Community Engaged Learning in Higher Education
A Decolonial Approach to Experiential Learning
Published on 27. November 2025
166 pages
978-1-040-63412-7 (ISBN)
Description
This accessible resource provides comparative insights on experiential and exploratory learning in community-based settings in Higher Education.
Eight cutting-edge case studies of novel pedagogic approaches in India and the UK show how learners have stepped out of the shadows of the institution to engage with stakeholders beyond the campus as part of their formal studies. The case studies present approaches that emphasise situated experiential learning which enables undergraduate or postgraduate students to develop positive, mutually beneficial relationships with local communities and organisations as well as develop nuanced sensitivity to context. Issues including scale, assessment, partnership building, colonialism, sustainability, and social justice are discussed, alongside identifying the critical components of successful community engaged pedagogies.
This text will be ideal reading for those in leadership positions; those with learning and teaching responsibilities for departments, schools, and colleges; and for individual academics seeking pedagogical approaches which reflect their own values and the institutions that they represent.
Eight cutting-edge case studies of novel pedagogic approaches in India and the UK show how learners have stepped out of the shadows of the institution to engage with stakeholders beyond the campus as part of their formal studies. The case studies present approaches that emphasise situated experiential learning which enables undergraduate or postgraduate students to develop positive, mutually beneficial relationships with local communities and organisations as well as develop nuanced sensitivity to context. Issues including scale, assessment, partnership building, colonialism, sustainability, and social justice are discussed, alongside identifying the critical components of successful community engaged pedagogies.
This text will be ideal reading for those in leadership positions; those with learning and teaching responsibilities for departments, schools, and colleges; and for individual academics seeking pedagogical approaches which reflect their own values and the institutions that they represent.
Reviews / Votes
"The Third UNESCO Conference on Higher Education in 2022 made a strong plea for community engagement as part of both teaching/learning and research/knowledge missions of higher education. The New Education Policy (2020) in India also emphasised community engagement and social responsibility in post-secondary education. While practice of community engagement in India is not new, mutual learning with community knowledge is certainly somewhat new. This book brings a comparative perspective between such learning stories from India and UK. The decolonial lens, though somewhat different in the two contexts, nevertheless provides useful pedagogical insights. The challenge of decolonial community engagement in India is to navigate diversity of languages and cultures, where local knowledge resides. This book furthers this discourse in India, contributing to further models of innovative pedagogies."Rajesh Tandon, Co-Chair, UNESCO Chair on Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
11 Tables, black and white; 8 Line drawings, black and white; 4 Halftones, black and white; 12 Illustrations, black and white
File size
5,08 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-63412-7 (9781040634127)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Andy Pitchford | Pooja Thomas | Sonal Purohit
Community Engaged Learning in Higher Education
A Decolonial Approach to Experiential Learning
Book
11/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€207.10
Shipment within 10-20 days
Andy Pitchford | Pooja Thomas | Sonal Purohit
Community Engaged Learning in Higher Education
A Decolonial Approach to Experiential Learning
Book
11/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€63.10
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Andy Pitchford is Head of the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation (CETI) at the University of Westminster, UK.
Pooja Thomas is Associate Professor and Chair of the Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogy at MICA, Ahmedabad, India.
Sonal Purohit is Associate Professor at the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management-Nagpur, Symbiosis International University, India.
Pooja Thomas is Associate Professor and Chair of the Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogy at MICA, Ahmedabad, India.
Sonal Purohit is Associate Professor at the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management-Nagpur, Symbiosis International University, India.
Content
An Introduction to Community-Engaged Learning in the UK and India
Andy Pitchford and Pooja Thomas
Chapter 1: MICA's Unique Rural Immersion Program: Combining Experiential Learning and Community-Engaged Learning Synergistically
Kallol Das and Yogesh Mungra
Chapter 2: Engaging Students, Transforming Communities: The Empowering London Module
Sophie Clutterbuck and Vanessa Airth
Chapter 3: Decolonising Community-Engaged Learning in the Built Environment: Lessons from Theory and Practice
Marie Xypaki, Gemma Moore, Elena Besussi, and David Owen
Chapter 4: The Urban Fellows Programme: Pedagogical Approaches to Urban Practice at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore
Shriya Anand, Gautam Bhan, Sudeshna Mitra, and Neha Sami
Chapter 5: Immersion and Transformative Research in Higher Education
Anup Dhar and Shyam Menon
Chapter 6: Engaging Students and Communities through Research: The Science Shop at Queen's University Belfast
Emma McKenna and David Owen
Chapter 7: Of Goats and Garbage: Teaching the Subaltern City
Gauri Bharat
Chapter 8: Community Organising in the UK Higher Education Sector: How Membership of Civic Alliances Enables Universities to Strengthen Democracy
Tim Hall
Conclusion: Reimagining Higher Education through a Decolonial Lens
Rahul Bishnoi and Sonal Purohit
Andy Pitchford and Pooja Thomas
Chapter 1: MICA's Unique Rural Immersion Program: Combining Experiential Learning and Community-Engaged Learning Synergistically
Kallol Das and Yogesh Mungra
Chapter 2: Engaging Students, Transforming Communities: The Empowering London Module
Sophie Clutterbuck and Vanessa Airth
Chapter 3: Decolonising Community-Engaged Learning in the Built Environment: Lessons from Theory and Practice
Marie Xypaki, Gemma Moore, Elena Besussi, and David Owen
Chapter 4: The Urban Fellows Programme: Pedagogical Approaches to Urban Practice at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore
Shriya Anand, Gautam Bhan, Sudeshna Mitra, and Neha Sami
Chapter 5: Immersion and Transformative Research in Higher Education
Anup Dhar and Shyam Menon
Chapter 6: Engaging Students and Communities through Research: The Science Shop at Queen's University Belfast
Emma McKenna and David Owen
Chapter 7: Of Goats and Garbage: Teaching the Subaltern City
Gauri Bharat
Chapter 8: Community Organising in the UK Higher Education Sector: How Membership of Civic Alliances Enables Universities to Strengthen Democracy
Tim Hall
Conclusion: Reimagining Higher Education through a Decolonial Lens
Rahul Bishnoi and Sonal Purohit
