Community Engaged Learning in Higher Education: A Decolonial Approach to Experiential Learning

This accessible resource provides comparative insights on experiential and exploratory learning in community-based settings in Higher Education. Eight cutting-edge case studies of novel pedagogic approaches in India and the UK show how learners have stepped out of the shadows of the institution to engage with stakeholders beyond the campus as part of their formal studies. The case studies present approaches that emphasise situated experiential learning which enables undergraduate or postgraduate students to develop positive, mutually beneficial relationships with local communities and organisations as well as develop nuanced sensitivity to context. Issues including scale, assessment, partnership building, colonialism, sustainability, and social justice are discussed, alongside identifying the critical components of successful community engaged pedagogies. This text will be ideal reading for those in leadership positions; those with learning and teaching responsibilities for departments, schools, and colleges; and for individual academics seeking pedagogical approaches which reflect their own values and the institutions that they represent.

Table of Contents:
An Introduction to Community-Engaged Learning in the UK and India Andy Pitchford and Pooja Thomas Chapter 1: MICA’s Unique Rural Immersion Program: Combining Experiential Learning and Community-Engaged Learning Synergistically Kallol Das and Yogesh Mungra Chapter 2: Engaging Students, Transforming Communities: The Empowering London Module Sophie Clutterbuck and Vanessa Airth Chapter 3: Decolonising Community-Engaged Learning in the Built Environment: Lessons from Theory and Practice Marie Xypaki, Gemma Moore, Elena Besussi, and David Owen Chapter 4: The Urban Fellows Programme: Pedagogical Approaches to Urban Practice at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore Shriya Anand, Gautam Bhan, Sudeshna Mitra, and Neha Sami Chapter 5: Immersion and Transformative Research in Higher Education Anup Dhar and Shyam Menon Chapter 6: Engaging Students and Communities through Research: The Science Shop at Queen’s University Belfast Emma McKenna and David Owen Chapter 7: Of Goats and Garbage: Teaching the Subaltern City Gauri Bharat Chapter 8: Community Organising in the UK Higher Education Sector: How Membership of Civic Alliances Enables Universities to Strengthen Democracy Tim Hall Conclusion: Reimagining Higher Education through a Decolonial Lens Rahul Bishnoi and Sonal Purohit

About the Author :
Andy Pitchford is Head of the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation (CETI) at the University of Westminster, UK. Pooja Thomas is Associate Professor and Chair of the Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogy at MICA, Ahmedabad, India. Sonal Purohit is Associate Professor at the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management-Nagpur, Symbiosis International University, India.

Review :
"The Third UNESCO Conference on Higher Education in 2022 made a strong plea for community engagement as part of both teaching/learning and research/knowledge missions of higher education. The New Education Policy (2020) in India also emphasised community engagement and social responsibility in post-secondary education. While practice of community engagement in India is not new, mutual learning with community knowledge is certainly somewhat new. This book brings a comparative perspective between such learning stories from India and UK. The decolonial lens, though somewhat different in the two contexts, nevertheless provides useful pedagogical insights. The challenge of decolonial community engagement in India is to navigate diversity of languages and cultures, where local knowledge resides. This book furthers this discourse in India, contributing to further models of innovative pedagogies." Rajesh Tandon, Co-Chair, UNESCO Chair on Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education.