In my pathway I want to explore things that Utah Valley University is doing to encourage Community Engaged Learning and Research. I am a transfer student who started college a little later in life, and one of the many reasons I stay here at UVU is because of all the hands-on engaged learning opportunities here on campus. Being able to focus my research on UVU has been enlightening.
This month the main question I had to drive my post was: How does student engagement change when it is student led and staff supported? And what is the point of higher education?Throughout my post, I hope that you gain an insight into how students who engage with their community care more about their community; especially when they realize their community also includes the birds, the trees and everything in between.
This section summarizes the student’s data-gathering process and key findings from survey, interview, or other inquiry methods.
At the end of the Civic Leadership conference, all of the attendees were invited to take an exit survey. The survey was asking their experience across the entire conference, how the opening speaker went, workshops, and other areas of the event. We asked them to rate their experiences with everything from the keynote speakers, breakout sessions, to the snacks and lunch. Almost 70 responses that ranged from students to faculty to staff, and represented most of the universities and colleges from Utah. Our purpose was to see if a student run conference would be effective and meaningful; how they compared to student invited conferences. It was near peer-to-peer feedback since most of the people who responded were students.
The numbers told us that most students had a great time, and the highest satisfaction score were the student-led breakout sessions. The one area with more mixed feedback was the keynote speaker. The only part of the conference that followed a traditional conference format and was not facilitated by students. Multiple people commented that they felt disconnected from the topic, or that the speaker assumed too much prior knowledge of the issue. One student said “the keynote felt like a workshop rather than a speaker.”
The takeaway from this data to me, is that students can lead, and people enjoy when they do. The parts of the conference that were designed and facilitated by students seem to be the favorite parts of the day. When we use democratic learning techniques we can actually create something meaningful that can produce lasting outcomes.
Community Partner Discussion
This section shares insights from a community partner interview, connecting their perspective to the Pathway theme.
The conversations I had after the conference were just as telling as the data we collected. I spoke with a few of the planning committee members about their experience, and the tone was tired (it’s been a long semester) and celebratory. The tiredness comes from when you’ve done something crazy, and it actually worked. During the meeting, we talked about what we wished we had done differently, like not putting the year on the stickers so we can reuse them for future years, but we also talked about things we loved about being a part of a team like this.
One of the members from Utah State said that she wished the conference had happened earlier in the year rather than in the Spring semester, “I want this group sooner!” I agree, one day wasn’t enough to get to know everyone and their projects. One of the other members pigged back off of her and said, “This was the highlight of my year so far.” It’s such a bittersweet thing to end something that was fun and new. It made me wonder though, if this conference was impacting students, why not do it more often? Shouldn’t schools be facilitating these experiences? Making sure that students are put in rooms, committees, and meetings that push and pull at them, and make us better? I am grateful that this isn’t my first experience, and that UVU has so many great ways to get involved, but it makes me wonder what other universities are doing.
I mentioned that I wish that there was a committee of students that represented our respective offices and centers from all our schools. We could meet more often, talk about our projects, support each other when we could and find meaningful collaboration. If one conference, one committee, one day could produce this kind of momentum, what would sustained democratic community do?
This section summarizes readings and research related to a relevant topic within the student’s Pathway and connects them to larger patterns or themes.
I’ve been thinking about what the purpose of education is. Recently, the messaging that I have gotten from universities is that the purpose of education is to get a job. I go to school in order to get a better job and make more money. However, that hasn’t sat right with me, because ever since the turn of the century the value of higher education has gone down. More than half of the people who graduate with a bachelor's degree are going to get a job that doesn’t even require a degree. With the rising cost of education and the workforce not asking for one, I’ve been thinking; what actually is the point of higher education?
If higher education is not just a pathway to employment, then we have to reconsider what its purpose is. One answer I have come across is the concept of democratic education. Democratic education is trying to reframe education from preparation for the workforce to being a curious, driven, and well-rounded community member. I came across this article about democratic education that asked the same question that I did. What is the point of education? The author tells about their experience in traditional schools vs democratic education schooling in the Netherlands. In traditional schooling, success is measured through grades and tests. Even though research has proven that those measures do not reflect a student’s abilities or well-being. Rather than forcing all students into the same academic mold, democratic education allows people to pursue their interests and take ownership of their learning environment. This shifts the goal of education away from simply preparing students for the workforce and toward preparing them to be thoughtful and engaged community members.
Democratic education comes in many forms. The common thread is meaningful-engagement by students in their learning and their decision making. I do think that education has started to shift in small ways to adapt in the 21st century. Community-engaged learning and Research is really popular right now, it goes in tandem with hands-on learning initiatives. Universities have, for the most part, shifted away from lecture based learning to group discussion based classes. Where students come, talk, and learn from each other as well as the material. I’ve also heard of some classes that do collaborative course design. I did have a professor that let us have a say on the syllabus and the readings that were assigned to us. From personal experience all these examples have made me care about what I'm doing, I find myself being more passionate about my learning, and I understand the principles I’m being taught better.
