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African Perspectives on Reshaping Rural Development

Author: Mafukata, Mavhungu Abel
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1799823083
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
Development studies in developing regions such as Southern Africa rely heavily on materials developed by Europeans with a European context. European dominance in development studies emanates from the fact that the discipline was first developed by Europeans. Some argue that this has led to distortions in theory and practice of development in Southern Africa. This book wishes to begin Africa’s expedition to develop proper material to de-Westernize while Africanizing the context of the scholarship of rural development. African Perspectives on Reshaping Rural Development is an essential reference source that repositions the context of rural development studies from the Western-centric knowledge system into an African context in order to solve African-centered problems. Featuring research on topics such as food security, poverty reduction, and community engagement, this book is ideally designed for planners, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, government officials, academicians, and students seeking clarity on theory and practice of development in Africa.

Community Engagement Research in South Africa

Author: Elize S. Van Eeden
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780627037931
Category : Communities
Languages : en
Pages : 521

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Book Description
"Universities across the world strive to be engaged institutions whose purpose is to foster positive social change through teaching, research and community engagement. The integration of these roles may sometimes hinder authentic engagement. Community engagement research in South Africa: histories, methods, theories and practice proposes a transformative model for engagement, in which societal involvement is the driving force behind all activities of the university. This overarching focus serves to blur the divisions between the core higher education and training activities as research becomes more community-based and teaching prepares students to be agents to be informed by research through teaching and learning, and to be agents for positive social change in all spheres of life. This idea is explored throughout the book, with chapters written by renowned community engagement practitioners and scholars of various disciplines. Contributions map community engagement interventions in the intersections of fields such as education, the social sciences, psychology, health, planning, engineering and architecture. They share best practices and draw from theoretical scholarship and practical experience, innovative ways of conceptualising, establishing and "community experiencing" projects. Based on original research, contributors encourage thought of modelling the practical implementation of community engagement at universities"--Back cover

Human Development and Community Engagement through Service-Learning

Author: Ntimi Nikusuma Mtawa
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030347281
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This book establishes community engagement and service-learning as pathways to advancing human development and common good. Using the human development and capability approach as normative frameworks, with South Africa as a frame of reference, the author investigates the theoretical contributions and ultimate benefits of university-community partnerships. In doing so, this book demonstrates that three interrelated capabilities – affiliation, common good professionals and local citizenship – are developed through community engagement and service-learning. Subsequently, the notion of transformative change through community engagement and service-learning is illuminated, particularly when operating within the context of power differentials, inequality and extreme poverty. This book will be of interest and value to students and scholars of service-learning, and its implications for partnerships between universities and external communities.

The walk without limbs: Searching for indigenous health knowledge in a rural context in South Africa

Author: Gubela Mji
Publisher: AOSIS
ISBN: 1928523110
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
In a country as diverse as South Africa, sickness and health often mean different things to different people so much so that the different health definitions and health belief models in the country seem to have a profound influence on the health-seeking behaviour of the people who are part of our vibrant, multicultural society. This book is concerned with the integration of indigenous health knowledge (IHK) into the current Western--orientated Primary Health Care (PHC) model. The first section of the book highlights the challenges facing the training of health professionals using a curriculum that is not drawing its knowledge base from the indigenous context and the people of that context. Such professionals will later recognise that they are walking without limbs in matters pertaining to health. The area that was chosen for conducting the research was KwaBomvana in Xhora (Elliotdale), Eastern Cape province, South Africa. The people who reside there are called AmaBomvana. The area where the Bomvana peoples reside is served by Madwaleni Hospital and eight surrounding clinics. Qualitative ethnographic, feminist methods of data collection supported the research done for Section 1 of the book. Section 2 comprises the translation and implementation of PhD study outcomes and had contributions from various researchers. In the critical research findings of the PhD study, older Xhosa women identify the inclusion of social determinants of health as vital to the health problems they managed within their homes. For them, each disease is linked to a social determinant of health, and the management of health problems includes the management of social determinants of health. For them, it is about the health of the home and not just about the management of disease. They believe that healthy homes make healthy villages, and that the prevention of the development of disease is related to the strengthening of the home. Health and illness should be seen within both physical and spiritual contexts; without health, there can be no progress in the home. When defining health, the older Xhosa women add three critical components to the WHO health definition, namely, food security, healthy children and families, and peace and security in their villages. Prof. Mji further proposes that these three elements should be included in the next revision of the WHO health definition because they are not only important for the Bomvana people where the research was conducted, but also for the rest of humanity. In light of the promise of National Health Insurance and the revitalisation of PHC, this book proposes that these two major national health policies should take cognisance of the IHK utilised by the older Xhosa women. In addtion to what this research implies, these policies should also take note of all IHK from the indigenous peoples of South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world, and that there should be a clear plan as to how the knowledge can be supported within a health care systems approach.

