scholarly journals Creating a Relational Participatory Space: Insights from a Youth Participatory Action Research Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Davis-Rae
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Young People ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Youth Participation ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Youth Voice ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Participatory Processes

<p><b>Since the ratification of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has been a heightened focus on youth participation as a way of upholding young people’s right to have their say on decisions that affect them. However, programmes that attempt to engage young people in decision-making processes have often been poorly enacted and have failed to adequately address the barriers that limit young people’s ability to participate meaningfully and therefore rarely result in sustained change. This study examined processes with a youth participatory action research [YPAR] project in order to identify and explore processes and practices that might serve to sustain young people’s involvement and support authentic and meaningful participation. The research used an instrumental case study approach to examine an 18-month-long YPAR project operated through an existing youthwork programme. Data were collected through autoethnography, artefact analysis and participant interviews and reflections with youth participants. </b></p> <p>The study found that peer-to-peer and peer-to-leader relationships were foundational to youth participants’ ongoing involvement over the 18-month period. Such relationships appeared to drive much of the momentum of the action research and enable at times dynamic flows of power between youth participants and adults that encouraged an inter-generational space within the YPAR project. Young people stepped into leadership roles at different phases of the project while adult leaders managed the pace and progress of the project. The study identified five factors that helped to create this relational participatory space: reduced leader direction; valuing youth voice; openness of other participants, reworking adult-centric processes and the implementation of a variety of sharing activities. A number of factors that constrained youth voice were also identified. The study highlights how strong relationships were an integral part of the processes and practices of YPAR, rather than merely a positive outcome of participatory processes. These findings challenge traditional individualistic models of youth participation that frequently fail to acknowledge the importance of intergenerational and collective relationships within youth participatory action research projects. The study therefore calls for a heightened focus on relationship building within participatory processes both at a policy and practical level.</p>

scholarly journals Creating a Relational Participatory Space: Insights from a Youth Participatory Action Research Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Davis-Rae
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Young People ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Youth Participation ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Youth Voice ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Participatory Processes

<p><b>Since the ratification of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has been a heightened focus on youth participation as a way of upholding young people’s right to have their say on decisions that affect them. However, programmes that attempt to engage young people in decision-making processes have often been poorly enacted and have failed to adequately address the barriers that limit young people’s ability to participate meaningfully and therefore rarely result in sustained change. This study examined processes with a youth participatory action research [YPAR] project in order to identify and explore processes and practices that might serve to sustain young people’s involvement and support authentic and meaningful participation. The research used an instrumental case study approach to examine an 18-month-long YPAR project operated through an existing youthwork programme. Data were collected through autoethnography, artefact analysis and participant interviews and reflections with youth participants. </b></p> <p>The study found that peer-to-peer and peer-to-leader relationships were foundational to youth participants’ ongoing involvement over the 18-month period. Such relationships appeared to drive much of the momentum of the action research and enable at times dynamic flows of power between youth participants and adults that encouraged an inter-generational space within the YPAR project. Young people stepped into leadership roles at different phases of the project while adult leaders managed the pace and progress of the project. The study identified five factors that helped to create this relational participatory space: reduced leader direction; valuing youth voice; openness of other participants, reworking adult-centric processes and the implementation of a variety of sharing activities. A number of factors that constrained youth voice were also identified. The study highlights how strong relationships were an integral part of the processes and practices of YPAR, rather than merely a positive outcome of participatory processes. These findings challenge traditional individualistic models of youth participation that frequently fail to acknowledge the importance of intergenerational and collective relationships within youth participatory action research projects. The study therefore calls for a heightened focus on relationship building within participatory processes both at a policy and practical level.</p>

Allyship and solidarity, not therapy, in child and youth mental health: Lessons from a participatory action research project with psychiatrized youth

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Liegghio
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Young People ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Youth Mental Health ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
The Social

While globally advances have been made to recognize children as social actors in their own right, for psychiatrized young people their experiences of distress are often seen as a limitation and thus used as a justification for denying their meaningful participation in matters of concern to their lives. However, what would it mean if ‘mental illness’ was not seen as a ‘limitation’, but rather as an ‘epistemological position’ from which the social world is experienced, understood and acted upon? What would it mean if our theories about ‘distress’ and ‘helping’ were premised on the subjugated knowledges of psychiatrized children and youth? The consumer/survivor-led research movement has made significant gains in answering these questions for the adult, but not necessarily for the child and youth mental health field. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the significance of psychiatrized young people setting and executing their own research and, ultimately, practice agendas. Presented are the outcomes of an evaluation of a participatory action research project examining the stigma of mental illness conducted with seven psychiatrized youth, 14 to 17 years old. The outcomes suggest our roles as practitioners and researchers need to shift from being ‘agents’ working on behalf of to ‘allies’ working in solidarity with young people to change the social conditions of their marginalization. The article concludes with the limits of consumer/survivor-led research for addressing adultism and, instead, ends with a call for decolonizing children’s mental health.

