What will you do on this practicum?:
The goal of this project is to keep Kilmurry Church, a deconsecrated Church of Ireland building, available and open to the community. The committee has been running the space on a caretaker basis for the last number of years. We are auditing what community groups are operating in the area and what their needs and requirements are. We are exploring ways to raise awareness of the building and its availability to community groups. We would also like to create a mission statement and strategy document to help guide the future direction of the Kilmurry Church project as it seeks to become a focal point of a growing community.
Why will you do this work?:
To date, the building has been used by such diverse groups as UL’s world academy to mother and baby groups. While these activities have provided income to maintain the building more needs to be done to turn the church into a true community space and generate more income. Working with local groups/organizations, students will engage in both independent as well as collaborative learning. The module is designed to enable students to develop the capacity to apply curriculum-based knowledge in a real-world setting and self-assess and develop graduate attributes to work effectively as a member of a multi-disciplinary team in collaboration with external community stake-holders. Students will also be supported to articulate their ideas to a range of audiences within different cultural frameworks and setting and be provided with opportunities to make substantial and positive contributions to the development of this project. Students will also be supported to articulate their ideas to a range of audiences within different cultural frameworks and setting and be provided with opportunities to make substantial and positive contributions to society.
Who will you be working with?:
Practicum students undertaking this project will work with Kilmurry community committee, local residents and peers from other international universities.
How will your work be evaluated?:
Both formative and summative assessment methods will be used. Assessments will be designed to complement the interactive teaching and learning approaches. In particular, methods conducive to workplace assessment will be employed. These will include weekly reflection diaries, a group presentation, a reflective assignment and self-assessment activity. Students will be expected to produce a community briefing report and present their project outputs and outcomes to their community partner.
