UCL’s Community Engaged Learning Ambassadors Project: Mature Students

Abstract

At University College London, Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is defined as experiential learning where students collaborate with external partners to address real-world challenges and opportunities as part of their assignments and research. To understand how CEL, as a social justice pedagogy, can be an inclusive approach for diverse student groups in HEIs that aligns with the ethos of social justice, a staff-student partnership project was set up exploring students’ lived experiences and identities through self and group reflection. This case study specifically focuses on the reflections and recommendations of mature students on ways to enhance their sense of belonging and student experience through CEL. Mature students have been chosen for this case study as they remain an underexplored student group in HE scholarship. The methodology of the staff-student partnership project and its impact on student learning is also discussed. This case study aspires to inform the practice of educators who engage with social justice pedagogies such as CEL as well as enrich the literature on mature students in HE from the perspective of students’ positionality and lived experience.