A compatible partnership? Student-community engagement and traditional university education

• Main Author: Tom Bourner
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UTS ePRESS 2010-11-01
• Series: Gateways : International Journal of Community Research & Engagement
• Online Access: http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/ijcre/article/view/1415

This article looks at how student learning from community engagement is related to traditional university education. In order to do so it has to deal with the range of variation in both student-community engagement and traditional university education and it has to explore the knowledge, skills and attitudes that characterise the learning outcomes of each. The main conclusion reached is that student-community engagement does not fit within traditional university education but it does fit with it. They are complementary forms of higher education that together better prepare students for their next steps after university than either do on its own. Keywords: Traditional university education, community engagement, student learning, knowledge, skills, attitudes.