Embedding Engaged Education
Authors:   , Tijsma Geertje 
Published: April 2024

We are increasingly confronted with complex societal issues such as climate change or social segregation. Higher education institutes (HEIs) have a crucial role in addressing such issues as part of their so-called third mission activities. In addition to the more market-driven forms of (technological) knowledge transfer, these complex issues require collaborative processes in defining and addressing their dynamic nature. The thesis focuses on engaged education within HEIs, as way to giving meaning to these collaborative processes through community engagement. To gain more insight into the implementation and sustainable embedment of such practices we aim to answer the following research question; How to embed engaged education within HEI, in order to contribute effectively to addressing (complex) societal issues?

Our approach takes a multi-level perspective, building on the framework of Bogel et al. (2019), who combine transition studies and organisational change management. Through this framework, we allow for an explicit analysis of the role of individuals at the micro level but also consider organisational, meso-level processes when embedding engaged education. We conducted a reflection stream together with practitioners in order to gain insights into their rationales for embedding engaged education. Moreover, a theoretical stream broadly explored embedding engaged education at the individual course (micro) level as well as at the organisational (meso) level. Finally, two case studies, using an action–research approach, were conducted to gain insights into cross-disciplinary approaches for addressing complex societal issues through engaged education. Through these studies we explored systematic strategies and cross-disciplinary approaches for embedding engaged education to effectively address (complex) societal issues.

Our findings show the potential of engaged education to centralise community values, needs and interests and thereby increase HEIs’ societal impact. We outline some of the tensions that can arise between individual action and organisational practices when embedding engaged education that centralise community engagement. To deal with these tensions, we describe systematic strategies for embedding engaged education for addressing societal issues at the individual course or micro level, as well as at the organisational meso level. From this we distil two guiding principles that we deem crucial when centralising community engagement as part of engaged education, namely catering for 1) continuous faculty, community and student involvement and 2) flexibility and continuity of engaged education activities.

In relation to these guiding principles, we emphasise the importance of individual roles of faculty, community stakeholders and students at the micro level, but also recognise that the process of embedding engaged education, by definition, cannot rely solely on them. Changes in the organisational culture and in its policies and practices at the meso level are essential. Alignment between micro- and meso-level practices, through these guiding principles, can contribute to the institutional coherence needed to centralise community values, needs and interests. Building on this notion, we propose two concrete cross-disciplinary approaches to facilitate engaged education for addressing complex societal issues. Given their faculty-spanning nature these approaches position themselves as ‘transition initiatives’ at the meso level, while also connecting to the micro level, thereby facilitating the process of institutional coherence. We outline how such transition initiatives might contribute to transformation within and beyond individual HEIs.

We believe that this thesis contributes to placing more emphasis on societal engagement, advocating for more intense involvement of community stakeholders within education. In this way, we provide valuable insights into how HEIs can purposely give meaning to their third mission activities and make societal impact through engaged education.