African Journal of Higher Education Community Engagement
type: channel
description: The African Journal of Higher Education Community Engagement (AJHECE) focuses on Community Engagement (CE) as a core function of higher education and an emerging discipline. In comparison to teaching, learning and research in higher education, community engagement is a recently introduced and less-known core function of higher education in South Africa and other parts of the African continent. CE aims to advance the developmental role of higher education institutions, intended to contribute to community development and inculcate civic and social responsibilities in students. For the continent of Africa, the engagement of higher education institutions with communities is imperative if we are to address and challenge the problems of social injustice, poverty, corruption, unemployment, environmental degradation and epistemic injustice as examples of some of the almost insurmountable struggles confronting Africa. Please visit the About the Journal page for more information about the journal.
publisher: Rhodes University, Community Engagement Division
language: en
publication name: African Journal of Higher Education Community Engagement
issn: 3007-7044
items: We Can Lift Each Other Up
items: Advancing Integrity and Social Justice through Faith-based Service Learning in Kiambiu, Kenya
items: Preliminary Pages
items: Liberatory classrooms
items: Bridging Knowledge Cultures
items: Youth Engagement Methods
items: Analysis of the Nine-Tenths Mentoring Programme’s role in decolonising higher education in Makhanda
items: Editorial
items: The Global South to the front
items: Introducing Community Engagement through Hospitality
items: Re-imagining engaged scholarship in South Africa
items: Overcoming Community Engagement Hurdles in South Africa's Private Higher Education
items: Reflections on an engaged research approach to understanding patient record-keeping systems in a local clinic in Makhanda
items: Exploring the synergies between intervention research and engaged research in South Africa
items: On the Makhanda Education Summit
items: Preliminary pages
items: University engagement as local economic development
items: Community Engagement as Publishable Scholarship
items: Foreword
items: Learning in the context of partnership
items: On possibility
items: Critical community engagement and the Latin American ethos: contributions to a Global South dialogue
items: Ethical imperatives in community engagement
items: Contemporary narratives on climate-induced migration and community engagement interventions in rural communities
items: Table of Contents

We Can Lift Each Other Up
type: item
description: In this paper, I suggest that ‘SHAER: Storytelling for Health, Acknowledgment, Expression and Recovery’ can be reimagined as a critical service-learning initiative. This suggestion is based on trying to make sense of two unexpected outcomes of implementing a mental-health intervention for women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Makhanda, South Africa. I argue that while SHAER was initially conceived as a mental health intervention, it creates an open space characterised by mutual recognition in which participants appear to others—disclose their identity and reality—and develop a critical consciousness. Drawing on the unexpected centrality of forward-looking, agency-affirming narratives of motherhood, rather than backward-looking, victim or survivor-centred ‘trauma stories’, I propose that SHAER offers a model for transformative community engagement in higher education institutions in South Africa. In its barest form, SHAER can be seen as a platform for fostering relational agency, self-authorship, and solidarity through narrative exchange and recognition. As such, SHAER aligns with the aims of what Tania Mitchell calls critical service-learning and John Saltmarsh and Matthew Hartley call democratic civic engagement and offers a powerful model for embedding community engagement within the academic project.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Gender-based violence
  topic: keywords
subject: Storytelling
  topic: keywords
subject: Narrative understanding
  topic: keywords
subject: Mental Health Intervention
  topic: keywords
subject: Engaged scholarship
  topic: keywords
subject: critical service-learning
  topic: keywords
subject: democratic civic engagement
  topic: keywords
creator: Lindsay Kelland
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Lindsay Kelland https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
starting page: 45
ending page: 64
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2520

