Citizenship in Communities - promoting volunteering and Politics
Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:46:00 GMT
This project seeks to mainstream volunteering and active citizenship within a modular framework that meets student expectations whilst also enhancing the University’s established reputation as a key institution in local and regional civil society. It addresses two key policy drivers, the government promotion of the Big Society and the Browne Review and subsequent higher education reform proposals. It seeks to promote greater social responsibility through volunteering and similar schemes, whilst also enhancing employability skills and the student experience. This offers opportunities for the University and its students to build on existing good practice and develop activism in local communities through the promotion of social responsibility and active participation to build a stronger, more cohesive and involved society.
The project seeks to draw on previous work within the Politics Subject Group to develop a pilot module that encourages civic leadership and active citizenship. We seek to establish a modular programme of volunteering that builds a community of citizens and learners that connects the University to wider society and allows students to broaden their learning experience and academic research skills through linking theory with practice. The key aims are to build on the Politics Subject Groups’ existing strong links with local government, schools and third sector agencies to develop networks facilitating employability and civil society. It will enable Politics students to further develop transferable skills by developing a module that avoids a top-down model of citizenship in favour of activism, advocacy and critical reflection. We believe such a module that will be of immediate benefit to the university in terms of recruitment, student satisfaction and employability that will establish a module template that can be used beyond social science disciplines without creating additional costs for the University.
The project recognises that active citizenship and volunteering are essential research interests of members of the Politics Subject Group at the University of Huddersfield. The project would provide an opportunity to develop research agendas to assess the impact volunteering. Students will take part in a pilot whereby they design a project and undertake a period of 50 hours volunteering in the community. A longitudinal study will draw on data that would allow for the development of a critical body of staff-led academic work on the impact of volunteering on students. The project will lead to the publication of a number of journal articles and subsequent bid for external funding for further research.
