Participatory Action Research as a Tool for Participatory Policy Development: The Case of School Exclusion

• In Event: 77.022 - Bottom-Up Policy Making in an Age of Misinformation: Critical Youth Participation as a Practice of Power

Abstract

As a political process, public policy development (PPD) is fundamentally about “how social goods are thought about, argued over, and distributed in society” (Gee, 2005, p. 2). As such, the powerful effectively control the means of creating policy to promote their interests. Comparatively powerless groups are largely excluded from the development of policies that impact their everyday lives, often in negative ways. If policies are to meet the needs of and empower these groups, they must meaningfully participate in policy creation and implementation. The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential of participatory action research (PAR) as a tool for supporting marginalized communities to engage in policymaking and reform. To situate this examination within a specific policy arena (Mazzoni, 1991), I highlight the development of policy related to exclusionary school discipline.

The paper begins with a literature review of PAR, defined as “research in collaboration with representatives of the population under investigation” (Brown & Rodriguez, 2009, p. 1) that intervenes into the problem under study. I emphasize U.S.-based PAR in education conducted with low-income Latinx and Black youth and families—constituents negatively affected by multiple school policies. Next, I examine studies on PPD as a process “strongly focused on bottom-up policy development and empowerment of stakeholders” (Woodhead, Legg, & Packham, 2004, p. 46). The principles, purposes, processes, advantages, and challenges of PAR and PPD are outlined, and a synthesis of the two methods highlights how they complement each as means to disrupt traditional power hierarchies.

Next, I describe policies pertaining to exclusionary school discipline—codes of conduct, classroom referrals, and disciplinary hearings. While, ostensibly, they are race-neutral and protect all students, I describe how these policies work against the well-being of low-income Latinx and Black youth and communities in disproportionately negative ways, giving attention to the details of and stakeholders involved in policy design and implementation.

Following, I examine the stages of policy development: problem identification, and policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation (Jann & Wegrich, 2007). I discuss how marginalized communities are typically disempowered and how PAR can be used to enhance their capacity at each stage. In focusing on policies related to exclusionary discipline, I offer practical suggestions for how youth, families, communities, and allied school personnel might influence and create school policies with the support of academic researchers. In doing so, I draw on research and action collaborations which have been successful in transforming school discipline policies and practices (Advancement Project, 2018).

Because tremendous power is imbued in policymaking, traditional policymakers will undoubtedly resist challenges to their influence. However, PAR provides examples of how local people from socio-politically and economically marginalized communities can participate in “official” means through which power and expertise are exercised. Ultimately, I argue that if our commitment, as a society, to justice and equality is more than mere rhetoric, these communities must have meaningful opportunities to meet their needs and advance their interests through policy development.

Author

• Tara Marie Brown, University of Maryland - College Park