Advancing Integrity and Social Justice through Faith-based Service Learning in Kiambiu, Kenya
type: item
description: The Franciscan School of the Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation, Tangaza University, offers a course on peace, justice, and human rights during which students engage with the Kiambiu small Christian communities through five weeks of community engagement service learning from a faith based perspective to implement the theory they learn. The programme includes prayers, Bible study, and reflection on the factors affecting their lives and society. Both formative and summative assessments form the total grade for the course. A study was undertaken with the following objectives: to explore how students of the Franciscan school engage with members of the Kiambiu small Christian communities; to examine issues that affect the socio-economic lives of the Kiambiu small Christian communities; to evaluate socio-political issues that challenge the integrity of the Kiambiu small Christian communities, and to involve the Kiambiu small Christian communities in their rights for a just nation. The methodology for this study is the five-stage pastoral cycle, and the experiential educational theory was used as its framework. The programme targeted 17 small Christian communities with a population of 425. There were 28 students in total. The outcome of the community engagement reveals that both communities and students are enriched and transformed by the experience. The findings highlight that, through community engagement, the Kiambiu small Christian communities’ members work and transform their attitude towards justice, peace, and human rights, improve their economic status, and alleviate their standard of living by starting self-reliance income-generating projects, while the students are transformed intellectually and affectively.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: service learning
  topic: keywords
subject: peace
  topic: keywords
subject: justice
  topic: keywords
subject: human rights
  topic: keywords
subject: community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: experiential educational theory
  topic: keywords
creator: Sr. Margaret Aringo
creator: Odhiambo Kevin Odongo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Sr. Margaret Aringo, Odhiambo Kevin Odongo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
starting page: 65
ending page: 84
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2491

Preliminary Pages
type: item
subject: Preliminary Pages
  topic: section
subject: preliminary pages
  topic: keywords
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2539

Liberatory classrooms
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: pedagogy
  topic: keywords
subject: liberation
  topic: keywords
subject: community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: teaching
  topic: keywords
subject: learning
  topic: keywords
creator: Margie Maistry
creator: Claire McCann
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Margie Maistry, Claire McCann https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
starting page: i
ending page: vi
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2538

Bridging Knowledge Cultures
type: item
description: Book review
subject: Thought Pieces
  topic: section
subject: Book review
  topic: keywords
creator: Peter Clayton
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Peter Clayton https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
starting page: 85
ending page: 88
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2537

Youth Engagement Methods
type: item
description: The university can be an enabler of positive transformation by engaging with various communities. By describing a methodological process followed in a doctoral study, this paper presents a participatory research approach with youth in a resourcepoor context to illustrate methodological pathways of inclusion. The paper also problematises the notion of social entrepreneurship and stresses the definitional challenges associated with the term. This is important to show the possibility of expanding the scholarly footprint of social entrepreneurship and universities’ important role and options in framing new approaches and methodologies within community university partnerships. A methodological primer is presented to show the methodological process, embedded in qualitative participatory research, that informed the study. The methodological process is rooted in the participants’ lifeworld and seeks to amplify local concerns and solutions. Community-university partnerships that respect aspirations and agendas of local communities inspired by collaborative, dialogical, transforming and respectful processes are identified in the paper as enablers of successful university-community engagements.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Participatory methodologies
  topic: keywords
subject: community-university partnerships
  topic: keywords
subject: youth engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: social entrepreneurship
  topic: keywords
creator: Grey Magaiza
creator: Geoffrey Mukwada
creator: Jesse Lutabingwa
creator: Jerit Dube
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Grey Magaiza, Geoffrey Mukwada, Jesse Lutabingwa, Jerit Dube https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
starting page: 22
ending page: 44
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2536

