Abstract
As attention to community engagement grows, it is critical that academics, students and community collaborators understand how it is conceptualised. This paper presents findings from a qualitative inquiry with academics and community engagement administrators nationally with regard to how they conceptualise community engagement. Six universities were included in the sample that was selected purposefully from the South African Higher Education Community Engagement Forum (SAHECEF) list. Four major themes emerged from the data and focussed on context, process, mutual beneficial relationship and knowledge production. The data reflected a diverse array of conceptualisations on a continuum that ranged from the university-community dyad to that of the co-production of knowledge.
Highlights
The South African higher education landscape is beset by a coalescence of academic, socio-political and eco nomic challenges that has resulted in much turbulence
The study has contributed to a clearer understanding of how community engagement is conceptualised in South Africa and points to how engagement activities are enacted through these definitions
The study revealed that academics define and conceptualise community engagement in diverse ways across different higher education institutions
Summary
The South African higher education landscape is beset by a coalescence of academic, socio-political and eco nomic challenges that has resulted in much turbulence. Engagement with local communities holds the potential to dispel some of these challenges, by shifting the discipline based boundaries of higher education to a deeper concern with societal issues. The birth of community engagement in South Africa created the opportunity to transform pedagogy, to usher in a more democratic and socially just higher education system that would refocus higher education towards public good. In response to this higher education, leaders initiated efforts to reclaim their civic mission (Hollander and Hartley, 2000) and as attention grew towards this, scholars began framing the civic responsibilities of communities in nuanced ways.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
