BIPX202 - Community Engagement: Building Strengths and Capabilities

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

UNCC100 Self and Community: Exploring the Anatomy of Modern Society Or PHIL102 Theories of Human Nature or PHIL104 Introduction to Ethics or PHCC102 Being Human or PHCC104 Ethics and the Good Life

Incompatible

BIPX100 Professional Experience A and BIPX201 Business Experience

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Engaging in business practices which strive to contribute to the common good, to enhance the dignity and wellbeing of people and communities especially those who are marginalised or disadvantaged is an important responsibility for business and reinforces the University's Core Curriculum and Mission and commitment to serving the common good and for the dignity of all human beings. This unit aims to build knowledge and understanding of four key principles of community engagement: critical reflection, active learning, student involvement in service-learning and civic engagement experiences. In this unit students will develop an awareness of the types of contributions individuals and organisations make to the community, by connecting the skills developed in the Peter Faber Business School and their application within communities at local, national and international levels. In this unit, students will volunteer their time to assist poor, vulnerable and marginalised groups supported by social enterprises, community groups and not for profits. Students will apply their knowledge of community engagement and the skills from your Business degree through a volunteer placement which contributes to the achievement of social responsibility in the wider community.

The aim of this unit is to foster knowledge and understanding of community engagement and its application within marginalised or disadvantaged communities while applying ethical personal and professional skills developed within the Peter Faber Business School environment.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - discuss the importance, policies and strategies for building safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults, respecting their dignity (GA1, GA5) 

LO2 - examine the principles and focus of community engagement as they relate to the relationship between business and marginalised, disadvantaged communities while serving the common good (GA2, GA5) 

LO3 - analyse the ethical and social responsibility of participants in business and community organisations (GA5, GA8) 

LO4 - construct, implement and communicate strategies related to work readiness drawn from volunteer experience and associated personal and professional skill development (GA5, GA9) 

LO5 - examine and reflect upon the impact of the community experience on their values, assumptions and attitudes (GA4, GA5) 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include: 

• introduction to community engagement and the nexus between business and community organisations  
• principles and focus of community engagement including ethical and social responsibilities and achieving sustainable outcomes  
• policies, strategies and approaches to building safe and supportive environments for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults 
• work appropriate behaviour, work readiness strategies and personal and professional skill development  
• preparation to engage directly with a social enterprise, community group or not for profit organisation
• participation in volunteer experience within a social enterprise, community group or not for profit organisation for up to 70 hours but with a minimum of 35 hours
• critical reflection and effective communication  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This Unit takes a transformational learning approach to guide students in the development of knowledge associated with community engagement. Students are able to explore knowledge underpinning community engagement in a series of workshops. These workshops are designed to support students to actively take part in the development of knowledge. Students will systematically develop their understanding of the critical aspects of community engagement and how to prepare for and participate in volunteer experience within a social enterprise, community group or not for profit organisation. This Unit takes an experiential approach to support students in developing work appropriate behaviours, work readiness strategies, and the reflective and communications skills required to maximise the outcomes of their volunteer experience by sharing stories and insights and reflecting on experiences. This approach is designed to interest students who prefer to learn within a social environment and build skills for future community engagement.  

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to complete two compulsory hurdle tasks: submit a 35H placement agreement and completion of Working with Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults online module. The unit also requires submission of two graded assessment tasks and achievement of an aggregate mark of at least 50%. Marking of assessments will be in accordance with a rubric specifically developed to measure their level of achievement of the learning outcomes for each item of assessment. Students will also be awarded a final grade which signifies their overall achievement in the Unit. The assessment strategy for this Unit is designed to ensure reflection, understanding of a community engagement and provides the opportunity to share and learn from experience. The assessment of this Unit allows students to develop their knowledge and skills of community engagement to the point where they can effectively complete their volunteer experience and submit a reflective report on their learning from the experience and knowledge and skills gained throughout the unit. To develop this level of capability, students will demonstrate their knowledge of community engagement in developing and reporting on a social innovation concept and interpret their reflections and learnings from the “lived experience” of their placement in the final assessment task.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Amundson, N. (2010). Metaphor making: Your career, your life, your way. Richmond, BC: Ergon Communications. 

Australian Children’s Commissioners and Guardians (2013). Submission to Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Issues Paper 3 – Child Safe Institutions Principles for Child Safety in Organisations.   

Andrews, Patricia H. and John E. Baird Jr. Communication for Business and the Professions. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000. 

Arches, Joan. "Social Action, Service Learning, and Youth Development." Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education 5, no. 1 (2013). 

Duguid, Fiona, Karsten Mündel, & Daniel Schugurensky, (2013) Volunteer Work, Informal Learning and Social Action, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.  

Fitzgerald, Hiram E & Primavera, Judith. (2013) Going Public: Civic and Community Engagement, East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press  

Head, Brian, W. ‘Community Engagement: Participation on Whose Terms?’ Australian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 42, Iss. 3, 2007 

King, Mary A. & H. Frederick Sweitzer (2014) The Successful Internship: personal, professional, and civic development in experiential learning, University of Hartford, Fitchburg State University. Fourth edition. Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning  

Moore, T., McDonald, M., McHugh-Dillon, H., West, S. (2016). Community Engagement – A key strategy for improving outcomes for Australian Families. CFCA Paper no. 39 [online]. Australian Institute of Family Studies. Available at: https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/community-engagement/introduction