Analysis of the Nine-Tenths Mentoring Programme’s role in decolonising higher education in Makhanda
type: item
description: This research critically examines the potential and limitations of the Nine-Tenths Mentoring Programme at Rhodes University as a tool for decolonising higher education and enhancing epistemological access for historically disadvantaged students in Makhanda, South Africa. Initiated in 2016, the programme targets Grade 12 learners from under-resourced, no-fee schools, aiming to increase their chances of entering higher education. While the programme has successfully improved Bachelor-level pass rates and local enrolment at Rhodes, this study argues that true access involves more than just university admission. Conducted in 2021, the study uses qualitative data from 12 in-depth interviews with former Nine-Tenths mentees at various levels of study, ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate. The paper explores how the programme facilitates epistemological access, defined as the ability to engage meaningfully with academic knowledge, and its role in the decolonisation of higher education. Findings reveal that while Nine-Tenths bridges the gap between secondary and tertiary education, students continue to face substantial challenges upon entering university, including socio-economic obstacles, language barriers, and feelings of alienation within a historically white institution. While the programme marks progress toward decolonisation, deeper institutional transformation is necessary to achieve epistemological equity and create a truly inclusive academic environment. This paper concludes with recommendations such as enhanced first year support systems, targeted socio-economic interventions, and curriculum reforms that embrace diverse epistemologies. By emphasising the need to move beyond mere access to ensure meaningful inclusion and success, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on decolonisation in South African higher education, and the urgent need for systemic transformation in historically exclusionary institutions.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: epistemological access
  topic: keywords
subject: community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: mentoring
  topic: keywords
subject: decolonisation
  topic: keywords
subject: Nine-Tenths Mentoring Programme
  topic: keywords
subject: higher education access
  topic: keywords
creator: Nigel Machiha
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Nigel Machiha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2025-05-09
publication date: 2025-05-09
starting page: 1
ending page: 21
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i3.2524

Editorial
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
subject: Editorial
  topic: keywords
subject: Community Engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: Higher Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Knowledge Communities
  topic: keywords
subject: Knowledge Democracy
  topic: keywords
creator: Margie Maistry
creator: Claire McCann
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Margie Maistry, Claire McCann https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: i
ending page: viii
doi: 10.21504/3wcy3m96

The Global South to the front
type: item
description: In this article, I will reflect on the importance of two recent “South-South” exchanges organized by faculty and leadership from the Universidad de la República in Uruguay and Rhodes University in South Africa. I believe these encounters represent an innovative and much-needed alternative to collaborations where Global North voices are most prominent and Global South is reduced to an object of study. Finally, I identify five critical questions that emerged in these conversations for future South-South dialogues in the field: What is the Global South? Why should we have a dialogue? What should that dialogue look like? What are the main challenges for a South-South dialogue? What can the Global North learn from a South-South dialogue on community engagement?
subject: Thought Pieces
  topic: section
subject: Community Engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: South-South partnerships
  topic: keywords
subject: global dialogue
  topic: keywords
subject: Global South
  topic: keywords
creator: Matias Flores
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Matías G. Flores https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 99
ending page: 105
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2517

Introducing Community Engagement through Hospitality
type: item
description: The objective of this thought piece is to explore Nouwen’s notion of hospitality as a means of introducing participatory research, in particular community-based participatory research, to academics who may be interested in community engagement but have little or no experience in recent scholarly developments in the field. This includes knowledge democracy, social and epistemic injustice, and epistemic agency. The approach is not intended to replace well-established orientation processes but to engender interest in further orientation in participatory research.
subject: Thought Pieces
  topic: section
subject: Community Engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: Hospitality
  topic: keywords
subject: Community-based Participatory Research
  topic: keywords
creator: Darren Lortan
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Darren Lortan https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 42
ending page: 49
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2516

Re-imagining engaged scholarship in South Africa
type: item
description: This article represents a constructive disruption of the extant habits of mind associated with community engagement in South Africa. The constructive disruption is developed by applying a critical realist method placing emphasis on engaged transdisciplinary knowledge co-production processes. The argument that is developed suggests two plausible disruptions. The first disruption argues that it is possible to consider a second order form of methodological decision making using a concept labelled ‘critical epistemological selectivity’ as a mechanism to increase the armamentarium of engaged, transdisciplinary scholarship. The second disruption focuses on the real-world utility of the current ‘spirit’ of engagement – ‘social justice’ – in the face of increasingly complex global challenges. The article concludes by suggesting that second and third order perspectives could contribute to a more reflexive form of engaged scholarship that may be of benefit to both academe and its neighbouring communities.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: boundary stretching
  topic: keywords
subject: community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: constructive disruption
  topic: keywords
subject: critical epistemological selectivity
  topic: keywords
subject: second and third order engagement
  topic: keywords
creator: Christopher Burman
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Christopher J. Burman https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 50
ending page: 74
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2499

