Practicum makes perfect

By John Rainsford

They called it a meitheal back in the day but now the ancient Irish word, denoting co-operation and team work, has been revived to link Ennis and Limerick in a very ‘practical’ way.
This summer, the University of Limerick’s (UL) Practicum Project has joined with the Ennis Hub Plan in promoting the town as the central hub of the Mid-West.
The idea for a practicum first emerged from UL’s highly successful Co-operative Education Programme under which students were placed in industry in order to acquire valuable work experience. The new practicum is enabling these same students to engage in faculty-designed research projects in close collaboration with community sponsors. The use of the name practicum is derived from the Latin word practicus meaning ‘one who practices’ or ‘one who takes action’.
Spearheading the project in Ennis this summer are Susan Rice, Sherona O’Donnell and Avril Seery – all postgraduate students of the new MA in Technical Communication and E-learning programme at UL.
Susan Rice explains, “The ‘Practicum’ really appealed to me right from the beginning because it is a project, which allows students to create something, which can be used by the community in ‘real life’. It also allows us to showcase skills we have acquired on the course during the year. It has been an invaluable experience, putting us in a position to work in a collaborative environment, interacting not only with fellow team members, but also with the wider community.
“I could definitely see it being used by other universities in future. I think it is vital for students to have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained during their studies to a practical task. Currently, we are creating an e-learning presentation, an informative comic and a newsletter as part of the project. We are also maintaining and making changes to a website created by other MA students on the course.”
The advantages for stakeholders are significant and include the strengthening of the alignment between research, teaching and learning at UL. Meanwhile, the growing spirit of partnership between the university and the people of Ennis is important for the future development of both.
Indeed, future broadening of the UL curriculum will allow the development of students’ life-long learning capacities and create new transferable skills, which will unite academia with the outside world.
“I have definitely enjoyed this year,” says Susan, “particularly because our course is focused on practical topics. We have gained valuable experience that will, hopefully, help us to gain employment later. It was quite difficult going straight from an undergraduate to a master’s degree, as a lot of my friends are now either working or travelling, but I am glad I did.
“The year has flown and the project has been really beneficial. All the lecturers have been extremely helpful in the learning experience. I hope to get a job in Ireland but if needs be, I will go abroad. The technical communication and e-learning industries seem to be steadily growing here, so hopefully, I will not have to leave.”
Central to the success of the project was the development of experiential learning for students. This included the provision of additional opportunities for those involved in community-based learning and civic-based research activities. The project was unique in the way that it united undergraduate and postgraduate students with community activists, policy makers, entrepreneurs and academic staff.
Ennis Town Council is committed to developing Ennis as a hub town under the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) 2002-2022. The project commenced in February 2010 and involves the co-operation of a number of diverse groupings. These include Ennis Town Council’s elected representatives, Clare Active Citizenship Network, UL’s Practicum Initiative and the National Digital Learning Repository (NDLR).
The NSS has identified a network of cities and larger urban areas as possible ‘gateways’ whose development will assist the Government’s goal of more balanced regional development. Nine medium to large towns, including Ennis were identified in the NSS as hubs with Reaching- Out Guidelines being published in 2004
to further democratic representation locally.
“The ‘Practicum’ experience has fostered invaluable relationships between UL, Ennis Town Council and local people,” says Avril Seery.
“Technical communication and politics students from UL attended and helped to co-ordinate world café meetings and information sessions earlier in the year. This allowed us, as a team, to interact with locals and to gain a valuable insight into the vision they have for their town. The world cafés were an informal way of communicating with the community in a friendly environment.
“We mainly rely on each other to generate ideas about what goes into each project. Any major queries we have, however, are directed at lecturers. We have been able to resolve most issues amongst ourselves, though. As a group, we have worked well, brainstorming and using information gleaned from local people, to complete the project.”
“Like most final-year projects (FYPs) this one is predominantly self-directed,” she continued. “Of course, we have had helpful input also from Dr Darina Slattery, programme director for the MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning course at UL and from Ennis Hub co-ordinator Dr Chris McInerney and Dr Éidín Ní Shé, Practicum co-ordinator.”
The creation of a workable hub plan together with a hands-on group facilitation and support process for Ennis citizens, is becoming central to furthering social inclusion by local policy makers.
It is a process with which Sherona O’Donnell agrees.
“The project has received great support from Ennis town councillors, which is very important because without their backing, we would not have had the opportunity to go forward with the project. We have attended two town council meetings and it is clear that members of the town council view the ‘Practicum’ as a means of improving Ennis and providing its citizens with a hopeful future.
“We found the public to be very helpful as well. We were involved in an information session in the local shopping centre, where we approached locals and asked their opinions regarding possible ways Ennis could be enhanced by 2020. Everyone was very approachable and willing to answer our questions. This co-operation continued at the world café meetings where locals of all ages attended, showing their support and providing valuable insights.”
Ennis has been proposed as a hub town by the NSS because of its convenient location and proximity to facilities such as Shannon airport. The UL ‘Practicum’ has joined with the NSS in an attempt to enhance Ennis in that role, gathering the opinions of locals and creating a vision for Ennis in the year 2020. Relaying the positive aspects of that vision has been the role of the UL team.
Susan Rice, who recently spent four months in Trieste, Italy, as part of the European Union’s Erasmus Programme, is adamant about the value to students from the initiative.
“My experience of the ‘Practicum’ has been nothing but positive. Although I am not from Ennis, I am glad this project allowed me to contribute to the community, as opposed to completing a project purely for my own benefit. The vision of ‘Ennis 2020’ is very realistic. The opinions garnered from locals focused on job opportunities, education, infrastructure and general social issues.
“The ‘Practicum’ aspect of our course has, possibly, been one of the most beneficial learning experiences of my life. The skills attained during the year can now be transferred and practically applied. The whole project has become an asset that can be drawn upon and referred to in the future. I am glad I was given the opportunity to be part of it. It was a unique way to showcase what we learned throughout the year while benefiting the community at the same time.”
She and her colleagues are now looking forward to completing their journey of discovery made possible by a modern version of the ancient meitheal.
“Dr Chris McInerney and Dr Éidín Ní Shé recently compiled a report containing the findings of the world café meetings, the opinions of Ennis people and those of support groups,” Susan says.
“Basically, it is our responsibility to communicate these findings to the general public through several mediums. These are an e-learning presentation, aimed at all age groups and a comic encapsulating the findings of the report in story board format (including animation and audio). The comic is aimed at the younger generation particularly primary school children.
“A newsletter, summarising the report’s findings, will be generated and distributed to interested locals. The website will be developed to include all of these resources. So far, it has definitely lived up to our expectations. I think the collaborative aspect of the experience has been very beneficial, given that we all brought different skill sets to the table. We can now use these strengths to develop the project further.”
The building of such reciprocal partnerships, promises to reinvigorate the ancient concept of the meitheal offering hope to Town and Gown alike in these difficult times.