Citizenship and solidarity practices at universities Good intentions or feasible practices?

In this article Victoria Kandel of the Universidad de Buenos Aires analyzes the tensions between the "citizenisation" model and the traditional conceptions of professional training.
In recent years, slogans and definitions concerning the ‘social responsibility of universities’ have been circulating internationally. These formulations attribute a fundamental role to universities in terms of complementing professional training with knowledge and experiences related to citizenship. This proposed new relationship between universities and their environment raises a number of questions: why should universities educate students as citizens? Is it possible to accomplish this? What tools are available to pursue this objective? Moreover, although there are points of consensus on this issue, there are also tensions between the ‘citizenisation‘ model we describe and traditional conceptions of professional training. We describe some of these tensions and conclude by offering a series of suggestions that could serve to frame further discussion and decision-making aimed at making the university a space where students are educated for engagement in civic life.
In recent years, slogans and definitions concerning the ‘social responsibility of universities’ have been circulating internationally. These formulations attribute a fundamental role to universities in terms of complementing professional training with knowledge and experiences related to citizenship. Universities have also been criticised for being ‘ivory towers’, that is, for maintaining a degree of isolation, over the course of many years, from everything going on in their environment. Read more...