Overcoming Community Engagement Hurdles in South Africa's Private Higher Education
type: item
description: This paper focuses on the challenges and perceptions related to community engagement in private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in South Africa. Community engagement is now considered equally important as teaching and learning, and research and innovation at universities. The Council on Higher Education expects formal engagement from both public and private higher education institutions. However, PHEIs face unique challenges such as resource constraints, conflicting priorities, lack of tradition, and differing perceptions of community engagement. The study used qualitative data collection methods, including desktop research and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with five academics from different PHEIs. The findings emphasised the need for PHEIs to develop strategies to build sustainable relationships with their communities despite these challenges.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Community Engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: Private Higher Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Challenges in PHEIs
  topic: keywords
subject: Community-engaged Research
  topic: keywords
creator: Flip Schutte
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Flip Schutte https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 26
ending page: 41
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2498

Reflections on an engaged research approach to understanding patient record-keeping systems in a local clinic in Makhanda
type: item
description: The taking and archiving of accurate record-keeping is an essential part of caregiving in health care. There is extensive evidence that record-keeping systems are affected by systemic problems that impact healthcare provision globally and in South Africa, particularly in public healthcare. Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) has been applied in healthcare settings to address these systemic challenges, including those related to record keeping, but not in South Africa. With participation being a critical element of HFE, a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) framework can but has not been used to understand and optimise systems such as those linked to record keeping. This reflection provides an overview of how an HFE approach was applied, using a CBPR framework to understand the challenges affecting patient record-keeping in a clinic in Makhanda. Specifically, it provides insights into how CBPR was applied and reflections on this experience from both the researchers’ and collaborators' perspectives. The importance of patience and flexibility, empathy, constant feedback and consultation and listening to collaborators' and participants' contributions emerged as important lessons. The community collaborator also experienced the process positively, where she emphasised the empowering experience of being able to help guide and facilitate research, which, in turn, revealed challenges that affected the daily running of the clinic. The collaboration using the CBPR approach was a practical framework for applying several HFE approaches to understand the challenges around record keeping.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Community-based Participatory Research
  topic: keywords
subject: Human Factors and Ergonomics
  topic: keywords
subject: Patient record-keeping
  topic: keywords
subject: Healthcare
  topic: keywords
creator: Kirsten Kingwill
creator: Andrew Todd
creator: Jonathan Davy
creator: Siphosethu Pama
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Kirsten Kingwill, Andrew Todd, Jonathan Davy, Siphosethu Pama https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 1
ending page: 25
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2497

Exploring the synergies between intervention research and engaged research in South Africa
type: item
description: Engaged research is a space where collaborative work takes place with groups of people within a specific geographic area and special interests in relation to their wellbeing – this being understood as a community (Balls-Berry & Acosta-Pérez, 2017). Intervention research design is a dynamic process which involves researchers (based within universities), organisations and practitioners (Fraser et al., 2009; Rothman & Thomas, 1994). Furthermore, intervention research follows distinct stages, with collaboration at the core of each of these stages. Given that collaboration is a core theme for engaged research as well as the intervention research design process, the question arises if the intervention research design process could be considered a tool to promote engaged research. The aim of the following paper is to provide insight into how the intervention research design was used for the design and development of the Sihleng’imizi family intervention. The paper will look at how collaboration was a feature in each of the phases. A reflective discussion on the successes of collaborative work and how this may contribute to engaged research, as part of community engagement will be discussed.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Intervention research
  topic: keywords
subject: Engaged research
  topic: keywords
subject: Continuum of collaboration
  topic: keywords
subject: Child support grant
  topic: keywords
creator: Jenita Chiba
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Jenita Chiba https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 75
ending page: 98
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2495

