Charity to Solidarity: Using a Justice Lens for Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Partnerships

From the CESI Blog Archive - August 2023

Poojan Joshi is a Masters Candidate in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Guelph.

Introduction

My interest in the social determinants of health, specifically aging and cognitive decline, and passion for applied social psychology led me to pursue graduate studies in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Guelph. I began this program with the goal of applying my research and “expert” knowledge in the field to help people change their behaviour, and ultimately, their response to the challenges they face. It wasn’t until I was exposed to critical psychology, specifically through a graduate course Critical Approaches to Applied Social Psychology and critical community engagement at CESI, that I realized how harmful my initial approach was. Learning from and reflecting on a critical approach allowed me to realize that from a young age, I had been exposed to a Western, neoliberal perspective of finding individualized “solutions” to “people’s problems”. Furthermore, this Western perspective that I was the expert on other people’s lives was also harmful and oppressive. By immersing myself in critical approaches to psychology, I realized that the challenges that people were facing were not going to be resolved using a change in individual behaviour or attitude, but rather a systemic change and a collective effort to improve living conditions.

Charity to Solidarity

In summer 2023, I began a practicum with the Canadian Mental Health Association of Waterloo-Wellington, supported by the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI). Through this experience, I was introduced to the links between social justice and community engagement – specifically, through the event Charity to Solidarity: Using a Justice Lens for Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Partnerships. This event was offered as part of the Critical Pedagogy and Community Engaged Teaching and Learning (CETL) Circle. It included a presentation and facilitated conversation, using the case study of the third year International Development course, IDEV*3300: Engaging in Development Practice to explore CETL partnerships that highlight and enact justice throughout course elements, community engagement, and social change processes and goals.

In this post, I reflect on the knowledge and critical perspectives offered through Charity to Solidarity - most importantly, the critical need to incorporate a justice lens in community engaged teaching and learning.

Development of the Course

First, the event explored the origins of IDEV*3300. It was led by Samantha Blostein, the Global Engagement Specialist at the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) and the Guelph Institute for Development Studies (GIDS). She explained that, through her work and experiences in community engaged scholarship, she recognized a need to incorporate a social justice and equity lens in student community engagement initiatives as she developed the course in collaboration with CESI and GIDS. She conducted extensive research and completed a series of consultations, including assessing over twenty development programs, structures, and learning outcomes from institutions across Canada, and consulting with many interdisciplinary program leaders. This course is currently offered to undergraduate students in International Development Studies at the University of Guelph. Learn more about one undergraduate student’s experience in IDEV*3300.

Course Structure

Next, Samantha provided some background into the general structure and flow of the course. This course provides an opportunity for students to engage with development practitioners in a real-world context, outside of traditional classroom learning. Specifically, the focus of this course is to analyze development issues and define related policy and practice options for community partners. This includes exploring and identifying strengths and challenges associated with engaging with development practitioners in the community. Lastly, this course offers students an opportunity to develop and strengthen the necessary skills for successful community engagement. The course itself consists of a team-based community engagement project that is developed and determined in consultation with a community partner. Over the years, students have worked with numerous local and international community partners, including Cuso International, Farm Radio International, Operation Safe Space Barbados, Hope House Guelph, County of Wellington Settlement Services, Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition, Guelph and Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination and the Guelph Community Health Centre.

Shifting to a Justice Lens

After the overview presentation, the facilitated conversation began, using IDEV*3300 as a case study to explore possibilities for incorporating a justice lens into teaching and learning while working with development issues and community engagement.

I learned that the name of the event, Charity to Solidarity, was inspired by a student working on a project related to providing health services for undocumented individuals. In conversation with a medical leader at a women’s college in Toronto, they came to the realization that community engagement is truly about justice. It is not a charitable effort to change the system and fight for better sexual and reproductive health rights for women - it is about changing your perspective to understand what the systemic causes are behind social issues.  These issues are not a reflection of the people and of individuals, but of the system.

