Community Engaged Learning in Higher Education

A Decolonial Approach to Experiential Learning

Sonal Purohit editor Andy Pitchford editor Pooja Thomas editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:27th Nov '25

Should be back in stock very soon

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Community Engaged Learning in Higher Education cover

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.

"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.

ISBN: 9781032852331

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 310g

152 pages