On the Makhanda Education Summit
type: item
description: The Makhanda Education Summit, a convening of the basic sector in Makhanda, was called by Professor Sizwe Mabizela following more than a decade of deliberate, intentional and collaborative intervention in schools in Makhanda focused on improving learner performance. The Summit sought to be an inclusive space for members of the education sector in the city of Makhanda, and in doing prioritized ensuring that its delegates included representatives from early childhood development centres, primary schools, high schools and non-profit organisations that work in the education sector. In doing so, the Summit has been situated within the context of the city’s education sector as a crucial co-created reflection point by the community on the development of the education sector following its gradual upliftment through engaged partnership. In addition, it served as a strategic space to collectively identify key goals to shape the future of education in Makhanda and map out the shared pathway towards building a city of education excellence. Explored through the lens of Social Movement Theory, the presenters assess how the Summit’s hyper-local approach to bringing together school leaders and educators after impactful engagement over several years enabled the development of an organic community-driven social movement to emerge. The Summit demonstrated the necessity and endless potential of collaboration for common good, and the essential role of higher education institutions in driving community development. The paper will provide an overview of the decade's journey towards convening the Summit, reflect on the strategic approaches taken to mobilise buy-in and build a common purpose within the city’s stakeholder network, and share some of the key outputs that will undoubtedly inform the work of the invested stakeholders for the years to come.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: makhanda
  topic: keywords
subject: education summit
  topic: keywords
subject: vice-chancellor's initiative
  topic: keywords
subject: rhodes university
  topic: keywords
creator: Sisesakhe Ntlabezo
creator: Ashley Westaway
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Sisesakhe Ntlabezo, Ashley Westaway https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
starting page: 106
ending page: 123
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i2.2493

Preliminary pages
type: item
subject: Preliminary Pages
  topic: section
subject: Preliminary pages
  topic: keywords
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2024-12-11
publication date: 2024-12-11
doi: 10.21504/g5aq7v45

University engagement as local economic development
type: item
description: Universities engage with their communities through a plethora of approaches. One largely neglected form of engagement is the contribution of the university to local economic development. Empirical studies on the economic impact of universities in Africa have been significantly lower compared to the global North. However, this is not because universities in Africa are not contributing to the economic development of their immediate and extended regions. This paper aims to contribute to closing that gap through an empirical study of a newly established South African university within a secondary city characterized by high unemployment, a declining economic sector, but with a growing staff and student body and high university expenditures. The analysis uses a Keynesian-type multiplier impact model, to demonstrate that the university contributes a minimum of R2 billion to the local municipality, which translates to about 19% of the district GDP. This contribution is made through a combination of direct and indirect activities of the university and its constituencies – staff, students, visitors, and local businesses. The paper concludes that intentional engagement policies and practices from the universities coupled with active commitments from local or provincial government and other external stakeholders could ensure the university serves a stronger anchoring and developmental role within the city and region.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Universities
  topic: keywords
subject: economic impact
  topic: keywords
subject: Keynesian model
  topic: keywords
subject: anchor institution framing
  topic: keywords
creator: Samuel Fongwa
creator: Stewart Ngandu
creator: Bongiwe Mncwango
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Samuel Fongwa, Stewart Ngandu, Bongiwe Mncwango https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 97
ending page: 123
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2483

Community Engagement as Publishable Scholarship
type: item
description: The structures that evaluate what counts as novel and fundable knowledge have evolved over a long timeline, primarily driven by traditional forms of explorative, descriptive and critical analysis research. Community Based Participatory Research does not always fit evaluation and funding structures as comfortably as these models of research which are more established in the global academy, and requires careful navigation of, and some further fine-tuning to, review and accreditation processes, to stand beside more traditionally accepted scholarly practices in being readily recognised as producing original scholarly knowledge.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Community Engagement
  topic: keywords
creator: Peter Clayton
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Prof Peter Clayton https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 55
ending page: 63
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2481

