Participatory action research as liberatory educational praxis

• In Event: Part 1: Advancing peace, justice and human rights through community-engaged praxis in education

Proposal

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a critical research methodology that has been conducted globally, in partnership with marginalized communities, recognizing that those most affected by injustice are often best suited to investigate and act to address injustices (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Koirala-Azad & Fuentes, 2009; Tuhiwai Smith, 2012). Through PAR, groups who have historically been the “objects” of research are redefined as collaborative co-researchers who engage in collective inquiry into their own social conditions (Bautista et al., 2013; Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Fine, 2018). Through PAR, research becomes a shared process of inquiry and learning for co-researchers. Furthermore, PAR underscores the understanding that education and knowledge production are not inherently neutral, but rather political projects that have the power to liberate as well as oppress (Bautista et al., 2013; Tuhiwai Smith, 2012).
This session will discuss the potential of PAR to serve also as a form of community-engaged praxis and liberatory education (Duncan-Andrade & Morrell, 2008; Scorza et al., 2017). We will explore three PAR projects situated within different educational settings: 1) with rural high school student-athletes in an extracurricular, after-school setting, 2) with undergraduate students at a private, 4-year university in a Community-Engaged Learning course, and 3) with community college students in an Ethnic Studies course. In each of these settings, university researcher-educators engaged students in PAR projects that explored issues of concern identified by the students/co-researchers. We frame PAR as a form of liberatory education that honors the dignity of students and supports transformative agency, resulting in students' increased capacity for individual and collective action for social change (Hantzopoulos and Bajaj, 2021).
The session will offer shared themes and lessons learned across our three research projects, including the nurturing of critical consciousness, the importance of community engagement, and the cultivation of reciprocal and trusting relationships within the learning community (Mirra et al., 2016). We also discuss the challenges and joys of enacting PAR as a practice of critical pedagogy and “accompaniment” to guide students through a process where community relationships, transformative agency, and social action can be nurtured. We hope to encourage other educators to experience the joys, challenges, connection, and authentic learning that PAR projects offer.

Author

• Melissa Ann Canlas, University of San Francisco