Promoting scholarship of engagement using the appreciative inquiry model" The case of Mangosuthu Uiversity of Technology, South Africa
Abstract
This article aims to demonstrate how appreciative inquiry (Ai) model was used to promote the scholarship of engagement (SoE) at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in South Africa. Qualitative research was conducted through group consultative sessions following the Ai model. Data analysis involved interpreting words, phrases, and nonverbal cues from group discussions. Findings included staff recognition of the importance of integrating community engagement (CE) into teaching, learning, and research at MUT. A need was also identified to integrate indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) into CE for better feedback on curricular development. It was suggested that for successful integration of CE into teaching, learning, and research (TL&R), MUT's Executive Management could prioritize CE's importance. While it is early to measure Ai's impact on MUT's transition to SoE, its application facilitated smooth engagement in consultations. Recommendations include promoting understanding and prioritization of CE within the MUT community to align it with TL&R.
Downloads
References
Al-Khalifa, Lobna Ali. 2015. “Benchmarking as a means to gauge and improve academic standards in higher education within the Arab Region,” The Business and Management Review, 6(5): 151–160.
Arshad, M., C.K. Yu and A. Qadir. (2023). Leadership and sustainable innovation: a systematic literature review. In J. Crawford (Ed.). leadership for sustainable and educational advancement. Advancing Great Leaders and Leadership. IntechOpen. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.110860.
Bandy, Joe. 2011. “What is service-learning or community engagement? Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.” https://oft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-through-community-engagement/.
Bangani, Siviwe and Luyanda Dube. 2023. “Institutional commitment to community engagement in South African academic libraries,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 49(2023): 102679.
Bender, Gerda. 2008. “Exploring conceptual models for community engagement at higher education institutions in South Africa.” Perspectives in Education, 26(1): 81–95.
Boyer, Ernest L. 1990. “Scholarship reconsidered: the priorities of the professoriate.” Princeton, N.J.: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Boyer, Ernest L. 1996. “The scholarship of engagement.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 49(7); 18–33.
Boyer, Ernest L. 2016. “The scholarship of engagement”. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 20(1): 15–27.
Clarke, Victoria and Virginia Braun. 2013. Successful qualitative research: a practical guide for beginners. Sage.
Chinyamurindi, Willie T. 2006. “A narrative investigation into the meaning and experience of career success: Perspectives from women participants.” SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1): 11.
Choi, Taehyon, and Susan Meyers Chandler. 2020. “Knowledge vacuum: an organizational dynamic of how e-government innovations fail.” Government Information Quarterly, 37(2020): 101416.
Coghlan, Anne T., Hallie Preskill, and Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas. 2003. “An overview of appreciative inquiry in evaluation, 2003 (100)”. In Special Issue: using appreciative inquiry in evaluation. Winter: Wiley Publishers.
Cooperrider, David Loy. 1986. “Appreciative inquiry: toward a methodology for understanding and enhancing organizational innovation.” Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH.
Cooperrider, David L., and Michelle McQuaid. 2012. “The positive arc of systemic strengths. How appreciative inquiry and sustainable designing can bring out the best in human systems.” JCC 46 Summer 2012, Greenleaf Publishing 2013.
Cooperrider, David L., and Suresh Srivastva. 1987. “Appreciative inquiry in organizational life.” Research in Organizational Change and Development, 1: 129–169.
Cooperrider, David L., Jacqueline M. Stavros, and Diana Whitney. 2008. “Appreciative inquiry handbook: for leaders of change” (2nd Ed). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Department of Higher Education and Training 2013. “White paper for post-school education and training: building an expanded, effective, and integrated post-school system.” Pretoria: Department of Higher Education and Training.
Dole, Wanda V., and J. B. Hill. 2012. “Assessing the good will of community users in an academic library.” New Library World, 113(5/6): 270–280.
Fitzgerald, Hiram E., Karen Bruns, Steven T. Sonka, Andrew Furco, and Louis Swanson. 2012. “The centrality of engagement in higher education.” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 16(3): 7–27.
Gergen, Kenneth J. 2001. “Social construction in context.”, Psychol Stud (April– June 2012) 57(2): 121–125. DOI 10.1007/s12646-012-0151-0
Hammersmith, Jerome Alvin. 2007. “Converging indigenous and western knowledge systems: implication for tertiary education.” Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of South Africa.
Han, Hae-Ra, Ashley Xu, Kyra JW Mendez, Safiyyah Okoye, Joycelyn Cudjoe, Mona Bahouth, Melanie Reese, Lee Bone, and Cheryl Dennison-Himmelfarb. 2021. “Exploring community engaged research experiences and preferences: a multi-level qualitative investigation.” Research Involvement and Engagement, 7(19): 1–9.
Johnson, Bernadette J. 2020. “Community engagement: barriers and drivers in South African higher education.” South African Journal of Higher Education, 34(6): 87–105.
Keane, Moyra, Constance Khupe and Blessings Muza. 2016. “It matters who you are: indigenous knowledge research and researchers.” Education as Change, 20(2): 163–183.
Meier, Corinne, and Dirk J. Geldenhuys. 2017. “Co-constructing appreciative inquiry across disciplines: a duo ethnography.” SA Journal of Industrial Psychology/SA Tydskrif vir Bedryfsielkunde, 43(0), a1400. https://doi. org/10.4102/sajip.v43i0.1400
Nakashima, Douglas, Lyndel V. Prott, and Peter Bridgewater. 2000. “Tapping into the world’s wisdom.” UNESCO Sources, 125.
Ngulube, Patrick. 2015. “Qualitative data analysis and interpretation: systematic search for meaning.” In: Mathipa, E.R. and Gumbo, M.T. (Eds). Addressing research challenges: making headway for developing researchers. Noordywk: Mosala-MASEDI Publishers & Booksellers cc, pp. 131–156.
Nugroho, Bayu Hari, and Choesnul Jaqin. 2021. “Implementation of benchmarking method for higher education institution: a literature review.” Indonesian Journal of Industrial Engineering & Management , 2(2): 81–93.
Obrenovic, Bojan, Jianguo Du, Danijela Godinic, Diana Tsoy, Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan, and Ilimdorjon Jakhongirov. 2020. “Sustaining enterprise operations and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic: enterprise effectiveness and sustainability model.” Sustainability, 12: 5981.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2017. “Benchmarking higher education system performance: conceptual framework and data, enhancing higher education system performance.” Paris: OECD.
Priest, Kerry L., Eric K. Kaufman, Kelsey Brunton, and Megan Seibel. 2013. “Appreciative inquiry: a tool for organizational, programmatic, and project-focused change.” Journal of Leadership Education, 12(1): 18–33.
Salamon, Anaïs. 2016. “Benefits and challenges of outreach in academic libraries: a case study at the McGill Islamic Studies Library.” MELA Notes, 89: 1–14.
Semali, Ladislaus, and Audrey Maretzki. 2004. “Valuing indigenous knowledges: strategies for engaging communities and transforming the academy.” Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 10(1): 91–106.
University of the Free State. 2021. “Engaged scholarship strategy.” https://www.ufs.ac.za/docs/librariesprovider20/engaged-scholarship-2021/strategy-of-engaged-scholarship-2021.pdf?sfvrsn=819f7720_2
Copyright (c) 2024 Ikponmwosa David Ighodaro, Busisiwe Nkonki-Mandleni, Vhonani Olive Netshandama
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.
Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.
A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:
- Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
- Institutional webpage.
- Authors Institutional Repository.
The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI. Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.
Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository SUNScholar.
Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.
The following license applies:
Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
