Care as Resistance and Epistemological Necessity in Youth Participatory Action Research

• In Event: Teaching and Learning Critical Care–Based Research Methodologies: Training the Next Generation of Qualitative School-Based Researchers

Abstract

As a form of critical pedagogy, youth participatory action research (YPAR) engages adults and children in a praxis of dialogue, action, and reflection (Fals-Borda & Rahman, 1991; Freire, 1970). The goal is to raise consciousness about and ultimately dismantle systemic injustices and structural oppression. This process upends hierarchical power dynamics, requiring that researchers overcome the adult/child binary dominant in traditional research (Dennis et al., 2019). In order for this to occur, YPAR researchers must build trust and mutual respect (Dennis et al., 2019; Garnett et al., 2019) and intentionally create space for youth agency and autonomy (Cahill et al., 2019). Caraballo and Soleimany (2019) call for the creation of “transformative third spaces” (p. 84) in which to address power dynamics, renegotiate roles, “examine and interrogate the social injustices and disparities” (p. 85) that youth experience, and advocate for change (Caraballo & Soleimany, 2019). DeNicolo et al. (2017) call this “cariño conscientizado,” a culturally grounded praxis of care that disrupts “hegemonic and racist policies” (p. 502) and practices. In other words, an ethic of care informs a pedagogical praxis defined by equitable relationships and roles, mutual respect, and justice-oriented action.
Within and beyond the classroom, care praxis requires understanding, valuing, and creating space for youth’s multiple identities and needs while exhibiting both high standards and support for holistic development (DeNicolo et al., 2017). Like YPAR, this praxis is rooted in critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970) and demands collaboration with youth, families, and communities toward consciousness, liberation, and transformation (DeNicolo et al., 2017). Engaging a praxis of care as a form of resistance against neoliberalism, this chapter highlights moments over three years of a YPAR project as we have worked to honor the shifting and evolving identity and associated goals of our research collective.
We present three vignettes that help to illustrate our own collective’s experiences as we have moved from engaging an either/or, dualistic approach to caring toward a collective one. First, we offer a vignette when the authors exhibited care for youth co-researchers; that is, when we made methodological decisions that prioritized the needs of the youth members of the collective over our needs as adult academics. Second, we reflect on a moment when our youth co-researchers displayed care for us; that is, when they prioritized Author 1’s needs over their own individual needs. Third, we offer a vignette when we, the authors and youth, cared with each other; that is, we made methodological decisions that prioritized our collective identity and goals in an effort to create change. We reflect on how this move from caring for to caring with exemplifies the necessary shift from a transactional, albeit well-intentioned, approach to caring to one that can help YPAR collectives resist typical forms of interaction in schooling and research contexts.

Authors

• Meagan Call-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University
  Presenting Author

• Melissa Hauber-Özer, University of Missouri
  Presenting Author