Foreword
type: item
subject: Foreword
  topic: section
creator: Sizwe Mabizela
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Prof Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor, Rhodes University https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: [ii
ending page: iii]
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2476

Learning in the context of partnership
type: item
description: For a number of years, community-based service learning (CBSL) has been a key element of the Community Psychology module in the Master’s programme for training psychologists at Rhodes University. In 2022, CBSL was consolidated to become central to the whole programme, with a focus on providing services in a partnership with the Assumption Development Centre (ADC). After introducing a model showing how students gradually move from sensitisation to social justice issues at undergraduate levels towards conscientisation as postgraduates, this paper will reflect on the interface between the professional training programmes and the community-based partnership with the ADC. Following a brief background about the partnership’s development, we describe the structure of the CBSL and its integration into the curricula. We provide evidence of its impact on both the firstyear master’s students, and the second year Counselling Psychology Interns. These data draw from the trainee psychologists’ reflections, as reported in the Rhodes Psychology Clinic 2022 Annual Report; and the Intern Psychologists’ reflections, integrated into the 2022 ADC Counselling Hub Annual Report. A thematic analysis of the reflections illustrates the commonalities in the accounts of learning, as well as the deepened insights and shifts evident in the accounts. The reported reflective learning is then considered both practically and theoretically, with recommendations for further development.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Community-based service learning (CBSL)
  topic: keywords
subject: training psychologists
  topic: keywords
subject: building partnerships
  topic: keywords
subject: psychology internships
  topic: keywords
subject: postgraduate learning
  topic: keywords
creator: Jacqueline Akhurst
creator: Nqobile Msomi
creator: Anneliese Maritz
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Professor Jacqui Akhurst , Nqobile Msomi, Anneliese Maritz https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 20
ending page: 38
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2480

On possibility
type: item
description: Higher education institutions have historically enabled and aided epistemicide, or the marginalisation, annihilation and devaluing of the knowledge of those beyond university walls. Twenty-first century universities therefore face the important task of transforming teaching and research in ways that broaden epistemic access, incorporate various knowledge systems, and ensure local relevance. Here, academic feminism, especially postcolonial feminism, and community engagement may provide a way forward, as both projects serve to deconstruct the binary between ‘knower’ and ‘non-knower’, contributing to epistemic justice. In isolation, however, these projects have not yet made enough progress in pursuit of university transformation. This essay offers a preliminary exploration of the connections between community engagement and postcolonial feminism, and the ways in which a mutually beneficial relationship between the two may enhance each project's contribution to epistemic justice. It brings together literature on feminism and community engagement, linking this literature to the ideas of postcolonial feminism. Focus on postcolonial feminism specifically emerges from the recognition that universities do not only need to transform, but also decolonise. Ideas put forward in this writing are interspersed with my subjective memories and recollections of my lived experiences, spanning two universities and continents.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: postcolonial feminism
  topic: keywords
subject: community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: university decolonisation
  topic: keywords
subject: epistemic justice
  topic: keywords
subject: subjective experiences
  topic: keywords
creator: Claire McCann
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Claire McCann https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 39
ending page: 54
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2472

Critical community engagement and the Latin American ethos: contributions to a Global South dialogue
type: item
description: The advancement of the concept of community engagement as a reference for university-society relations invites us, particularly those of us from the Global South, to reflect on our history and traditions. We understand community engagement as a disputed concept throughout history that can potentially house an ethical-political-pedagogical project that questions traditional university models. Observing its historical development and tensions in Latin America invites us to go beyond particular projects, giving an account of a regional movement that continues to inspire university reform processes connected to projects for transforming society. This article presents the history that constitutes the Latin American community engagement ethos, its prevalence in critical community engagement, and some experiences that illustrate a living paradigm still under construction that responds to the continent’s needs. It concludes with an invitation to review the critical traditions of community engagement and promote the dialogue of experiences in the Global South.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: Latin American universities
  topic: keywords
subject: critical community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: university extension
  topic: keywords
creator: Matías G. Flores
creator: Romina Colacci
creator: Agustín Cano
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Matías G. Flores, Romina Colacci, Agustín Cano https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 64
ending page: 82
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2473

