com
reflect 2 act
Each learner (and educator) has a
preferred learning style, implying that
observe
every individual finds a learning
Plan experience interesting and challenging in
a different way. Question: What is your
reflect 1 act learning style?
www.edutopia.org
www.howtolearn.com
observe

naudel.hum@mail.uovs.ac.za
Service-Learning project case studies
CPUT ARCHITECTURE IN COLLABORATION WITH
BUILDING FOR CLIMATE
STEENBERG HIGH MUSIC AUDITORIUM
 Department of
Town and regional
planning

Unemployed youth training at

CPUT: a project implemented at
the columbine nature reserve
61
Clothing and Textile Management

Students assist community

their organizations like,
Bambanani for Social
Development in Nyanga to
upgrade their skills for
commercial production.
The Clothing and Textile
Technology Unit
coordinated this project in
collaboration with the
academic department.
 Education
Technology

Wellington campus
Education Technology
students teaching
technological skills to
learners from a nearby
school, Wellington
Jeugsorg. The service
provider in this
example is the
Department of
Education. This project
has received donations
from Gift of the Givers.
 Radiography Library
Project 2: CPUT students
assist at a local library

Community Health
Centre in Gugulethu:
students assist staff to
use new technology
Public Management students assisting the community advice offices
(funded by Department of Economic Development and Tourism:
Consumer Protector’s office) and the Ombudsman’s office (City of Cape
Town) with consumer rights and education.
The Office Management and Technology students share their skills by offering workshops
to various community organisations on report writing, communication skills,
correspondence, etc.
Human Resource Management students assisting the Durbanville Kinders Huis. This
project is based on the module: Project Management and is assessed by way of a
portfolio of evidence, poster and presentation of project.
Applied Science: Horticulture
Horticulture students share skills with community partners to enable
them to develop and sustain their own food gardens and then to
recycle the waste materials. Students also developed an organic
gardening guide for community partners. In 2012, students
established a food garden at Pinnochio Creche in Seapoint for which
they won two SL Awards.
Sports Management students conduct Recreational workshops for the
CPOA Senior Centre in Belgravia, Athlone in response to a request from
the Director, Mrs Busch. Students planned and implemented an Amazing
Race with seniors at Greenpoint Urban Park.
Environmental Health
Community traders who
have their own roadside
abattoirs share and give
feedback at a session held
with students. The students
conducted assessment and
testing of the Health and
Safety of the community
sites and then compiled a
report for the community
members. Students did a
project in Samora Machel in
partnership with the City of
Cape Town.
Health and Wellness: Emergency Medical Services:
First aid training to schools, community clubs, etc.
Thanks