Employing media-rich participatory action research to foster youth voice

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. 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.

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Creative Expressions of Agency: Contemplating Youth Voice and Adult Roles in Participatory Action Research

Teachers College Record ◽

10.1177/016146811511701305 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 117 (13) ◽

pp. 135-152 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Vanessa Jones ◽

Carmine Stewart ◽

Anne Galletta ◽

Jennifer Ayala

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Participatory Action Research ◽

Social Identities ◽

Educational Policies ◽

Youth Voice ◽

Participatory Action ◽

Policy Makers ◽

The Arts ◽

Community Issues ◽

Adult Roles

In this chapter, we examine youth voice within intergenerational collectives where youth and adults are in consultation with each other about school and community issues. The three projects discussed in this chapter reflect the use of participatory action research (PAR) to address educational policies and practices viewed as counterproductive by youth within poor and working class neighborhoods. The use of PAR to inform policy makers and establish alternative educational approaches reflects a critical theoretical framework in that it considers the complexity of experiences and social identities among youth who are positioned differently in relation to educational and opportunity access. The use of the arts as a strategy for inquiry and action is discussed as a way to identify alternative frames of analysis—ways of seeing from different angles the explanations offered by decision makers for the use of particular educational policies. The chapter outlines strategic planning for public engagement at significant junctures of the PAR projects to ensure youth voices are heard and prevailing discourses and theories of action challenged, thus bringing into clear focus the imperative for more equitable and humanizing conditions within education.

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What is the Role of Adult Facilitators in Critical Participatory Action Research? Employing Affective Labor While Navigating the Politics and the Perils Alongside Minoritized Youth Researchers

Educational Policy ◽

10.1177/08959048211059200 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089590482110592

Author(s):

Van T. Lac ◽

Ana Carolina Antunes ◽

Julia Daniel ◽

Janiece Mackey

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

Participatory Action Research ◽

Educational Policies ◽

Youth Voice ◽

Participatory Action ◽

Affective Labor ◽

Labor Theory ◽

Critical Participatory Action Research

Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) represents a tool for minoritized youth in shaping educational policies. Despite its promise, the politics of engaging in CPAR within structures ensnared in hegemonic ideologies can negate, devalue, and deny the contributions of youth voice. This study highlights how adult facilitators supporting youth researchers negotiate methodological tensions when the politics nested within oppressive structures converge with the ideals of CPAR. Using LatCrit methodology and employing affective labor theory, this qualitative study offers four counterstories interrogating the role of adult allies in CPAR, navigating the politics and perils of engaging in this work alongside minoritized students.

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Amplifying youth voice and cultivating leadership through participatory action research

Education Policy Analysis Archives ◽

10.14507/epaa.27.2621 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 ◽

pp. 54

Author(s):

Rachele Gardner ◽

William M. Snyder ◽

Ayda Zugay

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Participatory Action Research ◽

Knowledge Creation ◽

Youth Leadership ◽

Youth Voice ◽

Participatory Action ◽

Research Findings

This article presents the story of Youth Hub, a grassroots, neighborhood-based initiative in Boston, Massachusetts, highlighting its use of participatory action research (PAR) to amplify youth voice, cultivate leadership, and promote change. The article includes an explanation of the need from which Youth Hub emerged; a discussion of Youth Hub’s use of PAR, including benefits and challenges of the approach; a summary of key research findings; an examination of PAR’s usefulness for knowledge creation, including benefits and challenges; and an analysis of youth leadership and ownership in Youth Hub’s model, also including benefits and challenges. The article concludes with suggestions for how Youth Hub’s approach can be useful for amplifying youth voice and building youth leadership more broadly.

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

10.26686/wgtn.15087720.v1 ◽

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

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. 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.

Download Full-text