scholarly journals Kids in Action: the protocol of a Youth Participatory Action Research project to promote physical activity and dietary behaviour

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e025584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manou Anselma ◽  
Teatske Altenburg ◽  
Mai Chinapaw
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Dietary Behaviour ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Low Socioeconomic

IntroductionIn this study, researchers collaborate with children from a low socioeconomic neighbourhood in Amsterdam in developing, implementing and evaluating interventions targeting their health behaviours. This Youth Participatory Action Research project focuses on the promotion of physical activity and healthy dietary behaviour.Methods and analysisThis study is a controlled trial using participatory methods to develop interventions together with children aged 9–12 years. At four primary schools in a low socioeconomic neighbourhood in Amsterdam, an ‘Action Team’ is installed: a group of six to eight children who actively participate as co-researchers in developing, implementing and evaluating interventions. An academic researcher facilitates the participatory process. Four control schools, also located in low socioeconomic areas in and around Amsterdam, continue with their regular curriculum and do not participate in the participatory process. For the effect evaluation, physical activity and sedentary behaviour are assessed using accelerometers and self-reporting; dietary behaviour using self-reporting and motor fitness (strength, flexibility, coordination, speed and endurance) using the motor performance fitness test. Effectiveness of the interventions is evaluated by multilevel regression analysis. The process of co-creating interventions and the implemented interventions is continually evaluated during meetings of the Action Teams and with children participating in the interventions. Empowerment of children is evaluated during focus groups. Summaries and transcripts of meetings are coded and analysed to enrich children’s findings.Ethics and disseminationThe Medical Ethics Committee of the VU Medical Center approved the study protocol (2016.366).Trial registration numberTC=6604.

Student action research: Preventing bullying in secondary school—Inkla project

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Wójcik ◽  
Maria Mondry
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
School Life ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
School Students

This article presents Inkla, a youth participatory action research project initiated by secondary school students and supported by university researchers and students. The main goal was to help secondary school students explore intragroup relations in school classes and problems students may encounter as bullying or peer group exclusion. It was also intended to design practical methods to stop bullying and create supportive peer groups. A group of secondary school students became student researchers and conducted interviews in their school classes which resulted in including their peers and teachers in well planned and research-based collective action to prevent bullying and improve school life. Outcomes demonstrate that the student voice can support or change a school’s antibullying policy if the responsibility for bullying prevention is shared with students who are treated as agents of change. This article also describes the complex process of building participative relationships in youth participatory action research.

“I’ll Save You a Seat”: Negotiating Power in a Participatory Action Research Project with Queer and Trans Young Adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 004208592110231
Author(s):  
Amy Hillier ◽  
Kel Kroehle
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Youth Leadership ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Operational Issues ◽  
School Youth

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) provides a model for youth leadership in research aimed at tangible improvements to their lives. We employed YPAR with queer and trans young adults in a qualitative study about trans high school youth. In this paper, we highlight the importance of relationships, dialog and reflexivity to ensuring ongoing critical reflection on the ethical nature of what often appear as methodological and operational issues. Our research underscores the tensions, contradictions, and limitations of sharing power that emerge in collaborations across age, race, educational attainment, and lived experience.

Power, Truth and Justice in Youth Participatory Action Research: Ethical Questions

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivor Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

What difference does it make, ethically speaking, to be part of an action research project involving youth? How are participants supposed to act towards one another? How are they supposed to act toward others- research subjects, peers, adults in positions of authority, community members- who they encounter in the course of their projects? Youth Participatory Action Research (Youth PAR), as reflected in this volume's various projects, raises ethical issues that deserve its supporters' attention. Action researchers who are serious about both achieving their objectives and doing the right thing in the process are bound to come across certain kinds of ethical challenges in their activity. This essay will try to illuminate some common and troubling challenges.

scholarly journals Give Us More Credit! Recommendations for Young and Adult Researchers on Conducting Adolescent-Led Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 227-238
Author(s):  
Georgiana Vasiloiu ◽  
Julia Smith-Brake ◽  
Simona Eugenia Mihai
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Young People ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Youth Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Fear And Anxiety

Youth participatory action research, child-led research, and child-led activism are being increasingly employed to counter adultism in social work and development contexts, in a way to break down barriers for young people to have their voices heard on issues and decisions about their lives. This commentary comprises 2 open letters from a young researcher and advocate for children’s well-being and rights in Romania. The first letter is addressed to fellow young people and shares the journey of learning about and subsequently researching the issue of sexual violence, as well as a call to young people to stand up and use their voice to bring attention to issues important to them. The fear and anxiety of doing something new, that is usually in an adult space, cedes to empowerment and confidence found through the process. The second letter is addressed to adult researchers and practitioners and shares the methodology and findings of the child-led research project, lessons learned, and recommendations for adults engaging in child-led research. A key recommendation is for adults to support child researchers without manipulating the process, and to give young people more credit in commonly adult-held spaces.

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