Conceptions+of+civic+engagement+in+the+discourse+of+policy+and+practice+-+The+significance+of+time,+culture+and+context

**Conceptions of civic engagement in the discourse of policy and practice:** **The significance of time, culture and context** Josephine Boland, Senior Lecturer, Natural University of Ireland Galway [josephine.boland@nuigalway.ie]

** Keywords: ** Civic engagement, higher education, orientation, policy-practice alignment ** Track: ** Theoretical or conceptual frameworks to advance research ** Format: ** Research paper **Date & time:** Thursday 3:20-4:30 **Location:** Salon 1 S**ummary:** This paper, with empirical, conceptual and experiential foundations critically explores the chameleon which is ‘civic engagement’ and the inherent challenge of researching its impact. The contribution that higher education can make to addressing pressing economic and social problems has attracted renewed attention in recent public policy discourse. The report of the Higher Education Strategy Group (2011) – the Hunt Report – now explicitly includes ‘engagement’ as a focus for strategic policy in Ireland. The report has prompted re-consideration of the nature and purpose of engagement and also extends the debate about the range of potential legitimate partners for community-university relationships. This brings new challenges and tensions as we seek to respect key principles which traditionally underpin civic engagement as we also seek to measure impact. This paper examines the concepts of ‘orientation,’ ‘alignment,’ and ‘cultural repackaging’ as tools for interrogating the emerging discourse, practice and policy of civic engagement in this context. As part of a multi-site case study in the spirit of naturalistic enquiry, data analysis (using a CAQDAS package, NVivo7) led to the development of a thematic framework focused on three themes: underpinning rationale for civic engagement, the process of embedding a civic dimension within the curriculum, and factors influencing faculty willingness and capacity to do so. One outcome of the analysis was the generation of ‘orientations’ to civic engagement, namely (i) personal, (ii) student learning (iii) civic and (iv) higher education. These orientations informed a diversity of faculty strategies and practices and proved central to the sustainability of initiatives in challenging times. Certain legitimization strategies suggest evidence of cultural repackaging at work. Some untapped potential for aligning with prevailing policy priorities can also be identified. This paper argues that the significance of orientation for sustainability of a pedagogy has relevance for the broader context of civic engagement. **R****eferences:** Boland, J. (2008). //Embedding a civic dimension within the higher education curriculum: A study of policy, process and practice in Ireland//. Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh.

Campus Engage (2011). //Survey of civic engagement in Ireland//. Galway, Campus Engage.

Hart, A., Northmore, S., & Gerhardt, C. (2009). Auditing, benchmarking and evaluating public engagement NCCPE Research Synthesis No. 1. National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement.

Higher Education Strategy Group. (2011) //National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030// Dublin: Department of Education and Skills.

Land, R. //Educational Development: Discourse, Identity and Practice//. Maidenhead: Society for Research into Higher Education, 2004.

Lounsbury, M., & Pollack, S. (2001). Institutionalizing civic engagement: Shifting logics and the cultural repackaging of service-learning in US higher education. //Organization, 8//, 319-339. Votruba, J. (2005) Leading the engaged institution. In Kezar, A. J., Chambers, T. C. & Burkhardt, J. (Eds.) //Higher education for the public good: Emerging voices from a national movement//. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

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