Unit name | Communities, Education and Ways of Knowing |
---|---|
Unit code | ENGL20118 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Mrs. Thomas-Hughes |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
none |
Co-requisites |
none |
School/department | Department of English |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Communities, Education and Ways of Knowing is the third in a series of cumulative units which are designed to support students in the development, execution and critical evaluation of their community-engaged projects as part of their undergraduate studies on the English Literature and Community Engagement BA.
The unit aims to introduce students to cross-disciplinary perspectives and contestations around the ways that spaces of learning, knowledge and expertise are constructed, enacted and framed in contemporary society
Students will be introduced to a range of perspectives from disciplines including education and sociology and will be supported to critically engage with these perspectives in relation to their own community-engaged project practice.
Community engagement is a practice-led discipline and students are expected, as a core part of this unit, to commit at least 30 hours to the continued development and execution of their own community engaged project. Student will be expected to evidence their practice through reflective journals. At this point in their studies students have typically established or are in the final stages of establishing their community-engaged projects.*
This unit will support students to consider the nature of learning spaces, knowledge and expertise in relation to their own projects. To aid this, students will be introduced to a variety of facilitation and participatory techniques used when managing groups, drawn from sources including participatory and community-based research and third sector and practitioner toolkits. As part of this unit students will receive skills-based training on group dynamics and conflict management.
As part of this unit students will receive an observational visit from their community-engagement tutor and an accompanying feedback report which they will be expected to utilise as part of the unit’s summative assignment. **
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
This unit is normally taught through a series of 3-hour seminars delivered across the academic year. Seminars utilise a range of teaching methods including lectures, practical-activities and small group dicussion. Seminars are supported by a range of asynchronous learning activities. As part of this unit students have access to a one-to-one mentor who will support and guide thier communtiy engaged practice. Students also typically have access to two Saturday writing re-treats which provide a guided space for developing their academic writing skills.
1 x 4000-word essay (including response to site visit report if appropriate) [ILOs: 1- 4] 100%
Bolton, Gillie. Reflective practice: Writing and professional development. Sage publications, 2010.
Hooks, Bell, Teaching To Transgress: Education As The Practice Of Freedom. New York: Routledge, (1994).