California Teacher Education Initiative “Grow Your Own” Launch at Sacramento State

• In Event: Growing Your Own, Grounded in Participatory Action Research: Using Participatory Approaches in Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this presentation is to share the first part of a planned multi-year study regarding the NLERAP California Region GYO TEI. More specifically, describe the ongoing development and implementation of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) curriculum at two sites: a 6th -8th grade dual immersion Spanish program and a local urban high school.

In the context of this study, participatory action research is recognized generally as a qualitative approach or orientation in which research participants are not only the focuses of the inquiry but partners in the research process. PAR researchers collaborate with “local participants to define the research questions, describe their experiences in their own terms, and use the research results to effect change” (Chataway, 1997, p. 750). Moreover, it fosters an environment in which cooperating teachers, GYO student teachers, and students can: 1) identify the issues or situations they confront, 2) dialogue and reflect on the data gathered based on the issues, 3) critically analyze generated themes, and 4) develop a plan of action to create change (Ada & Beutel, 1993). Ada and Beutel (1993) state that this approach affirms our ability to truly know our reality and in this particular study “name” and reflect upon issues pertinent to the local community. Through this process of naming, knowing, reflecting, and dialoguing, all involved can come together to decipher the next steps in achieving educational equity in their communities.

The methodological approach to this study is a combination of 1) implementation of a Participatory Action Research project developed co-jointly (grounded in local school/community issues) between the classroom teacher/credential candidate and students from the targeted classrooms and 2) the documentation of the PAR project, through the use of critical ethnographic research tools (i.e., participant/non-participant observation, field notes, structured/non-structured interviews-individual and group, videotaping) (Carspecken, 1996).

Recommendations will be offered to the following areas regarding PAR implementation: GYO TEI initiatives across the Project regions, in particular in curriculum development/implementation and staff development (both local GYO teachers and NLERAP faculty)

This work is particularly significant because for too long, the voices of middle/high school youth have been silenced and ignored. When participants and researcher (in this case cooperating teacher, GYO student teacher, and classroom students) recognize the power of using their own voice, engaging in a critical dialogue transforms their exchange into a political act, “whose purpose is to intentionally assess reality with the specific intent of creating a more socially just world” (Reza, 1995, p. 80). When assessing this reality, all involved are able to participate in the renewed discovery of oneself (Ada & Beutel, 1993) as individuals are interchanging with one another thoughts and emotions that ground and refine their perception of their world and the world around them.

Author

• Margarita I. Berta-Avila, California State University - Sacramento