Engaged Scholarship: Samoan Learning Circle
Michael Cuthill (University of Queensland), Lorraine McIlrath (NUI Galway)
Abstract
The concept of engaged scholarship, as a ‘new’ approach to knowledge production, has received much attention over the past decade or so. However the term is clouded in ambiguity. This workshop looks to shed some light on diverse understandings of engaged scholarship, by facilitating discussion on this topic among a small group of interested conference participants.
Engaged scholarship is increasingly being embraced by universities around the world, both “… as an expression of contemporary research methods and as a reinterpretation of the role of higher education in creating public good” (Holland 2005:11). In practical terms the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU, 2001:i) argues that this engagement, "… implies strenuous, thoughtful, argumentative interaction with the non-university world in at least four spheres: setting universities aims, purposes and priorities; relating teaching and learning to the wider world; the back-and-forth dialogue between researchers and practitioners; and taking on wider responsibilities as neighbours and citizens."
Knowledge production around these four areas is typically achieved through processes which are transdisciplinary, participatory, applied, and reflexive. Importantly, outcomes can be seen as both academically defined and socially accountable.
There is perhaps a certain familiarity associated with the suggested attributes of such an approach; a general feeling that what’s old is new again. However, the current context for engaged scholarship is receiving much more attention from university executives than previous expressions of similar concepts achieved. This acceptance is perhaps inevitable given that universities have increasingly come to acknowledge that they are only one player, “albeit still a major one, in a vastly expanded knowledge production process” (Gibbons, Limoges, Nowotny, Schwartzman, Scott & Trow, 1994:11).
A focus on partnerships and collaboration, which are inherent within engaged scholarship, suggests a significantly different role for the academy, a move away from the academic as the ‘expert’, to a role as a facilitator of collaborative knowledge creation processes. Holland (2005:12) suggests that this collaborative approach to knowledge production “… will be increasingly important with continued growth of new, more flexible approaches to intellectual inquiry … that supports new forms of collaboration”.
A second key motivation for universities to focus on engaged scholarship relates to a broad understanding of the role of modern universities in society, and their potential to contribute to the ‘common good’ through engaged scholarship. While responses in this area are often viewed primarily as a role for governments, there is also an increasing call for higher education institutions to contribute by “… connecting the rich resources of the university to our most pressing social, civic and ethical problems …” (Boyer 1996:21). The concept of ‘engaged scholarship’ provides an opportunity for universities to contribute to an agenda which looks to build a more just and sustainable world (Global University Network for Innovation, 2008).
The workshop will be delivered in three stages over 90 minutes. The first 20 minutes will involve a brief presentation and some initial group discussion to set the context for the workshop. The next 40 minutes will focus on a Samoan learning circle where participants can present their own views and experiences for discussion in a facilitated group process. The final 30 minutes will comprise a group discussion which will look to synthesize the main points emerging from the workshop.
