A participatory action research process with a rural Indigenous men's group: monitoring and reinforcing change

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Komla Tsey ◽  
Mark Wenitong ◽  
Janya McCalman ◽  
Mary Whiteside ◽  
Leslie Baird ◽  
...  

Since 2001 a team of academic researchers and medical practitioners have been collaborating with Yarrabah Men?s Health Group leaders to implement a participatory action research (PAR) process designed to support the men to (in their own words) ?take their rightful place? in contemporary Australian society. The formative stages of the PAR process and progress over the first 12 months have been documented in previous papers in order to provide much needed direction for others interested in undertaking similar community action-oriented research (Tsey, Patterson, Whiteside, Baird, & Baird, 2002; Tsey et al., 2004). The present paper addresses the need for innovative evaluation methodologies to enable participants in the PAR process to monitor and reinforce the small improvement they are making towards achieving their goals, and to maintain their vision for the future. Participation in men?s group activities resulted in modest but significant change in the men?s personal development and growth and in their response to family responsibilities. Men had the opportunity to dialogue and reflect on their gender responsibilities such as housework, which constitutes a major source of conflict in the family. Several men also gained the confidence and motivation to stand for local government. The study highlights the value of demystifying and making research more relevant to people?s day-to-day living experiences.

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Komla Tsey ◽  
David Patterson ◽  
Mary Whiteside ◽  
Leslie Baird ◽  
Bradley Baird ◽  
...  

Our recent paper (Tsey, Patterson, Whiteside, Baird, & Baird, 2002) analysed the early stages of a participatory action research process (PAR) designed to support members of a rural Aboriginal men?s group to take greater control and responsibility for the factors influencing their health and wellbeing. This follow-up paper focusses on key challenges and opportunities associated with the PAR process. Among other things, the paper highlights: a need for training providers and policy-makers to give more attention to the issue of community development skills and how to promote the uptake of such skills more widely in Indigenous settings; the importance of taking a ?solution-focussed approach? in line with the principles of PAR when doing community development work; a need for relevant training and creation of real employment opportunities to be central to strategies designed to support rural Aboriginal men to take their rightful place; a need for the men?s group to promote the broad spectrum of its activities more widely so as to minimise an image problem that the men?s group is only for men having problems; and, above all, an urgent need for the men?s group organisers to play leadership roles through, for example, dialogue with local gay men so as to jointly come up with ideas to make the men?s group more accessible for all men, including gay men.


2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 535-546
Author(s):  
Valentina Gamboni

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand how to improve librarians’ skills, using an active and reflective participative process, to develop a university e-book service. This research involved librarians who could not participate in a formal learning course and explored the possibility of improving their skills with e-books by means of informal and non-formal learning. Design/methodology/approach Using a qualitative methodology framework, the research was a participatory action research (PAR) study, utilizing a recurrent five-phase cycle – analysis, plan, action, evaluation, reflection/sharing – that joins research and reflective practice in action. Each phase has been discussed by categories defined from the gathered data, highlighting the evidence of participants’ contributions, to analyse the situation, plan and carry out interventions, and evaluate outcomes. Participants suggested and put into action informal and non-formal methods of learning to develop e-book skills that they named and included in broader categories such as technical, content selection, purchase and management and use. Findings Participants increased their awareness of the topic, and the PAR process also contributed to their personal development. PAR is recommended as a research process that fosters learning outcomes, as well as personal and professional development. Originality/value PAR has been applied in the Italian academic setting to understand how librarians can develop skills in e-book services through informal and non-formal learning methods.


Author(s):  
Lina Trigos-Carrillo ◽  
Laura Fonseca

Conducting critical community research during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unexpected challenges to academic communities. In this chapter, the authors analyze the obstacles faced in a Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) education project with a rural community of former guerrilla members in the Amazon piedmont in Colombia. After this analysis, the authors present four CPAR principles to support critical community work during difficult times. The authors argue that communicative action, horizontal community participation in all the stages of the research process, time commitment, and the leverage of other competing needs should be guaranteed and maintained during times of crisis. CPAR offers opportunities to advocate better conditions for the most affected communities in moments of increasing inequality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany St. John ◽  
Iulia Mihaila ◽  
Katelyn Dorrance ◽  
Leann Smith DaWalt ◽  
Karla K. Ausderau

Abstract Participatory action research methodologies may empower and protect marginalized individuals; however, they remain underutilized. Limited studies have investigated the impact of participatory action research, specifically on individuals with intellectual disability (ID). This study examines (1) the perspectives of co-researchers with ID on their involvement in the research process and (2) the feasibility of their inclusion based on perspectives of research staff (academic faculty and graduate students without ID). Three co-researchers with ID were interviewed regarding their research participation. Thematic analysis of interviews identified four themes: (1) Shared Experience of Disability, (2) Teaching and Guidance, (3) Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge, and (4) Value of Participation. Research staff reviewed field notes and identified benefits and challenges to feasibility of including co-researchers with ID. Inclusion of co-researchers with ID was found to be both meaningful and feasible.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 240
Author(s):  
Mary A. Kennedy ◽  
Robert U. Newton ◽  
Sara Bayes ◽  
Dennis R. Taaffe ◽  
Nigel Spry ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Ernaning Setiyowati ◽  
Nunik Junara ◽  
Prima Kurniawaty

Malang City has an annual program of activities for villages namely Kampung Bersinar (Clean, Healthy, Beautiful, Beautiful and Neat). One of the areas that have greening problems is RW 04, Gadang, Malang City on the banks of the Brantas river. Lack of greening in this area causes this area to be prone to landslides because the area is very contoured. That's why the focus of community service is to educate the public in the field of greening to improve the quality of the environment in the area. The method used is Participatory Action Research (PAR) which involves community action in its activities. The activity carried out was to train the creation of ornamental plants in the form of spheres growing to PKK women in RW 04, Gadang, Malang. The results of this activity are PKK mothers who have new knowledge by making ornamental plant creations that can be applied in the area so that it will improve the quality of the green environment in the area..


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lulza Olim de Sousa ◽  
Emerentia Antoinette Hay ◽  
Schalk Petrus Raath ◽  
Aubrey Albertino Fransman ◽  
Barend Wilhelm Richter

This article reflects the learning of five researchers in higher education in South Africa who took part in a participatory action research project to educate teachers how to integrate climate change issues into their teaching and learning. It was the first time any of the researchers had used participatory action research. We are all from natural science backgrounds and now involved in education for sustainable development. We had been trained in more traditional, objective, and researcher-driven methodologies grounded in a positivist paradigm. The purpose of this article is to share our learning about the changes we had to make in our thinking and practices to align with a participatory paradigm. We used reflective diaries to record our journey through the action research cycles. A thematic analysis of our diaries was supplemented by recorded discussions between the researchers. The analysis revealed that, while it was challenging to begin thinking in a different paradigm, we came to appreciate the value of the action research process that enabled teachers to integrate climate change issues into their teaching in a participatory way. We also concluded that we require more development to be able to conduct participatory research in a manner true to its values and principles. The conclusions we came to through our collaborative reflections may be of value to other researchers from similar scientific backgrounds who wish to learn what shifts in paradigm, methods, and processes are needed to be able to conduct community-based research in a participatory way.


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