Author: PRIA Blog
Education, as a form of knowledge dissemination is often seen as one way delivery of information, involving a fixed set of stakeholders. Seldom do we appreciate the ‘unconventionality’ of education, as being something that involves the development of human calibre and moulding of a human mind. As the focus is more on pedagogics than on letting the young minds evolve, conventional education is often boxed into university premises. It is this conventionality (of set procedures of information exchange) that community engagement in higher education institutions seeks to challenge. It does away with this customary approach of viewing education, by letting knowledge move and flow across boundaries and barriers. This ‘unconventionality’ manifests itself in the form of student engagement in participatory research projects (in association with communities, rather than in laboratories), increased community participation in academic discourses etc. It is here that the boundaries between universities & communities begin to blur, to make way for a ‘knowledge society’, one in which all forms of knowledge (indigenous/academic) is recognized and respected.
Coming to student engagement, their role in providing substance to ‘unconventional education’ is undebatable. The kind of contribution they can make to a community university engagement practice and the magnitude of impact it can have on the initiative is immense. This was one of the key research findings that emerged out of the summer internship work, carried out by interns from Lingnan University, at UNESCO Chair-India (PRIA). The interns surveyed and assessed the community engagement practices of two universities, Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya (BPSMV), Sonepat and Dayalbagh Educational Institute (DEI), Agra. The findings from BPSMV redefined the role of the students. Here, it was them who initiated the process, and acted as the intermediary between the university and the community. Therefore, rather than the university taking the lead in bringing the students to the community, it was the students who brought the university to the community. This was made possible by a number of student initiated projects, in which the students visited nearby villages and engaged the villagers in joint research work.
On the other hand, DEI differs in its approach towards community engagement practices. This is one institution which commits itself to the ‘holistic development of a human being’. Following this philosophy, it has molded its education system in a way that the students commit themselves to the benefit of the society/community. Accordingly, its initiatives and activities are directed towards the self-empowerment of the community members and expansion of theoretical and practical knowledge of the students in the bargain. The various outreach programs designed for the students and the initiatives undertaken by the department of lifelong learning and education bear testimony to this. So, DEI stands as an example of an institution which bridges the gap between the students and the communities.
In essence, what is needed is that knowledge (theoretical/practical) transcends boundaries and flows into the neighboring territory. This may well be facilitated by the students or the institution, but what is more important is executing the idea behind such engagement programs. This is to expand the horizons of conventional education, to a point, where it is seen not only as ‘routine university education’, but as a means to achieve skill development, empowerment, and sustainability. It is then that we can say, ‘Higher Education? So much ‘unconventional’ about it’!
24th August’ 2015
By Wafa Singh, Program Officer
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