Entrepreneuring for transition: A participatory action research on community-engaged curriculum design in higher education

Abstract

The paper is grounded in higher education in a local context in Taiwan. The purpose is to explore pioneering efforts against poverty and social exclusion and to create a context and opportunity for authentic participation among educational institutions and communities in the co-creation of meaning, knowledge, and action during community transitions. Based on participatory action research, the researcher initiated an entrepreneurial spirit through teaching and learning in the context of communityengaged curriculum design. The paper provides an analysis of how university and local actors reach the common objective of local development, after which they initiate processes of personal transition as well as community transition. Participatory planning processes create a space for transformative social learning that leads to the evolution of academic research into partnership research, the transformation of oneself and others, and a shift in relationship dynamics leading to solutions for societal challenges and convivial and inclusive social action.

How to increase rural NEETs professional involvement in agriculture? The roles of youth representations and vocational training packages improvement

“…Moreover, youth-centered training and employment approaches to support rural NEETs have been upheld by different reports (Shore and Tosun, 2019; blind for review). Third, the guidelines emerging from our collaborative research effort challenge the rationalistic approach regarding vocational education, with processes, resources and results predetermined by centralized, broadband regulations (Fang, 2018). While being a strong and predictable system (Eichorst et al, 2015), the European vocational training is also an inflexible one, when facing local/regional limitations and particular problems, such as those rural NEETs have to cope with.…”

“…Both decision-makers and training institutions have kept faithful to a rationalistic approach regarding vocational training based on centralized, broadband regulations that determine processes, resources and results of the system (Fang, 2018). This vision of vocational training is deeply entrenched in a neoliberal perspective on learning processes.…”

“…PAR has been used to address multiple educational challenges, such as literacy needs (Quigley, 2000), learners' civic and community involvement (Peters, 2004) or teachers' professional development (Whitehead, 1993), to mention just a few. PAR has also been implemented to improve training packages (Dong et al 2014;Fang 2018). According to this view, training package improvement or full-design should be a democratic process involving various stakeholders, with target learners of a system playing a vital role in designing NEETs PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT IN AGRICULTURE… 14 solutions (Dong et al, 2014).…”