scholarly journals Religious research as kingpin in the fight against poverty and AIDS in the Western Cape, South Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes C. Erasmus ◽  
H. Jurgens Hendriks ◽  
Gerbrand G. Mans
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
South African ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Church Members ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Direct Involvement ◽  
African Community

This article describes the researchers’ efforts to apply the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR), specifically participation, through the direct involvement of church members in the research. It includes involving them in the design of questionnaires, training and utilizing them as fieldworkers, and finally disseminating the results of the research via workshops aimed at strategizing for change. The research is based on two hypotheses, the first being that, churches and their members are intensely involved in serving both the needs of their own members, as well as the needs of the larger community; and secondly, that churches do not work alone, but are part of networks with other agencies to accomplish their goals. At the outset the article outlines the challenges and points of departure, followed by a chronological account of how this approach was applied in Paarl, a South African community. Finally, an overview of the results of the project is provided.

scholarly journals A university’s response to people with disabilities in Worcester, Western Cape

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana V. Müller ◽  
Lieketseng Ned ◽  
Hananja Boshoff
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Single Case ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Student Training ◽  
The University

Background: The call for institutions of higher education to foster interaction with communities and ensure training is responsive to the needs of communities is well documented. In 2011, Stellenbosch University collaborated with the Worcester community to identify the needs of people with disabilities within the community. How the university was engaging with these identified needs through student training still needed to be determined.Objectives: This study describes the engagement process of reciprocity and responsivity in aligning needs identified by persons with disability to four undergraduate allied health student training programmes in Worcester, Western Cape.Method: A single case study using the participatory action research appraisal methods explored how undergraduate student service learning was responding to 21 needs previously identified in 2011 alongside persons with disability allowing for comprehensive feedback and a collaborative and coordinated response.Results: Students’ service learning activities addressed 14 of the 21 needs. Further collaborative dialogue resulted in re-grouping the needs into six themes accompanied by a planned collaborative response by both community and student learning to address all 21 needs previously identified.Conclusion: Undergraduate students’ service learning in communities has the potential to meet community identified needs especially when participatory action research strategies are implemented. Reciprocity exists when university and community co-engage to construct, reflect and adjust responsive service learning. This has the potential to create a collaborative environment and process in which trust, accountability, inclusion and communication is possible between the university and the community.

scholarly journals Participatory Action Research: A Tool for Enhancing Inclusive Teaching Practices Among Teachers in South African Full-Service Schools

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402096357
Author(s):  
Gladys Ayaya ◽  
Tsediso Michael Makoelle ◽  
Martyn van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
South African ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
School Context ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Full Service Schools ◽  
Inclusive Teaching

Previous studies conducted on the implementation of inclusive education in South African full-service schools showed that teachers lacked knowledge and expertise in inclusive teaching practices. Furthermore, in some international studies, it is recommended that, to enhance inclusive teaching, it was necessary to involve the teaching communities concerned, using their in-depth understanding of the problem at hand, to come up with emancipatory solutions that could assist in the design of effective teaching strategies to enhance inclusive teaching. Therefore, this study investigated the role of participatory action research (PAR) in enhancing teachers’ inclusive teaching practices in full-service schools. This qualitative PAR study was conducted for 6 months by a research team comprising 12 teachers in a full-service school in the Johannesburg East District of South Africa. Data were collected through PAR stages of planning, observation, action, and reflection. To analyze data, during PAR, group interpretative meetings were held with coresearchers and, after PAR process, an inductive qualitative thematic content data analysis was done by the researcher. Among the findings from the study was that teachers’ understandings of inclusive education were varied. Their conceptions about what it meant to be an inclusive teacher in a full-service school context were also vague. However, the study has found that through PAR participation teachers were able to share and develop own understandings of these concepts. Furthermore, the study identified a need for teachers in a full-service school to be reflective, critical, and innovative about their teaching practices to cater for diverse learner needs in the classroom, which are skills necessary for enhancing inclusive teaching and learning. The study has confirmed PAR as a viable change strategy of teaching toward inclusion.

scholarly journals Building cooperative learning to address alcohol and other drug abuse in Mpumalanga, South Africa: a participatory action research process

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1726722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oladapo Oladeinde ◽  
Denny Mabetha ◽  
Rhian Twine ◽  
Jennifer Hove ◽  
Maria Van Der Merwe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Participatory Action

scholarly journals Dancing with the devil? Participatory action research with police in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Marks
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Approach ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Shared Objective

At the present moment, major changes are being proposed to the way that policing should be done in South Africa. These changes do not seem to be informed by any research agenda or by a long term strategic approach aimed at 'smarter policing'. This paper reflects on the possible partnerships that (academic) researchers and police could form with the shared objective of bring about change in police organisations. These collaborative research arrangements are undoubtedly difficult. Police and academic researchers continue to operate in silos and the two groups have distinctive institutional cultures, which are sometimes at odds with one another. However, as this paper tries to demonstrate, collaborative research is possible. This article is in many ways a personal reflection on my own research collaborations with the police using a participatory action research approach.

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