Ethical imperatives in community engagement
type: item
description: As the impetus for community engagement (CE) grows in higher education, it is imperative that such growth takes place within a sound ethical framework. While research-related ethics and norms are well developed, there is now a need for the development of ethical guidelines to underpin CE initiatives. We begin by framing the discussion of ethics within policy and theoretical frameworks underpinning CE in higher education in South Africa. Core concepts and values emerging from these frameworks, such as social responsibility, Ubuntu and interconnectedness, are important starting points for ethics in CE. As CE involves the exercising of leadership by universities and community partners, we explore key ethical concepts to underpin established frameworks for governance and leadership, such as the King IV report. We highlight core ethical principles such as sustainable development, integrity, and accountability. We further consider that value propositions must not narrowly focus on value to stakeholders, but also to broader systems. The discussion then narrows to the application of ethics to the specifics of CE. We apply the “four principles” of Beauchamp and Childress (non-maleficence, beneficence, justice, and autonomy), considering each of these principles in turn. We discuss their application in practical terms to university CE initiatives. Finally, we consider the way forward in relation to the integration of these ethical imperatives into higher education CE policies and processes. Recommendations include: the inclusion of ethical frameworks in CE policies of universities; the establishment of ethics committees/forums to guide CE; and the need to heighten ethical consciousness among CE practitioners.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Ethical imperatives
  topic: keywords
subject: Community Engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: Partnerships
  topic: keywords
subject: Higher Education
  topic: keywords
subject: Systems theories
  topic: keywords
creator: Jacqueline Scheepers
creator: Lloyd Christopher
creator: Stephen Harrison
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Jacqueline Scheepers, Lloyd Christopher, Stephen Harrison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 1
ending page: 19
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2479

Contemporary narratives on climate-induced migration and community engagement interventions in rural communities
type: item
description: The Global Compact on Migration recognised climate change as a critical factor in migration and displacement and called on the global community to address the issue. However, recent reports suggest that global efforts to address the impacts of climate change on migration have not been able to address climate change-induced migration substantially. Global actions have often resulted in suboptimal outcomes. This study, therefore, sought to explore how local challenges can be leveraged in addressing global issues. A systematic literature review was conducted to analyse the potential of local solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change on migration. Information was obtained from full-text peer-reviewed journals published between 2010 to 2023 from the Scopus database. Atlas ti.23 was used to create codes and themes and then construct flowcharts that effectively demonstrate the importance of addressing issues at the local level when dealing with global challenges. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on how local approaches can mitigate the impact of climate on migration.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Community engagement
  topic: keywords
subject: climate change
  topic: keywords
subject: migration, strategies
  topic: keywords
creator: Shadreck Muchaku
creator: Grey Magaiza
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Shadreck Muchaku, Grey Magaiza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: 83
ending page: 96
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2482

Editorial
type: item
subject: Editorial
  topic: section
creator: Margie Maistry
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Dr Margie Maistry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: i
ending page: vi
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2478

Table of Contents
type: item
subject: Table of Contents
  topic: section
creator: Wynand van der Walt
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Wynand van der Walt https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: [iv]
ending page: [iv]
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2477

Preliminary Pages
type: item
subject: Preliminary Pages
  topic: section
creator: Wynand van der Walt
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Wynand van der Walt https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
date: 2023-11-23
publication date: 2023-11-23
starting page: [i]
ending page: [i]
doi: 10.21504/ajhece.v1i1.2475