Community Engagement Report: ACU, Skills, Challenges, Benefits

This report provides a comprehensive overview of community engagement, focusing on the theoretical foundations and practical applications within the context of ACU. It explores the core pillars of community engagement, including building connections, acting with humility, developing understanding, affirming dignity, and pursuing justice. The report delves into various types of community engagement, such as direct and project-based approaches, and highlights the essential skills required for effective social work, including active listening, emotional intelligence, and empathy. It also addresses the challenges faced by community workers, such as financial constraints and cultural barriers, while emphasizing the benefits of community engagement for personal and professional development, including enhanced employability. The report draws on the provided assignment brief, which emphasizes the importance of understanding community engagement, the skills needed, and how it supports employability through theoretical and practical aspects. The report also references the ACU engagement news and the university's core curriculum to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic. This report is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand and engage in community work.

Running head: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Community Engagement
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The primary purpose of this report is to discuss about the community engagement theory and the
pillars of the community engagement within the society. The report discusses about the various
approaches in relation to the community engagement and the skills that the workers need to have
so that they can execute the social work. The report also talks about the challenges of the
financial constrains and the cultural barriers that pose difficulty for the workers along with the
volunteers. The report also elucidates on the benefits that an individual gets in the event of being
involved in the social work projects.

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Introduction
Community engagement refers to dynamic relational process which helps in facilitating
the communication and the exchange taking place in between the organization and the
community. It helps in offering an approach to that of community-organizational relationships
that helps in addressing the needs of the community (Brennan et al. 2018). It is indicative of a
community-centered orientation which is on the basis of dialogue. It helps in the contextualized
understanding of the perceptions of the members of the community that helps in creating the
strong relationship among the members of the community. It helps in bringing the social
outcome and paves the path for the creation of strong relational network. This report discusses
about the pillars of the community engagement and the different kinds of approaches pertaining
to the community engagement. The report also elucidates on the challenges that the workers and
the volunteers have to face in the event of being engaged in the community services. The report
also elaborates on the benefits of the community engagement to that of the personal along with
the professional self-development.
Community engagement theory and the pillars of community engagement
The social capital theory of community engagement discusses about the fact that the
social relationships refer to the resources that helps in the process of developing and
accumulating the human capital. It helps in supporting development of the highly valued skills
along with the credentials (Lin 2017). The human beings living within the framework of the
society have evolved the preferences in relation to the companionship along with the preferences
for the cues that helps in signaling the higher levels of the social capital. It helps in
encompassing norms along with the networks that helps in facilitating the collective actions that

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paves the path for the mutual benefits. There are various pillars of the community engagement
that underlies the concept and guides the courses of the actions of the individuals within the
broader society. The partaking of the community engagement helps in building the genuine
connections with that of the broader community (Mtawa, Fongwa and Wangenge-Ouma 2016). It
helps in the developing of the empathetic understanding that helps the people in the society in
flourishing as the human beings. It helps in the development of the respectful relationships that
can help a community in experiencing the positive growth.
Another pillar of the community engagement is acting with the humility that helps in
ensuring the sustainability of the individuals within the community. It helps the people in
looking with a sense of the equality and work in a collaborative manner with that of the
community (Shiel et al. 2016). The humility that an individual feels at the time of community
engagement helps in minimizing power differentials which is inherent in relation to certain
aspects of the community work. Humility acts as a precondition for the developing of the
genuine understanding towards the disadvantaged sections of the population. The people develop
the understanding in the event of being involved in the community projects and it helps them in
understanding the beliefs, dispositions along with the needs of the people who are in need of the
community services (Acu.edu.au 2019). The people should carry out the interaction in a
compassionate and the respectful manner that helps them in reaching out to the deprived people
within the society. The community engagement helps in recognizing equal moral worth of all the
human beings who have been made in likeliness of the God. It ensures offering protection to the
fundamental human rights of the individuals in the societies. It ensures the developing of the
capacities of the people that can help the people in understanding about their worth in the society
(Fitzgerald et al. 2017). The commitment to the dignity helps in offering support to the people

