Professional and Community Engagement at Macquarie University: Educating the Global Citizen Dr Felicity Rawlings-Sanaei, Macquarie University ...
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Professional and Community Engagement at
Macquarie University: Educating the Global Citizen
Dr Felicity Rawlings-Sanaei, Macquarie University
Practice-Based Education Summit 2014
Charles Sturt University 9-10 April
Introduction
Professional and Community Engagement (PACE):
- offers undergraduate students experiential
learning opportunities with local, regional, and
international partners
- designed to strengthen graduate capabilities and
develop informed, socially responsible, and
engaged global citizens; and contribute to
positive social change
- extends opportunities to all students not just the
high achievers
Mutual benefit: the organising principle
2
Current Profile
• Projected student enrolment in 2014: 5,500
• Rollout over a five-year period increasing to 100% take-up in 2016
• More than 600 partnerships established
• A range of formats:
- community development projects
- service-learning by volunteering
- community-based research
- mentoring and peer-assisted learning
- community / industry reference panels with project monitoring
- internships and work-integrated learning
- professional experience with practicums
- field trips with partnership component
- project- /problem- based learning with partnership component
3
PACE International
• The MQ-AVI Collaboration Agreement is the first of its kind in
this sphere of activity in terms of a ‘whole-of-university’
approach between an Australian university and a major not-
for-profit organisation.
• AVI’s experience with international partnerships and risk
assessment protocols are of particular benefit.
• Operational with AVI partners in Cambodia, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Philippines, India and Peru, students gain the
experience of daily life and work in a developing community.
• Often multidisciplinary
4Globalisation: antecedent to the
global citizen
Integrative forces e.g.
• the cultural renaissance occurring throughout the world
• the rapid expansion of knowledge
• and the electronic unification of the world
AND
Disintegrative forces e.g.
• poverty
• environmental degradation
• civil strife
The plurality of worldviews ‘an abstraction of values and
standards that permits extreme levels of differentiation’ (Waters 1995,
159) the threat of terrorism; cultural relativism being used as a
pretext for discriminatory practices against women etc. etc.
5A key challenge
What steps, then, can be taken to resolve the world
problematique?
Several social commentators have suggested that the
challenge to educators is at once to affirm diversity and
advance world unity (e.g. Henry Widdowson, 1989).
Responses to this challenge have been various but the
adoption of ‘global citizenship’ as a key context of curricula
(both school and university) has been significant (see
Wierenga and Roberto Guevara, 2013).
Recent research by Bosanquet, Winchester-Seeto and
Rowe (work in progress) reports that 95% of Australian
universities have included ‘global citizenship’ in some form in
their graduate attribute profile.
6Definition of ‘Global Citizen’
Involves a recognition that all individuals :
• are bearers of basic human rights regardless of gender, cultural
background or country of residence.
• are trustees of the planet and by implication, have an obligation to
ensure that its health is safeguarded.
• are members of a world society, and as such are interconnected
and have extended loyalties so that while retaining them at local,
national and regional levels, they embrace the entire human race.
• are intimately involved in their own development. In an
educational context, this underscores the importance of
consultation and the participation of all stakeholders in the
education of their communities.
(Bahá’í International Community 1993; Wierenga and Guevara, 2013)
7PACE and Global Citizenship
PACE offers a range of powerful learning contexts which
provide enabling environments for the development of
global citizens whether it be in a local, regional or
international context.
On what basis is this assertion made?
John Dewey’s model of experiential learning
provides a means of enhancing our understanding of the
ways in which PACE activities help students further
develop the qualities, attitudes and skills of a global
citizen.
8The experiential learning process within the context of the PACE
Initiative (adapted from Dewey, 1955)
Purposeful action
Judgement
Knowledge
Observations
• societal needs and problems
• human diversity
• common humanity
9
ImpulsePACE and Global Citizenship
Anecdotal evidence suggests that PACE is developing the qualities, attitudes
and skills of a global citizen. As in the following examples, in alignment with
Dewey’s theory, PACE seeks to ensure that the experiential learning activity is
of highest quality.
• Marist Youth Care in Blacktown – a local placement with the Affordable
Housing for Life Project. (Community Connections, 2011).
• A regional student teacher placement - in the Tiwi Islands - a remote
archipelago 80 kilometers off the Australian mainland and home to the
Indigenous Wurrumiyanga community (Adie, 2013).
• The PACE International project with Partner, Peru’s Challenge working with
impoverished communities in the Cusco region (Rawlings-Sanaei and
Sachs 2014).
The next step is to move beyond the anecdotal to establish a solid evidence
base.
10Current Research
The Student Experience of PACE Project (Ethics approval ref.
5201400167)
Research questions:
1. How does the PACE experience impact on the development of
graduate capabilities and career aspirations, if at all?
2. Does PACE offer any distinct motives for learning?
3. Does a transformative learning experience take place in the
context of PACE?
The Project will explore the extent to which PACE activities can be
regarded as enabling experiences which help students to develop the
capabilities associated with global citizenship.
Future research is planned to seek partner, employer and staff
perspectives on students’ development of graduate capabilities.
11Conclusion
The PACE Program opens up new vistas of practice and research
in university and community engagement in which to explore:
- the impact of PACE-related activities in the education of global
citizens; and
- the extent to which it is achieving its ultimate vision for
mutually beneficial learning and engagement.
12References
Adie, K. (2013, May 6). Rare and remote possibilities. Sydney Morning Herald, Features pp. 1–2.
Bahá’í International Community (1993). World Citizenship: A Global Ethic for Sustainable Development. New York, Bahá’í
International Community.
Bosanquet, A., Winchester-Seeto, T. and Rowe, A. (Work in progress) Conceptualising global citizenship: analysing
intended curriculum in Australian universities.
Community Connections: Sustainable Learning and Teaching. (2011). Retrieved March 28, 2014 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tUaxMr-Qj0&start=280
Rawlings-Sanaei, F. and Sachs, J. ‘Transformational Learning and Community Development: Early Reflections of
Professional and Community Engagement at Macquarie University’, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and
Engagement (in press).
Waters, M. (1995).Globalization. London, Routledge.
Widdowson, H. (1989). Language and Languages in the National Curriculum. An International Dimension in the National
Curriculum: An Imperative for Britain for 1992 and Beyond. Ed. R. Gardner. London, Institute of Education University of
London. 110-118.
Wierenga, A. and Roberto Guevara, J. (2013). Educating for Global Citizenship: A Youth-led Approach to Learning
through Partnerships. Carlton. Melbourne University Press.
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