Understanding Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR): The Individual and Group Experience of YPAR at a Competitive School for Girls

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Youth Participatory Action Research: Empowering Students as Knowledge Producers

Abstract

Framed in the potential of youth participatory action research (YPAR) as a means of making schools more equitable places for students, this qualitative study explores the experiences of students and adult leaders who are members of a YPAR team at an all-girls independent school. We investigate the YPAR process and the roles of research team members and their experiences as adolescent girls who are co-creators and co-constructors of their research agenda. The participants in the study include ourselves (the researchers) and the members (adults and students) of the YPAR research teams at the school. Data consists of open-ended surveys, student and adult journals, and interviews. We present implications for researchers and practitioners of action research.

Authors

• Charlotte E Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania

• Nicole Mittenfelner Carl, University of Pennsylvania