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who have been marginalized by structures along with attitudes of the contemporary society. The
social workers work in a holistic manner and carry out the collaboration so that it serves the
common good in the society. The underlying pillar of the community engagement is to work for
the purpose of ensuring the social justice within the society. It helps the social workers in
advancing the common good within the broader society and helps in providing the fair
opportunities to the people so that they can participate in the different aspects of the society.
Kinds of community engagement
There are various kinds of community engagement that helps in catering to the needs of
the weaker section of the population. In the event of direct community engagement, the students
carry out the interaction with the members of the community by taking recourse to program that
is offered by a university or the various kinds of external partner organization (Acu.edu.au
2019). In project-based community engagement, the students either individually or in the groups
work on particular project that has been assigned on them that can help in providing tangible
outcome for that of the community organization. The projects can help in the developing of the
regional economy of the place in a manner that is sustainable. It can carry out the feasibility
studies that can attract the people to the small business districts. The projects can help in
providing the instructional services that can help in educating the public in relation to a social
issue. The universities can lend its useful services in developing a website for that of the
community organization that can prove to be of use for the community organization. The
university can also offer help to the community organization in developing the strategic plan that
can help in bringing profits for that of the community organization (Jacob et al. 2015).

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The students of university can also involve themselves in the community-based research
by contributing in an effective manner to that of a research project which is needed by the
community organization. The research can help in benefitting the community by making clear
causes in relation to a community challenge. The research can help in mapping the assets of a
community and it can contribute to the solutions to that of the current challenges prevailing in
the times. It can aid in the process of fitting the research agenda of the members of the
community. The faculty who possess the research expertise can carry out the work with the
members of the community that can prove to of great use for the community organization
(McNall et al. 2015). The students can also involve themselves in advocacy and they can support
the partner organizations of the university that can help in addressing the social issues prevailing
in the times. The students can make the campaigns that can help in building the awareness and
advance the mission of an organization. It can help in providing the free resources along with the
tools that can aid in the process of enacting the social change within the framework of the wider
society (Holton and Holland 2015).
Skills and the challenges of the workers
There are certain skills that the workers should be imbibed with that can help them in
carrying out the community engaged services. The social work needs a diverse range of the
professional along with the cognitive skills. The workers and the volunteers should have the
ability of active listening that can help them in understanding the problems of the other people. It
can help in the establishment of the trust along with the respect that can help in successfully
carrying out the social work. It helps in the process of building the therapeutic alliance that can
prove to be useful within the domains of the practical setting. The workers should possess the
trait of the emotional intelligence and have high level of the self-awareness that can be useful in

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execution of the social work (Fitzgerald et al. 2016). The workers provide the psychosocial
support and they should have the ability of prioritizing that can help them in working in
accordance to urgency that can help in serving the needs of the clients. The volunteers should
have the ability of reflecting on the things in a critical manner that can help them in effectively
providing the help to the clients. The workers should act in an empathetic manner and they
should be able to understand the other people. It can help the workers in imagining themselves in
the situations of the other people that can help them in understanding in a complete manner the
needs of the clients.
There are challenges that are faced by the community workers in the event of involving
themselves in various kinds of projects that caters to the welfare of the society. The volunteers
are not equipped with the resources that can help them in the successful execution of the projects
(Sandmann, Saltmarsh and O’Meara 2019). There are cultural barriers that can be perceived by
the workers that can come in the way of executing the social services. They have to adapt
themselves to the materials for ensuring the fact that the program materials would prove to be
culturally appropriate. The government is passing various kinds of laws that can threaten the
work that is carried out by the social workers. The social workers cannot communicate with the
agencies that can act as a hindrance in the path of the social work. The state requires a great deal
of documentation in the present time that can raise difficulty in finding the placements for the
neglected children (Chan and Farrington 2018). The social workers also have to face the burden
of finances that makes the social workers face increasing amount of pressure. This makes the
social workers have the high burnout rate that threatens the mental health of the social workers.
Benefits to the self-development