The Community as Experts

I also learned that working with various community partners will allow you to recognize that community service organizations are sometimes providing band-aid solutions to address inequities in a larger system. Although this may be due to a myriad of factors, such as systemic and organizational issues of capacity, policy, and organizational values, the root causes of social issues are often dismissed and short-term, surface-level solutions are frequently prioritized and implemented. Centering community expertise, priorities, and values when working on development issues is crucial to demonstrating justice in development work.

There is a significant difference between community and community partner. A community consists of the people who are impacted by the development issue, directly or indirectly. A community partner can consist of a government institution, community service organization, NGOs, and more, who may be service providers but whose work may not directly align with community priorities. Employing a justice lens means prioritizing community expertise, values, and goals. This means acknowledging and identifying the community as powerful knowledge holders. It also means uprooting pre-existing notions of expertise and knowledge, and reflecting on how knowledge is gathered, shared, and valued.

Our Responsibility as Community Engaged Scholars

Charity to Solidarity also explored the responsibilities that come with engaging in CETL. As scholars and instructors in academia, we need to shift our focus from looking at community deficits to prioritizing community strengths and assets in addressing development issues, policies, and practices. Approaching development issues through a “white saviour complex” impedes any efforts to make a change in the system. In fact, it is a harmful, disempowering, and oppressive approach to development work. Critical community engaged scholarship requires thinking about solidarity, action, and recognizing the responsibility we have to introduce students to social issues and support them in contributing to change, not as charity but in standing in solidarity with communities. IDEV*3300 asks students to think about how we are implicated in this injustice, inequity, and how we can shift this lens through our work to give voice and power back to communities, center them in their knowledge, and align ourselves with their and priorities.

I also learned that, in working towards equity, it is important to acknowledge that we are not here to fix “marginalized people”, rather “it’s about fixing the conditions that have created that marginalization”. 

Challenges in Community Engagement Work and Changes over Time

Undoubtedly, there will be challenges and lessons learned from critical community engagement, and this event highlighted that CETL courses like IDEV*3300are a great opportunity to introduce students to these challenges, the internal workings of an organization, and a chance to recognize the power difference between those providing the service and those who receive it. Students will also learn that community organizations may not always be representative of the community in their priorities and values.

Advocating for justice, and working towards a systemic change takes awareness, understanding, complex work, commitment, and most importantly, time. Courses based in critical community engagement are powerful and transformative opportunities to be involved in real-world challenges and work on issues that directly impact communities, to identify different players and stakeholders, and to reflect on your own abilities and tap into what development and social issues you are passionate about and how you can apply yourself to creating a change.

Charity to Solidarity also highlighted that there have been transformational and encouraging changes within community partners and organizations over time. One powerful example is a shift in language;  there is now a focus on how language may reinforce systemic and oppressive structures.  For example, the shift from referring to communities as “marginalized communities” to “communities that have been disinvested in” help to name the root causes of social issues and take the blame away from communities to oppressive social structures.

Engaged Scholars as Advocates for Institutional Change

During the event, attendees stressed the importance of addressing internal obstacles in our own academic institutions before working towards a systemic change in the community.  For example, one attendee emphasized the lack of funding to support accessibility and inclusion when working with diverse communities. They offered several examples when successful engagement was impacted due to lack of accessibility and inclusion when working with disabled folks. They mentioned that this additional systemic barrier can further perpetuate and contribute to the disempowering and oppressive structures when working with local and international communities who may require additional support and resources such as funding for translation services. Moreover, many participants demonstrated their frustration of the unrecognized labour that is required for non-traditional teaching and that they see a reflection of the inequities they are trying to address in their own institutions. As a result, in addition to our roles as students, researchers, faculty, and engaged scholars, we are compelled to fulfill yet another role, the role of the advocate. There will need to be collective effort to advocate for and address these inequities as part of our ongoing work.