Setting the tinderbox of student engagement alight: drawing on the principles of sotl to stimulate activismin an undergraduate module on sexualities and societyin University College Cork (UCC), Ireland

• M. Leane ^[1] ; Ó Súilleabháin, F. ^[1]
  1. [1] University College Cork

     University College Cork

     Irlanda

     
• Localización: Ikaskuntza-irakaskuntza akademikoaren eremu berriak arakatzen / Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (aut.), 2019, ISBN 978-84-1319-033-4, págs. 197-205
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro (pdf)
• Resumen

  • The imperative for research and education to address societal and community challenges increasinglyunderpins Higher Education academic strategy. The Irish National Strategy for Higher Educationto 2030, calls for teaching and learning strategies that, ‘teach civic responsibility and strengthen communities’(Hunt 2011, p.76), and UCC’s Civic Engagement Plan 2017-2022 (p. 22), pledges to ‘create valuefor our community through an international outlook and informed and creative engagement on localand global issues’. A ‘good problem’ then for us as teachers, was that of exploring how we could enablestudents to develop competencies for reflecting on social issues and applying knowledge to facilitatechange in civic contexts. Focusing on a final-year undergraduate module entitled Sexualities and Societies,delivered to students on Social Science and Youth and Community Work programmes, we set outto ensure that our curriculum and the methods we were using to uncover it, went beyond the promotionof subject expertise, to create a learning environment where students could develop skills for informedand creative engagement with the wider civic sphere. This paper makes public the story of ourpedagogical efforts to support and encourage students to critically interrogate and challenge discriminatorypractices in the area of genders and sexualities. We share examples of ‘what works’ and of ‘whatit looks like’ (Hutchings 2000), with particular emphasis on the integration of new digital technologiesin our work. The paper concludes by highlighting the possibilities for dynamic collaborations betweenteachers, students, the academy and the community and reflecting on the role which the principles ofSoTL can play in setting the tinderbox of student engagement alight.