Socially Responsible Higher Education

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Start date: 2000End date: 2009

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    Civil engagement in higher education and its role in Human & Social Development
    (Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2007-07) Tandon, Rajesh
    Over the past century the world has seen many social, economic and political transformations. It has transformed from a largely colonial era to a largely democratic one. Yet, while democratization of political culture guaranteed citizens’ rights and freedom, it did not result in democratization of learning and knowledge production. The change in education systems has been slow in the coming. Economic trends and civil society movements in the past decade have been facilitating changes in perceptions of what constitutes ‘knowledge’ and in redefining the mission and mandate of HEIs. With increasing demands on HEIs to scale up their teaching and research functions, HEIs are facing new challenges of contributing to human and social development. The meaning and agenda of human and social development has also changed over decades, and new civil society actors have been closely associated with this phenomenon. This chapter looks at how the engagement of civil society organizations with the world of higher education has resulted in interesting trends in social policy formation and knowledge production. Illustrated through examples of effective engagement between higher education institutions and social and human development efforts of civil society organisations – PRIA in Asia and The Afrikan Multiversity in Africa – the paper draws lessons from these interventions, highlighting future potentials for HEIs. Exploring alternative sources and modes of learning and knowledge production, the paper provides a vision of the possibilities that engagement with civil society can open up in terms of contribution of HEIs to social and human development in the coming decades.
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    Curriculum, higher education, and the public good
    (2009) Hall, Budd L; Bhatt, Nandita; Lepore, Walter
    Curriculum change in higher education is an extremely complex process. Influences on the content of what is taught in higher education include new knowledge coming from the various academic disciplines, from the regulatory bodies of many of the professions, from national calls for action, from global challenges, from social movements of the day. This chapter argues that in the search for excellence, engagement and social responsibility that there is no contradiction between responding to local calls for action and global matters. Illustrations of curriculum change which attend to both the local and the global include classroom changes, single university changes, system-wide changes in Canada, Asia, Latin America and New Zealand. We call for more attention to community engaged learning and the creation of central offices for community university engagement.
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    Citizen engagement in urban governance: Lessons from small and medium towns in India
    (Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 2009) Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)
    With the rapid expansion of Indian cities came new pressures on governance, raising difficult questions about how urban institutions could remain accountable and responsive to citizens. This report focuses on the role of citizen engagement in strengthening urban governance in India. This study, drawing on case studies and field experiences, examines how rapid urban growth has reshaped city management and points to the possibilities opened up when citizens are given space to engage with governance. The analysis shows that while policies and structures for participation exist on paper, many citizens, especially those from marginalized groups, remain excluded from these processes due to a lack of awareness, resources, or institutional support. The paper points to the need for deeper trust and stronger channels of dialogue between citizens and city governments to make engagement meaningful. By placing citizens at the heart of governance, the study underlines how democratic processes in cities can become more inclusive, responsive, and effective in addressing the needs of diverse urban populations, positioning participation as the foundation of just and sustainable urban futures.