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There are certain benefits that an individual gets in the event of involving themselves in
the social work. It aids the process of the personal along with the professional development of
the individuals and it helps in increasing their chances of employability in the society. It can help
a person in learning how to work within a team that can help them in learning the art of co-
operation along with the collaboration. It can help in strengthening the personal qualities of an
individual that can help them in understanding the social systems of the present age. It can help
an individual in understanding the inherent power that can be used by him in a positive manner
within the society. It can help in increasing my knowledge and understanding the forces of the
change within the framework of the society (Shiel et al. 2016). It can help a person in mastering
the art of the perseverance that can serve an individual a useful purpose in life. It can help a
person in understanding the need of the empathy within that of a wider society. It can increase
my communicative skills that can help a person in interacting in a proper manner with the other
people.
In the event of providing assistance to the elderly people in the nursing homes an
individual can learn about the significance of the element of compassion. It can help them in
understanding the problems that the disadvantaged people have to face within the society. The
field of the social work is expanding at a rapid pace and it can help in providing professional
opportunities for the students who are involving themselves in the social work (Brennan et al.
2018). It can help the people in finding the suitable jobs in the non-profit along with the
advocacy agencies. It can help the people in being involved in the direct client care that can help
them in developing their skill set.
Conclusion

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Community engagement helps in facilitating exchange in between organization and that
of community. Humility that is felt by a social worker can help in the minimizing of the power
differentials which is present within the society. The programs help the students in carrying out
direct communication with the disadvantaged people that can contribute to that of welfare of
society. The workers should possess the skill pertaining to the active listening that can be of help
for them in understanding problems of the individuals. The social workers have to overcome the
problem of the cultural barriers that can help in the execution of work related to the social
services.

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References
Acu.edu.au (2019). Community engagement – ACU Engagement. [online] Available at:
https://www.acu.edu.au/about-acu/community-engagement [Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
Brennan, J., Cochrane, A., Lebeau, Y. and Williams, R., 2018. Universities, Community
Engagement and the ‘Public Good’. In The University in its Place (pp. 87-103). Springer,
Dordrecht.
Chan, Y.E. and Farrington, C.J., 2018. Community-based research: Engaging universities in
technology-related knowledge exchanges. Information and Organization, 28(3), pp.129-139.
Fitzgerald, H.E., Bruns, K., Sonka, S.T., Furco, A. and Swanson, L., 2016. The centrality of
engagement in higher education. Journal of Higher Education outreach and engagement, 20(1),
pp.223-244.
Fitzgerald, H.E., Van Egeren, L.A., Bargerstock, B.A. and Zientek, R., 2017. Community
engagement scholarship, research universities, and the scholarship of integration. In Learning
Through Community Engagement (pp. 31-51). Springer, Singapore.
Holton, V. and Holland, B., 2015. To What End-Tracking and Assessing Community
Engagement Across Universities.
Jacob, W.J., Sutin, S.E., Weidman, J.C. and Yeager, J.L. eds., 2015. Community engagement in
higher education: Policy reforms and practice. Springer.
Lin, N., 2017. Building a network theory of social capital. In Social capital (pp. 3-28).
Routledge.

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McNall, M.A., Barnes-Najor, J.V., Brown, R.E., Doberneck, D.M. and Fitzgerald, H.E., 2015.
Systemic engagement: Universities as partners in systemic approaches to community
change. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 19(1), pp.7-32.
Mtawa, N.N., Fongwa, S.N. and Wangenge-Ouma, G., 2016. The scholarship of university-
community engagement: Interrogating Boyer's model. International Journal of Educational
Development, 49, pp.126-133.
Sandmann, L.R., Saltmarsh, J. and O’Meara, K., 2019. An integrated model for advancing the
scholarship of engagement. Building the Field of Higher Education Engagement: Foundational
Ideas and Future Directions.
Shiel, C., Leal Filho, W., do Paço, A. and Brandli, L., 2016. Evaluating the engagement of
universities in capacity building for sustainable development in local communities. Evaluation
and program planning, 54, pp.123-134.
Reading Material
Why Social Enterprise Matters: Chapter 1-5