Community Engagement in Higher Education

Author: W. James Jacob
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9463000070
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
There seems to be renewed interest in having universities and other higher education institutions engage with their communities at the local, national, and international levels. But what is community engagement? Even if this interest is genuine and widespread, there are many different concepts of community service, outreach, and engagement. The wide range of activity encompassed by community engagement suggests that a precise definition of the “community mission” is difficult and organizing and coordinating such activities is a complex task. This edited volume includes 18 chapters that explore conceptual understandings of community engagement and higher education reforms and initiatives intended to foster it. Contributors provide empirical research findings, including several case study examples that respond to the following higher educaiton community engagement issues. What is “the community” and what does it need and expect from higher education institutions? Is community engagement a mission of all types of higher education institutions or should it be the mission of specific institutions such as regional or metropolitan universities, technical universities, community colleges, or indigenous institutions while other institutions such as major research universities should concentrate on national and global research agendas and on educating internationally-competent researchers and professionals? How can a university be global and at the same time locally relevant? Is it, or should it be, left to the institutions to determine the scope and mode of their community engagement, or is a state mandate preferable and feasible? If community engagement or “community service” are mandatory, what are the consequences of not complying with the mandate? How effective are policy mandates and university engagement for regional and local economic development? What are the principal features and relationships of regionally-engaged universities? Is community engagement to be left to faculty members and students who are particularly socially engaged and locally embedded or is it, or should it be, made mandatory for both faculty and students? How can community engagement be (better) integrated with the (other) two traditional missions of the university—research and teaching? Cover image: The Towering Four-fold Mission of Higher Education, by Natalie Jacob

The Heart of Community Engagement

Author: Patricia A. Wilson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429614446
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Drawing on first-hand accounts of action research in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, The Heart of Community Engagement illustrates the transformative learning journeys of exemplary catalysts for community-based change. Practitioners’ stories of community engagement for social justice in the Global South elucidate the moments of insight and transformation that deepened their practice: how to deal with uncertainty, recognize their own blind spots, become aware of what is emergent and possible in the moment, and weave an inclusive bond of love, respect, and purpose. Each successive narrative adds a deeper level of understanding of the inner practice of community engagement. The stories illuminate the reflective, or inner, practice of the outside change agent, whether a planner, designer, participatory action researcher, or community development practitioner. From a shantytown in South Africa, to a rural community in India, or an informal settlement in peri-urban Mexico, the stories focus attention on the greatest leverage point for change that we, as engaged practitioners, have: our own self-awareness. By the end of the book, the practitioners are not only aware of their own conditioned beliefs and assumptions, but have opened their minds and hearts to the complex and dynamic patterns of emergent change that is possible. This book serves as a much-needed reader of practice stories to help instructors and students find the words, concepts, and examples to talk about their own subjective experience of community engagement practice. The book applies some of the leading-edge concepts from organizational development and leadership studies to the fields of planning, design, and community engagement practice. Key concepts include the deep dive of sensing the social field, seeing the whole, and presencing the emergent future. The book also provides a creative bridge between participatory action research and design thinking: user-based design, rapid prototyping, and learning from doing.

Participatory Action Research as a Platform for Community Engagement in Higher Education

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Professor Martin Hall (Vice Chancellor of the University of Salford and Professor Emeritus with the University of Cape Town) in his paper entitled 'Community engagement in South African higher education' writes: The objective of this paper is to bring together perspectives on community engagement in South African Higher Education in order to assist the Na- tional Research Foundation (NRF) in drawi. [...] The use of the term commu- nity service (outreach) as opposed to engagement denotes the predomi- nantly one-way type of association mentioned in the University of South Africa Community Engagement and Outreach Policy (Unisa 2008). [...] However, for the purposes of simplicity and clarity, this article focuses on the identification and description of the key features of the methodology and how it acts as a platform for community engagement from a university per- spective. [...] Hence, research adds value to the tra- ditional way of doing things (action) in the community whilst action adds value to the traditional research in the university. [...] If the steering group was to come up with a relevant research question with regards to the identified problem, it will be best to start by revisiting the goals and objectives of community engagement and the roles of universities.

The Ethics and Politics of Community Engagement in Global Health Research

Author: Lindsey Reynolds
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000057879
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Drawing on a growing consensus about the importance of community representation and participation for ethical research, community engagement has become a central component of scientific research, policy-making, ethical review, and technology design. The diversity of actors involved in large-scale global health research collaborations and the broader ‘background conditions’ of global inequality and injustice that frame the field have led some researchers, funders, and policy-makers to conclude that community engagement is nothing less than a moral imperative in global health research. Rather than taking community engagement as a given, the contributions in this edited volume highlight how processes of community engagement are shaped by particular local histories and social and political dynamics, and by the complex social relations between different actors involved in global public health research. By interrogating the everyday politics and practices of engagement across diverse contexts, the book pushes conversations around engagement and participation beyond their conventional framings. In doing so, it raises radical questions about knowledge, power, expertise, authority, representation, inclusivity, and ethics and to make recommendations for more transformative, inclusive, and meaningful community engagement. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Critical Public Health journal.

Community Engagement in African Universities

Author: Julia Preece
Publisher: Niace
ISBN: 9781862015999
Category : Adult education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Community Engagement in African Universities provides a historical and contemporary context for universities in Anglophone-speaking Africa, presenting the socio-economic realities of different national contexts which frame the variety of debates about community engagement on the continent. It includes empirical findings of research initiatives as well as speculative concerns about the role of community and regional engagement and its relationship to service learning in particular universities, thus presenting a variety of positions and perspectives to stimulate further debates." -- Publisher's note.

Unstrange Minds

Author: Roy Richard Grinker
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786721928
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
A father's inspiring portrait of his daughter informs this classic reassessment of the "epidemic" of autism. When Isabel Grinker was diagnosed with autism in 1994, it occurred in only about 3 of every 10,000 children. Within ten years, rates had skyrocketed. Some scientists reported rates as high as 1 in 150. The media had declared autism an epidemic. Unstrange Minds documents the global quest of Isabel's father, renowned anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker, to discover the surprising truth about why autism is so much more common today. In fact, there is no autism epidemic. Rather, we are experiencing an increase in autism diagnoses, and Grinker shows that the identification and treatment of autism depends on culture just as much as it does on science. Filled with moving stories and informed by the latest science, Unstrange Minds is a powerful testament to a father's search for the truth.