Locating Community Engagement in the School of Education
UKZN
A truly South African university that is academically excellent, innovative in research, critically engaged with society and demographically representative, redressing the disadvantages, inequities and imbalances of the past.
The vision is to be the Premier University of African Scholarship and the purpose is – Inspiring Greatness.
UKZN Strategic Plan 2017 - 2021
Four strategic goals and four enablers that inform the substance of the strategy (See UKZN Home page for details). Goal 3 – High impact Societal and Stakeholder Community Engagement to achieve meaningful interactions for mutual benefit.
School of Education
The underlying principles are:
- Community Engagement intersects with and is seated across teaching and learning /and or research.
- Every staff member to be engaged in Community Engagement.
- Every student should complete a Community Engagement activity every year. The form of this engagement could be: integrated in a module; being a member of a recognised organisation on campus – for example, Edgewood Environmental Forum; or aligned to a business/community/municipal organisation.
Defining the Community and the Nature of the Engagement
- The School of Education has diverse and widespread interactions with communities. To grow these interactions will enhance our engagements with the communities (students, staff, community organisations, business and government sectors) in KwaZulu-Natal, on and off campus, in terms of teaching and learning and research.
- The nature of the engagement will be underpinned by our strengths and that of the sectors aligned to our major project – Environmental Sustainable Action AND Community Enhancement.