A role for the university in working collaboratively for the common good: Engaged scholarship and community-based participatory research
Michael Cuthill (University of Queensland)
Abstract
The idea that ‘western’ universities could take on a ‘civic responsibility’ role for the common good dates back to ~1200AD with the advent of the earliest European institutions such as Bolonga, Paris and Oxford. This historical foundation has fluctuated over the subsequent millennium with institutions constantly “… in conflict with their societies over missions and roles, and sometimes over ideologies and politics’ (Altbach, 2008:5). A common good mission is once again being debated in forums across the world. However, the task for universities in putting this discussion into practice has been somewhat problematic, with the necessities of economic survival in a competitive market place seen to overwhelm other considerations.
Nevertheless, a contemporary translation of a university common good mission into practice, is clearly articulated through Boyer’s (1996:19) concept of a Scholarship of engagement which he describes as “… connecting the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic and ethical problems …”. Such an approach to knowledge production can be seen as being applied, transdisciplinary, participatory and reflexive. While perhaps not yet as well acknowledged as more traditional approaches to scholarship, engaged scholarship is increasingly being recognised by universities around the world, both as a contemporary methodology for knowledge production and as an expression of the role of higher education in contributing to the common good.
This paper moves from the broad concept of universities contributing to the common good, to discuss the emergence of engaged scholarship as a conceptual framework to guide implementation of such a mission. The main discussion for the paper then focuses on Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) as one practice based framework for operationalising engaged scholarship. Challenges and opportunities relating to this framework are discussed.
