Adopting learning circle approaches to equip academic staff for community engaged research and learning practices

Abstract

The purpose is to explore the potential of Learning Circle (LC) approaches with an aim of equipping academic staff for Community Engaged Research and Learning (CERL) practices. We draw on the experiences from a three-year Erasmus+ project, CIRCLET. It aimed to meet the demand to better align higher education with the needs of the rapidly changing 21st century society, by enhancing the professional development of academic staff and fostering a culture of engagement. The article presents a case study-based argument that the LC - as a community of practice approach - is an effective instrument for, and has the potential to tackle, many of the challenges of professional development. We draw on a combined method, building case studies from post-interviews, personal notes and observations. We present four different cases, and offer suggestions for how LCs created a safe space, thus enabling learning at different levels which supported academics to build CERL into curricula.