Paper short abstract:

The action process focuses on creating an epistemic capability and aspirational Repertoire linked to the student’s internship experience in a master's degree Course (UNIPD, Italy). It was built by a participatory and deliberative process and refers to 5 dimensions: Inclusive human relations, innovative teaching, territorial connections, University ethics, Internship.

Paper long abstract:

There is no consensus about what a good university is, but a human development approach is also very relevant in educational policy and evaluation and can assist us to define and characterize a good university (Loorbach & Wittmayer, 2023). Therefore, a contextual capabilities repertoire can give stronger direction to university policies, practices, and projects contributing to avoiding crisis in the educational context (Velasco & Boni, 2020). The action process here presented (inspired by the project developed in the Universidad de Ibagué, Colombia in 2019, Velasco & Boni, 2020), received funding as part of the initiatives promoted by Padova University (UNIPD, Italy); it had as a goal creating an epistemic and aspirational capability Repertoire linked to the student’s internship experience in the Continuing Education and Management Master Degree. The internship is an environment in which students can put into practice the knowledge they have acquired in undergraduate studies and find practical relevance in what they studied. This also entails a critical questioning of what they have learned, a greater awareness of the limits of the contents of their studies and of the way things were taught, and interest in less explored issues that are closely linked to social justice. However, tensions can arise between the pro-public-good oriented perspectives of this programme and a more instrumental vision. The Repertoire of capabilities can contribute to serve as a substantial conceptual framework, embodying a shared vision that fosters collaboration and sharing. This epistemic and aspirational Repertoire is designed to facilitate concrete actions directed towards establishing flourishing connections, starting with aspirations that can enhance the well-being of all individuals involved in the internship process.

To ensure a high degree of ownership of the Repertoire, it was built following a participatory and deliberative process (Sen, 1999, 2006, 2009) that involved representatives of faculty members, students, administrative staff, service staff, directors, alumni, enterprises, and social organizations working with UNIPD. This deliberative process allowed us to proceed with a “systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a university‘s living system when it is most alive and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, connective, and human terms” (Cooperrider, 2010, p.xiii). The Repertoire went through different phases in its preparation, always respecting its contextual nature and its alignment with the key values of UNIPD. Photography and Horizons represent the first steps of the action process, described as follows:

Step 1, Photography: The aim was to focus on a search for the “best of what is” at the University to frame what can be understood as public good in education (Boni et al. 2019). This includes identifying areas of strength for the organization and factors that energize it (Cooperrider et al., 2008). The documents consulted for this purpose included the UNIPD Code of Ethics, UNIPD Statute, and Rules of the master’s degree program. Dimensions emerged from the analysis: connections (mutual, international, interdisciplinary, contextual), values (freedom, dignity, equity, inclusion), well-being (psychological, social, environmental), care (motivation, honesty, integrity).

Step 2, Horizons: The objective of this step was to build an initial consensual capabilities Repertoire by gathering the narratives and views of what is or should be valued by the UNIPD community, taking into account the university’s identity. 5 focus groups and a world cafè were carried out with internal university members differentiated by groups: faculty (10), students (15), administrative and service staff (12), executive leadership (5), students’ welfare (4)) and external partners that work with the university, enterprise and social organization representatives (4). Emerging dimensions were the following: valuable personal experiences at UNIPD, meaningful and valuable elements that constitute UNIPD identity at the personal and collective levels and the university’s contribution to the development of the Region and territory. A special focus was devoted to the internship experience as an opportunity for a real connection between academia and local reality. Data collected were analyzed using the Atlas.ti 7 software.

The findings of these two steps allow to design a Repertoire of epistemic and aspirational capabilities that could orient the choices and is aligned with the university ethos and the aim of giving coherence and directionality to the next decades of UNIPD trajectory. Its content is very contextual since it comes from the considerations of the entire university community. Finally, the Repertoire includes all the elements that the university community has reason to value. Each element is different, although there are relationships among them.

The Repertoire of epistemic capabilities refers to five main dimensions:

1. Inclusive human relations: promoting exchange, care, and dialogue within a welcoming environment, upholding principles of equity, respect, and freedom to generate a sense of belonging and foster personal and professional growth.

2. Innovative teaching: fostering the expression of free thoughts through technological, methodological, and social modalities crucial for learning, generating and connecting knowledge.

3. Territorial connections: collaboration with local entities supports community autonomy, increases well-being, and creates opportunities for bidirectional exchange between theory and practice, making education more concrete and relevant to the working context.

4. University ethics: University is seen as an institution rooted in society contributing to the future and innovation through fruitful exchanges with the community it belongs to, the training of future citizens who will inhabit it, and international solidarity.

5. Internship: it represents an opportunity to connect academic and territorial domains, facilitating skill development through practical experiences and constructive feedback, offering the possibility of mutual enrichment between interns and hosting organizations.

These dimensions reflect the University's holistic approach to promoting individual and collective well-being, professional growth, and social innovation.

Further steps imply the realization of the Design and Delivery steps. Specifically, Design includes: a) verification of the Repertoire of capabilities; b) identification of facilitators and barriers; c) configuration of courses (soft skills workshops, valorization of freedom of choice, seminars, cultural events, guided tours, meetings with significant witnesses). The Delivery step is devoted to the creation of a connective hub that brings together aspirations, operations, opportunities, and good practices on internship guidance, taking together an inspiring and transformative vision for the future and an experimental, learning-by-doing action approach to make the transformation work in practice.