Home
The Office of Community-Engaged Learning (OCEL)
The Office of Community-Engaged Learning (OCEL) aims to build long-term, asset-based partnerships with community organizations based in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, and the greater Hudson Valley. By developing and centering partnerships, the OCEL provides students with the opportunity to learn alongside community partner organizations and make real-world connections to enhance their academic experiences. Through a variety of programming, the OCEL connects students, community partners, and faculty community-identified projects to deepen classroom learning, build capacity at community organizations, and empower students to become active change agents in their communities.
Community Engaged Learning, as a pedagogy and practice, is a community-based educational opportunity aimed to enhance learning through employing pedagogical strategies of structured critical reflection, dialogic engagement, integration of academic learning goals, and connection to clearly articulated community-desired outcomes and impact. In the community-engaged learning experiences, students and faculty learn more about social issues, work alongside community partners, combine their off-campus learning with guided reflection under the mentorship of a faculty sponsor, and participate in critical community-engaged learning on-campus workshops.
The OCEL’s pedagogical workshops and trainings are grounded in critical community-engaged learning, which centers self-awareness and critical thinking, critical analysis skills of the root causes of social issues, and the supporting the development of students’ knowledge, tools, and agency to create a more equitable and just world.