Collaborations with community partners In 2020-21 we collaborated with 20 community organisations in both education and research activities. This greatly enhanced the real-world learning for students and the real-world application and impact of BU research. We have chosen three examples to share in this report:
Social Work We collaborated with six community partners to deliver the user led 1st year BA social work unit: Learning from the Lived Experience.
In this user-led unit, social work students were divided into small student groups and allocated a community facilitator who supported them to identify opportunities within the community for seeking a deeper understanding of a particular lived experience. What is unique about this unit is that each facilitator has first-hand experience of the topic. They share this expertise with the students and support them to make links between their knowledge gained from literature, research, legislation and policy and the real-world lived experiences of service users, carers and practitioners. At the end of the 20-day unit, students created a 15-minute group presentation based on the knowledge gained.
What did students learn? “I am extremely grateful to Louisa and this unit for providing me with a safe space to explore ideas that I had not considered prior to looking into the topic. I am extremely lucky to have been placed with such a great facilitator, group and group of service users who all cared so passionately and were open and honest in their storytelling with us.” Student facilitated by The Inclusion Agency exploring the lived experience of rural racism.
“Working with Par has been amazing. He has been so open and honest about his experience while also providing us with vital new skills and knowledge surrounding HIV. He sent us a package in the post full of booklets, ribbons and information, which was a lovely bonus because it felt as if we actually had a purpose doing all this.” Student facilitated by Body Positive Dorset exploring the lived experience of men and HIV.
Feedback from the academic “It was a privilege to step in to lead this unit for this semester. Not only is it evident that the students get so much learning from working with the community facilitators, it was clear that many also developed their empathy and understanding of different topics, and many became advocates and/or allies. I also learned a lot from the unit, and it was a pleasure to work with the community facilitators who are clearly dedicated to supporting the development of our students as effective practitioners.” Dr Orlanda Harvey, lecturer in social work.
Community Facilitator feedback “The students were engaged, applying their own experience and theoretical knowledge to develop thoughtful questions and discussion topics for our sessions together. I look forward to working with the University again on this and other community engagement projects. ” Dorset Parent Infant Partnership, DorPIP helping families flourish.
“Teaching the social work students about the Lived Experience of all things Trans has been a pleasure and a privilege. Watching them learn and seeing the way they soak up all the information given, from a topic rarely taught in depth, has been amazing. And the fact that I know my students are going to make a difference for other trans people; from educating their peers to guidance for possible future clients. I very much look forward to the next one.” Communi-T Trans group exploring the lived experience of being Transgender
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