Community Engagement

Dimensions of Community  (the contexts in which we engage in community) →	Principles of engagement  (how we engage in  the dimensions of community) →	The CE process  (the way students practice working and engaging within these dimensions of community and principles of engagement) →	Learning outcomes
Personal (to self and one's own positionality in relation to community) Relational (one's connection to others' and relationships) Systems (one's connection to community on a broader scale)	Reciprocity (all members of the community gain something from their participation and contribution: mutual benefit, positive feedback loops, shared responsibility) Dialogue (Dialogue emphasizes the importance of active listening and reciprocal communication, so shared understanding, relationship building, collaborative understanding and problem-solving can take place) Reflection and Reflexivity (By reflecting on past experiences and being reflexive about their own role, students can tailor their approaches for better outcomes. Increased trust, effectiveness and deeper thinking leads to sustainable projects)	Explore and prepare Relate and Act  Evaluate and Share	LO1—Foster reciprocal and dialogic engagement LO2—Explore systems, and develop awareness of their roles within these LO3—Develop, articulate and enact ethical thinking and action LO4—Engage in reflective and reflexive practice

The learning journal. Just like in Language and Cultural Studies and the reflective project, the learning journal in Community Engagement is a documentation of the student's voice over the two-year course and is a centralised learning space. This can be multimodal and reflect communication styles that best suit the students. 

• A learning tool to evidence engagement and demonstration of the learning outcomes
• a learning tool as a place for learning engagements and reflections
• provide the basis of discussion for narrative assessment (recommended) in the 3 review points.
• evidence of their entire learning process and sustained engagement for assessment 

Like in the other core components, rather than separating this into distinct formative and summative boxes, assessment should be seen as more on a sliding scale of formative and summative and a mix of informal ongoing assessment, 3 scheduled review points and final completion of the course. The learning journal is the backbone of all of this. 

Ongoing assessment - informal, learning journal and discussion based. 
Periodic assessment - 3 required review points - formal, formative. Recommended narrative assessment process sharing stories of student CE engagements.
Final assessment - end of programme demonstration of sustained engagement and evidence of the learning outcomes. 

Key points: 

• the learning journal is mandatory and students can keep a digital, physical or a combination of the two depending on their learning preferences.
• there must be 3 review points
• students are required to complete a reflection before and/or after the review point in the IB's progress and reflection form.

Assessment

Narrative assessment tools are recommended for the three review points and for students to develop communication skills through story-telling and demonstrate thinking skills. The context for review points is talking through strong and challenging experiences and is not a showcase for best experiences. 

The basic structure for such a process is to describe: 

‘What → when → how → why → so what → what if’ of experiences which leads students from describing the experience through right through to building their thinking reflectively, reflexively, critically and creatively about their experiences. 

It carefully scaffolds students' thinking processes to deal with what they know and their experiences, which enables them to take risks and think independently about what they have gained or lost from their experiences. 

A quick overview of different parts of reflection and reflexivity

Remember that reflective and reflexive skills build throughout the CP course and not just in Community Engagement; critically reflective and reflexive skills will become more nuanced the more opportunities students have to practice them with questions and tools to help them.  

Metacognitive reflection
Thinking about one's own thinking and learning processes to understand how one learns and how to improve. 
Type of question: What is motivating and engaging you in CE? What is standing in the way of your engagement?

Process reflection
This is thinking deliberately about the process you have undertaken: what you did and why you did it to inform future choices and actions.
Type of question: How have your learning process and engagements led you to new understandings?

Critical reflection 
In the context of Community Engagement, students can think more deeply by examining their experiences, assumptions, and beliefs to gain a more complex understanding and improve future actions. This can be achieved through a conceptual lens, focusing on the dimensions of community and principles of engagement 
Type of question: How do your experiences with community help you understand other people and their actions? 
                           How do your experiences within your other CP subjects and core components help you understand                                           other people and their actions? 

Self reflexivity 
Thinking that leads to the examination of one's own beliefs and perceptions.
Type of question: What have you discovered about your personal values and how this impacts how you interact with others in different contexts?

Critical reflexivity 
This type of thinking leads you to examine beliefs and perceptions of wider systems such as different communities and groups and your own positionality within this. 

Type of question: Which of the Dimensions of Community - Personal, Relational and Systems have been the most significant in your CE learning engagements?