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Entrepreneuring for transition: A participatory action research on community-engaged curriculum design in higher education

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Abstract

The paper is grounded in higher education in a local context in Taiwan. The purpose is to explore pioneering efforts against poverty and social exclusion and to create a context and opportunity for authentic participation among educational institutions and communities in the co-creation of meaning, knowledge, and action during community transitions. Based on participatory action research, the researcher initiated an entrepreneurial spirit through teaching and learning in the context of community-engaged curriculum design. The paper provides an analysis of how university and local actors reach the common objective of local development, after which they initiate processes of personal transition as well as community transition. Participatory planning processes create a space for transformative social learning that leads to the evolution of academic research into partnership research, the transformation of oneself and others, and a shift in relationship dynamics leading to solutions for societal challenges and convivial and inclusive social action.

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Notes

  1. https://transitionnetwork.org/about-the-movement/what-is-transition/.

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Funding

This study is supported and sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology under the Humanities Innovation and Social Practice Grant (most103-2420-h-006-001-hs2).

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Correspondence to Yahui Fang.

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The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Fang, Y. Entrepreneuring for transition: A participatory action research on community-engaged curriculum design in higher education. Entrep Educ 1, 85–104 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-018-0003-x

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