How to Center Participant Voice in Research Practice Partnership

• In Event: How Participatory Are Our Participatory Approaches? A “Pop-Up” Community of Praxis

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes


The Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) framework has gained significant traction as a means of bridging the gap between education research and practice (Vetter et al., 2022). RPP’s facilitate the co-creation of knowledge and support the translation of research findings into actionable strategies. The proposed session will discuss the process for engaging multiple stakeholders in the participatory implementation design of the current RPP. We will share some of the initial lessons learned from an RPP between two institutions of higher education and Latina home based childcare providers.


Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework

Participatory action research (PAR) is both a theoretical and methodological approach to doing research. Implementation science also aims to engage multiple audiences in ongoing feedback loops to inform design and data generation. As this new partnership forms across institutions and between groups, questions that we begin to ask is how participatory is our work as each partner is part of a system that imposes structures and procedures that may not align with the spirit of PAR (Farrell et al., 2023).


Methods, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry/Data Sources, Evidence, Objects, or Materials


We approach these questions of how to form authentic partnerships and honor the process of PAR through a collaborative inquiry process to document our processes and engage in iterative reflexive conversations that challenge assumptions. The data we present will include our case study notes and anecdotal stories that have informed the design and initial implementation of this work.

Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions or Warrants for Arguments/Point of View


Doing implementation science in a participatory way takes innovation and collaboration. We will discuss how we have begun to establish trust and co-design research goals in our partnership. We will discuss some of the challenges we are confronting as we build out the work that can inform larger conversations regarding partnership through a participatory framework— what happens when groups are caught in between different paradigms of doing research, how to negotiate and what work around are needed to move the work forward? Finally, we offer some recommendations for identifying and developing systems that work across organizations when doing RPPs in a participatory way keeping the co-researchers at the center of how decisions are made.


Scientific or Scholarly Significance of the Study or Work


By taking an ethnographic approach to our work in developing partnerships, we hope to offer the nuances that are often glanced over when designing projects. Through the collaborative inquiry process, we are able to be flexible to problem-solve questions and opportunities as they emerge. We will offer lessons learned in our initial phase of the research and engage the participants in conversations of doing RPPs in a participatory way.

Authors

• Cristina M. Medellin, Bank Street College of Education

• Claudine Campanelli, City University of New York