"Students and teachers need to step out of their comfort zone"

In September 2021 the renewed Bachelor of Social Geography and Planning started. Community Engaged Learning (CEL) has been given an explicit place in it. Education director Gery Nijenhuis and faculty CEL ambassador Irina van Aalst explain why students benefit from this type of education.

"CEL education within our programme is not something new," Gery explains. "Social geographers and planners study, among other things, how people experience, design and change their environment again. The best way to research this is to immerse yourself in that specific environment. A few years ago, we therefore did a pilot project in the Utrecht district of Lunetten in which groups of students spent nine weeks in the neighbourhood working on socio-geographical issues together with local stakeholders. These included questions such as: how do older people experience safety in their neighbourhood? What are the places teenagers like to go and where do they prefer not to go? The experiences with this project were very positive and therefore we wanted to further embed CEL teaching in the course."

Participatory research

"The research within our course is rather empirical in nature, with an emphasis on surveys and interviews, and so we felt that it was best to focus a bit more on a more participatory way of doing research," says Gery. "Within the project in the Lunetten neighbourhood, we therefore had students actively engage with residents in order to experience for themselves what life is like in that neighbourhood. For example, they took a walk with an elderly person who showed them where they perceived unsafe places in the neighbourhood." In this regard, Irina emphasises that investing in the relationship with stakeholders is an important part of the project.

Students are not just there to collect data, we as a university also want to build a sustainable relationship with the neighbourhood.

Collaboration

In the second year of the bachelor, students can now choose from four tracks with the final course focusing on experiential CEL education. This can cover topics such as migration or the inclusive city. This involves collaboration with municipalities, NGOs, civic initiatives and social enterprises, among others. "This is explicitly a collaboration and not a defined assignment from an external party," Irina explains. "For our programme, that works best, but I can imagine that is different for other programmes."

Vlog

"One of the key learning points of CEL education is that students learn to reflect on their own actions," Gery explains. "But because students work on their project on location, we were looking for a way to still keep a finger on the pulse. That resulted in a weekly vlog that students deliver to their supervisor on Fridays. That way, as teachers, we keep track of what is happening and can make timely adjustments if necessary." 

Comfort zone

For students, CEL teaching does take some getting used to. "They like it, but at the same time it makes them insecure," Irina explains. "They are used to taking regular courses, but suddenly they have to go out on their own and face things they are not prepared for. Think, for instance, of a resident who does not keep his appointments. Or organising a focus group where a lot is thought of except appointing a chairperson. Students sometimes really have to step out of their comfort zone a bit, but that is actually instructive." Stepping out of the comfort zone, according to Irina, applies not only to students, but also to teachers. "Teachers are generally control freaks. I can say that because, after all, I am one myself. I prefer to think out my course completely in advance. Only with this project, that's not possible, so as a lecturer you also have to learn to be a bit flexible."

Expectation management

One of the main focal points of CEL teaching, according to Gery and Irina, is surely expectation management. Gery: "You can see that very broadly. It concerns, for instance, the expectations of teachers towards students, but also those of students towards stakeholders and vice versa. We are going to pay more attention to this in the coming period."