Lessons learned from a community engagement initiative within Irish higher education

Abstract

This paper focuses on a community–university partnership built around a programme of study co-created by residents of a disadvantaged community and situated, for the most part, within that community. The aim of this paper is to share lessons learned from this community engagement initiative, as identified through a research study which ran concurrent to the programme. The study involved 41 interviews (18 individual interviews and 23 focus groups) over a two-year period with 28 participants. Participants included students, lecturers and community and university stakeholders. The finding section focuses on the characteristics of the initiative which allowed it to positively impact those involved. The data indicated that (i) the authenticity of the partnership between the community and university, (ii) the suitability of the lecturers and (iii) the ability of the lecturers and management to adapt the programme to identified needs were all key to the success of the programme. The paper concludes with a discussion, incorporating relevant literature, regarding what can be learned from this programme for those interested in enacting truly engaged practice in Irish higher education.

Keywords:

• community
• university
• partnership
• engagement
• disadvantage
• higher education

Notes on contributors

Bernie Quillinan is a senior lecturer and civic engagement champion at the University of Limerick. Her research interests include facilitating community health and well-being, community-engaged learning and related assessment practices.

Eileen McEvoy is a PhD student at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland and a researcher within the field of education in Ireland. She has conducted research in the areas of sociology of education, community engagement, literacy, sport pedagogy and teacher education.

Professor Ann MacPhail is Head of the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences in the University of Limerick. Her main teaching and research interests revolve around (physical education) teacher education, young people in sport, curriculum development, teaching, learning and assessment, and methodological issues in working with young people.

Ciara Dempsey currently works with the Health Service Executive in Ireland in the area of suicide prevention. Her career focus is to improve the life chances of others through health promotion, education and the development of life skills. Previous areas of work include social inclusion, access to health services, gender issues and community development.

ORCID

Eileen McEvoy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0916-7651

Notes

1. The CWell programme was supported each semester by 6–8 university students who undertook a service learning module as part of their course. As part of this module, students provided crucial support to the CWell students through such activities as homework workshops, tutorials on academic writing and assistance with presentations, etc.