The other article I read was talking about AI and how it will lead to privatization of education. The author also argues that education technology strips teachers of their autonomy when it comes to teaching. When for-profit educational tools start being mandatory it shifts priorities to corporate needs and it inherently undermines education. Lastly the author explores investor-driven schemes like social impact bonds that try to turn children’s learning behaviors into financial commodities. Ultimately, the author is advocating for an increased use in critical pedagogy. They want to reclaim learning from accumulating wealth and complacent workers to students who know how to debate, question power, and engage with politics.
The internet reshaped education, and AI is currently doing the same thing, but something the author said at the end is extremely valuable. “I believe the skills that make us humans will become more important than ever. For instance, empathy, emotions, creativity, and a certain kind of logic are irreplaceable. We need an environment where these skills can flourish, to the benefit of the individual as well as society” (Saltman, 2020). Have we as a society outgrown the traditional method of education? Do we need to pivot to adapt to the struggles we face, the new technology we have, and the different students that will be coming in? I don’t have the answer, but I do think it’s important to talk about.
Community Resources
This section highlights helpful tools or guides that support real-world application of the Pathway.
https://eudec.org/democratic-education/articles/
This resource hub from the European Democratic Education Community compiles articles, interviews, research, and videos from practitioners, researchers, and students across the democratic education movement. EUDEC's model advocates that school students should play an active role at all levels of the organization; in conference planning, programme organization, and on governing councils themselves. Essentially practicing the same peer-led, collaborative learning that our conference embodied.
https://youtu.be/RhUx1pArrO4?si=vKDxRc85ZVtWW_zd
This short video gives a great introduction to democratic education, from history to what it looks like in the world today. Something I learned was that Leo Tolstoy pioneered the idea, when he opened free schools to peasant children in Russia. What makes this resource useful is how it shows democratic education not as a radical idea, but as a tradition with deep roots, one that keeps resurfacing because the question at its heart never goes away: who should education actually serve, and who gets to shape it?
This section reflects on a firsthand or immersive experience related to the Pathway topic.
I should back up and start talking about some of the reasons why I was thinking this way. Besides the fact that AI usage is absolutely everywhere, and people are constantly wanting to talk about it. I also engage in many forms of democratic education. Most recently I got to help plan, put together, and be a part of a civic leadership conference. It was for student leaders made by student leaders. Oftentimes in higher education students go to conferences and listen to people tell us what we already know or information they think we want to hear. However, this conference wanted to push against that. There were students from across six institutions and a few staff to facilitate, but most of the planning was students.
Our student team split into different working groups: workshops and speakers, organization, and marketing. I was a part of the workshop group, and that experience reinforced something I already believed: the best knowledge comes from people who actively engage with issues. This group wasn’t creating content for students, because we are students, that changed how we approached planning this conference. One of the ideas we had was to learn from each other. So many times in higher education we get siloed and it’s hard to communicate across departments or schools. So each university designed and led a workshop that could teach others how they engage with social problems. The sessions ranged from direct service initiatives, to framework sharing, and different ways to share your voice. Despite the variety, one clear thread connected us: a genuine desire to learn from each other. Students shaped the learning environment, they shared knowledge, and worked together to address issues that matter to us.
This conference made the idea of democratic education feel much more tangible to me. Instead of knowledge flowing in one direction, learning became collaborative. It reminds me of the favorite classes I've been in, the ones where the professor doesn’t lecture pointlessly, but holds space for real discussion, values others' insights and treats feedback like something worth listening to. Those experiences stay with you, and I felt like the conference had the same energy.
Students should not just be consuming information; we should be shaping the conversation. This experience was a great example because it shows that students already possess insights about the issues affecting their communities, and the importance of learning. If anything, the conference showed what education can look like when students are trusted as contributors rather than treated only as learners. After all, if the point of education is for the students, why are we left out of the conversation so often?
This section offers closing reflections and invites readers to consider how they can apply the insights in their own lives and communities.
Here’s my thoughts: stop accepting the idea that education is just a transaction. A class you survive, a grade you get as rewards, a conference you get through for free food. We all need to be asking better questions. What would education look like if you had a say in it? What would campuses look like if students were contributors, not just consumers? What would your community look like if we talked across institutions, departments, HOA’s, across invisible walls we built ourselves? You don’t need to wait for a university to hand you an answer or an experience. Find something that you love, and find people that care and start a conversation. Pitch the idea! Plan the conference! Push yourself outside your comfort zone!
