Community Engaged Learning Semester (CEL)

In the context of the Community Engaged Learning semester, three projects are developed in parallel by international and multidisciplinary teams of students.

Although the precise focus of these project challenges will be sharpened in consultation with the external clients (schools, social organisations and/or healthcare institutions in the neighbourhoods around our campuses here in Antwerp) in the coming months, these short descriptions already give an idea about the content and objectives of the three projects.

In the motivation letter that students who apply for the Community Engaged Learning semester send us, they can indicate which role they see themselves playing in each of these projects. They can also rank the projects and thus indicate which projects seem most interesting to them. Please note, we attach great importance to the flexibility of our students. The three projects are all equally challenging and are all optimally focused on the further development of the competences of the selected students, whether they have a study background in teacher training, or in social work or social educational care work. After all, this interdisciplinary collaboration in each of the internationally composed teams is an important pillar of AP's Community Engaged Learning semester.

Does all this sound interesting to you? Then definitely apply! We guarantee you a unique international and interdisciplinary experience in the fascinating and socially challenging context of Antwerp.

A first team of students - the HEALTH team - focuses on health promotion aimed at socially vulnerable population groups. Because despite the fact that the right to health is enshrined in the Belgian constitution and in numerous international human rights treaties, this right appears to be far from guaranteed, especially for people with a lower social status (educational level, opportunities on the labour market, income level, etc.). In the context of the Community Engaged Learning semester, students develop accessible tools to raise awareness about a healthy lifestyle and organize accessible health initiatives aimed at schools and social organisations. Just one example: in the first edition of the Community Engaged Learning semester, the HEALTH team developed a Kamishibai (Japanese storytelling theatre) about the importance of a healthy lifestyle for a primary school in Antwerp in which socially disadvantaged children are strongly overrepresented.

A second team of students - the SPORTS team - works closely with sports clubs and urban sports services that specifically target children and young people who are in a socially vulnerable position. The students develop educational tools (workshops, manuals, etc.) that support sports clubs in their pursuit of a more inclusive youth academy, organize sporting events aimed at the social emancipation of children and young people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, support children and young people who these social sports initiatives are achieved in their personal growth, etc. For example, the SPORTS team developed a manual & workshop in the first edition of the Community Engaged Learning semester that supports youth academies of sports clubs in the field of social inclusion. The pedagogical competences of the future teachers who were part of this team appeared to be very complementary to the competences of the students with a study background in social work or social educational care work.

The third team of students - the CARE team - will also collaborate intensively with Brake-Out, an organisation that focuses on young people with intellectual disabilities in the next edition of the Community Engaged Learning semester (https://konekt.be/en/brake-out-homepage). Based on the competences of these young people with intellectual disabilities, the CARE students develop activities that promote the personal growth of these young people. The students are also looking for internships tailored to the Brake-Out youngsters. These internships can be found in the context of AP's Spoor Noord campus (with the additional positive effect that AP takes further steps towards an inclusive campus), but also at schools, social organisations, care institutions and other stakeholders in the neighbourhoods. around the campus. An innovative project aimed at students with a heart for young people with disabilities.