Spirituality as a guiding paradigm in community engagement in a rural context in India
Authors:   , Rowkith Shannal 
Published: October 2022

Introduction The current position of tribal communities in India is one of oppression and marginalization. Many initiatives are afoot to redress this situation, however the civic authorities face numerous challenges and obstacles influenced by historical, economic and other sociocultural elements. In this context, community engagement can be seen as a distinctive pedagogical tool, that fosters the development of partnerships between social work academic departments and communities, in order to improve the psycho-social well-being of individuals and families and to address socio-economically related problems in communities. Although initiatives in community engagement in India, are urgently required, have been slow to emerge, when compared to developed countries. Compounding this delay is the shortage of specific literature on community engagement. This study is preemptively important, as it highlights how social work departments use engagement successfully among tribals in India, as a crucial pillar to support learning and drive engagement. The study was set in Maharashtra, India and was part of a National Research Foundation study which explored community engagement in the international context. Given that this is a best practice project being implemented by the University of Mumbai, a collaboration was formed with the late Dr Chandrakant Puri, from the Social Work Department to pursue this study in a rural area outside Mumbai, India. Purpose of the study The purpose of this study was to explore how community engagement could facilitate a deeper understanding of Indian tribes and the related impact on community based learning. The structure of tribal communities, core values and processes that guide them and the interaction between the university and the community, were explored to this end. All the relevant gathered data was incorporated into developing a model to guide community engagement with tribal communities in India. Methodology A qualitative research approach was utilized in order to generate valuable data from the interaction with tribals and academics. The two samples in the study comprised of six social work academics, and twenty three students from the Department of Social Work. Semi structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data with academics and students respectively. Data was obtained from the site at which students conducted their village, being a small rural village on the outskirts of Mumbai in the district of Maharashtra. Data was collected until saturation to extract the most relevant information. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the collected data. This found associations and themes within the collated transcripts in detail. These themes and sub themes were derived from the data in entirety. This was accordingly representative of the gathered data. Findings It was found that the theoretical preparation of the institution, when juxtaposed with the specific context and challenges faced by a particular community, is of immense benefit to developing a relevant and useful curriculum to be used to engage with tribals. A summary of the challenges experienced by the community under study, was the lack of resources in the form of healthcare and sanitation, poor infrastructure, psycho-social issues, disparity of cultural sensitivity, migration for employment, and other socio-political concerns. The preparedness of the university for engagement with the community was enhanced by clearly defining and structuring the roles of social work academics. This was then used to determine the format of student preparation for interaction within the community by understanding the engagement context, displaying empathy and sensitizing students towards issues, and promoting equality, social justice and inclusion. From the data gathered, certain tools such as participatory rural appraisal and community mapping and profiling were used as pathways to further prepare students for engagement. Students were immersed in the culture and lifestyle of the tribal community, which allowed them to relate on a humanitarian level and this personalized the interaction allowing for richer experiences. Consequently, authentic university-community partnerships were established which reinforced the benefits of such collaboration. Conclusion Service learning was undertaken as a fieldwork component by the students of the Department of Social Work at The University of Mumbai. The study uncovered important information regarding tribal communities, the challenges they face, and the related preparedness of the institution for interaction. It captures the essence and value of community engagement in social work, given the extreme scarcity of such programmes in India. Ultimately, the importance and significance of establishing a model to guide tribal community engagement is emphasised in the interaction and impressions experienced by both the university and the tribals, who have interacted concurrently for their respective mutual benefit.